Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Friday expressed Pakistan’s readiness to airlift the injured Palestinians for their treatment in the country.
Responding to a call attention notice in the Senate, he said the government was also in contact with Jordan and Egypt on this matter. The notice had sought the foreign minister’s briefing on what efforts Pakistan was doing related to Gaza to end the atrocities against the Palestinian people. Expressing grave concerns over the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister said Israel was committing war crimes and genocide there. He demanded that Israel should be held accountable for its actions.
The comments from the minister came as the Israel-Hamas truce came into effect today after more than a month of bombing in Gaza that killed over 14,000 people including children and women. The first pause in the 48-day-old war began at 10am PST, involving a comprehensive ceasefire in north and south Gaza, the release of 13 Israeli women and child hostages by the Hamas later in the day and aid to flow into the devastated Palestinian enclave.
Israel had launched its devastating invasion of Gaza after gunmen from Hamas burst across the border fence on October 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes to escape the violence, but conditions are becoming more desperate.
“We are already in contact with Jordan and Egypt. We have offered them that Pakistan will be happy to treat these injured Palestinians in Pakistan,” foreign minister Jilani maintained. However, he pointed out that they were encountering some problems and working to resolve them as soon as possible.
“We are also in contact with countries that are in touch with Israel because Israel’s permission is also needed,” said FM Jilani. He added that the Egyptians had communicated to Islamabad that Israel also scrutinizes the injured to make sure that a Hamas member is not being taken away.
“We have also offered that Pakistan wishes to establish a hospital there,” said Jilani. But he again explained that the situation in Gaza was such that there was no possibility for any country to establish a health facility in the besieged strip.
