Pakistan Urges Accountability Over West Bank Settlement Expansion at UN

(MENAFN) Pakistan has warned the United Nations Security Council that expanding Israeli settlements and related measures in the occupied West Bank are undermining the feasibility of an independent Palestinian state, calling on influential international actors to hold Israel accountable.

Speaking during a Security Council session focused on the situation in the West Bank, Pakistan’s UN envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad criticized what he described as ongoing efforts to shift from de facto to de jure annexation through legislative and administrative actions.

He said that continued settlement expansion, land confiscations, demolitions, and displacement of Palestinians are taking place on a large scale and are eroding prospects for a viable two-state solution.

The ambassador argued that these actions are inconsistent with international legal obligations, referencing provisions of international humanitarian law, and called for their immediate reversal.

He also pointed to an increase in settlement approvals in recent years, as well as infrastructure projects near East Jerusalem, warning that such developments could further fragment Palestinian territories and make territorial continuity impossible.

Additionally, he raised concern over reported increases in settler-related violence, citing international data indicating a significant rise in incidents affecting Palestinians.

Pakistan reaffirmed its long-standing support for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, and emphasized that lasting peace, in its view, requires ending the occupation and restoring internationally recognized rights.

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