By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “purveyor of genocide” and vowed to meet any threat to its sovereignty with a “resolute response,” following a tense U.N. Security Council debate over Israel’s airstrike in Qatar that killed six people.
The remarks, delivered by Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan during a weekly press briefing, came in response to questions about the Doha raid and Netanyahu’s comparison of it to the 2011 U.S. operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In a video message Thursday marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Netanyahu referenced Pakistan, saying Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar was akin to U.S. actions “when it went after Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and when they killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.”
Khan rejected Netanyahu’s remarks and condemned the Doha attack as a “reckless action” that underscored Israel’s “disregard for international peace and its policy of destabilizing the Middle East.”
“We do not respond to statements by the purveyors of genocide,” Khan said. “What is happening right now in the Middle East, which is our immediate neighborhood, we follow it very closely.”
He emphasized Pakistan’s readiness to defend itself. “But let me be absolutely clear: Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself against any external threat. Pakistan remains a responsible nuclear state and a proponent of regional peace and stability. However, any misadventure or threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will be met with a resolute response.”
Khan described the airstrike as a “blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty as well as the United Nations Charter and the established norms governing interstate relations.” The raid targeted Hamas leaders discussing a U.S.-proposed Gaza ceasefire in Doha, where Qatar has been a key mediator in ceasefire and hostage negotiations, hosting the group’s political bureau.
The issue dominated Thursday’s emergency UNSC session, requested by Qatar, Algeria, Pakistan, and Somalia, with support from France and the United Kingdom. Pakistan’s Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad denounced the strike as a “brazen and illegal assault” that violated Qatar’s sovereignty. When Israel’s representative invoked the bin Laden raid to justify the action, Ahmad called the analogy “ludicrous,” accusing Israel of deflecting from its “occupation of Palestine.” He pressed the Council to hold Israel accountable.
At Friday’s briefing, Khan reiterated Pakistan’s solidarity with Qatar, citing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Doha a day earlier. Sharif, he said, conveyed Pakistan’s deep concern over the attack, “which was a serious breach of international law.”
Khan noted that Pakistan had advocated for the UNSC session to address the Middle East crisis. He also welcomed Qatar’s plan to host an Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit on Sept. 15, saying Islamabad had offered to co-sponsor and co-convene the event through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. “Pakistan is working on the composition of a delegation to attend the summit,” he added.
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