Pakistan, OIC strongly condemn Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

A fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunish following an Israeli airstrike on targets in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021. (AFP)

• Urge the international community to put an end to ‘flagrant violation of human rights’ of Palestinians
• More than 38 Palestinians, including children, have been killed in the attacks by Israeli troops in recent days

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 35 people, including children, and left dozens injured since Monday.
The violence escalated after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third holiest site – attacking Palestinian worshippers using rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and tear gas over the weekend.
“This is yet another reprehensible action during the holy month of Ramadan, following the increased restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of Palestinians and the attacks in and outside Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday night.
It added that the indiscriminate use of force by Israeli forces against defenseless Palestinians “defies all humanitarian norms and human rights laws.” 
“Pakistan calls upon the international community to put an end to the blatant use of force and flagrant violation of human rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
It added that establishing a “viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine,” based on internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders, and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, is the “only sustainable guarantee for peace in the region.”
Tensions escalated in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem over the weekend after Israeli forces tried to evict an entire Palestinian community and hand over their properties to ultra-extreme Jewish settlers.
After convening a virtual emergency session on Tuesday to discuss the “aggression by Israel,” the OIC said that it “condemns in the strongest terms the repeated attacks by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people.”
It also condemned “the Israeli occupation forces’ continuation of their colonial programs – building settlements, attempting to confiscate Palestinian properties, forceful eviction of Palestinians from their land.” 
The OIC also demanded that “relevant international actors,” including the United Nations General Assembly, should implement resolutions and recommendations and “activate the necessary mechanisms to stop these violations.”