https://arab.news/wfmb8
- Turkish delegation holds bilateral political delegations with Pakistani leadership in Islamabad
- Israel’s relentless military campaign has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza since October last year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus and Turkiye’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz stressed the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday, state media reported, expressing concerns over Israel’s “genocide” in the Middle East.
The development took place during a meeting between the two diplomats on the occasion of the seventh session of the Pakistan-Türkiye Bilateral Political Consultations in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. The two sides reviewed all aspects of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Türkiye, including political relations, trade and investment, energy, security and defense, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said.
“The two sides also expressed serious concerns on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and genocide of the Palestinian people and stressed the need for an urgent ceasefire,” Radio Pakistan said.
The Middle East region has been thrown into turmoil by the war in Gaza, now into its 11th month. Hostilities escalated after a Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip in October last year killed some 1,200 people, with more than 250 taken into captivity, according to Israeli tallies.
The attack proved to be one of the most devastating blows against Israel in its history. In response, Israeli forces have flattened Gaza, displaced most of the population and killed around 40,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry, in a war that has caused horror around the world.
Gaza health officials say most of the fatalities have been civilians while Israel says it has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza. The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.