FM Dar says ‘Greater Israel’ plan a direct threat to regional peace

Jeddah
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about a “Greater Israel” threatened regional peace and security.
Earlier this month, AFP reported that Netanyahu was asked by i24NEWS interviewer Sharon Gal if he subscribed to a “vision” for a Greater Israel, to which he said “absolutely”, adding, “If you ask me what I think, we’re there.” These remarks drew widespread condemnation from the international community, including Pakistan. Last week, Israel’s defence minister approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, while Tel Aviv approved a controversial plan to build an Israeli settlement which would sever the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem.
Addressing an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers (OIC-CFM) in Jeddah, Dar said that in recent days, Israel exhibited its “characteristic sordid insensitivity to international norms” with highly provocative and unwarranted statements encapsulating its “growing disdain and absolute contempt” for the international order.
“The brazen audacity of the so-called Israeli cabinet, in unveiling its ominous plan to extend Israel’s full military control over Gaza, as well as the Israeli prime minister’s recent allusion to the creation of a ‘Greater Israel’, provides an insight into Israel’s annexationist and rogue mindset.”
Pakistan strongly condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, stating that they call for action that would aggravate the already dire humanitarian situation and undermine efforts for peace in the Gaza Strip.
“We joined the statement issued by the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, along with other countries, in expressing strong condemnation and categorical rejection of the Israeli announcement, denouncing it as an unacceptable escalation and a brazen attempt to entrench illegal occupation by coercion,” he said.
Pakistan also fully endorsed and joined the statement issued by 31 Arab-Islamic countries and the secretaries general of the OIC, the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemning Netanyahu’s comments about “Greater Israel”.
“His (Netanyahu’s) statement constitutes a direct threat to Arab national security, to the sovereignty of states, and to regional and international peace and security,” Dar stated.
“The root cause of this ongoing tragedy is Israel’s prolonged, illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. As long as this occupation endures, peace will remain elusive,” Dar said, quoting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “We fully stand by our brotherly Arab states in safeguarding their sovereignty against threats to their independence and territorial integrity.”
‘Wanton acts of collective punishment’
Dar called Gaza “a graveyard for innocent lives as well as for international law”, lamenting the deaths of over 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
“The systematic targeting of hospitals, schools, UN facilities, aid convoys and refugee camps are not incidental, these are wanton acts of collective punishment in full world view,” the deputy PM said.
“Gaza is enduring a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. For nearly two years, it has suffered indiscriminate bombardment, total blockade, and deliberate deprivation and starvation, while violence and dispossession escalate in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
The deputy PM highlighted that the humanitarian system in place was a “cruel illusion” and noted that an unprecedented hunger crisis and famine are rampant in the coastal enclave.
“Pakistan expresses its deep appreciation to all the states and stakeholders that are playing a role in advancing peace in Gaza. Their ongoing contributions and steadfast support remain essential in the pursuit of stability and justice for the Palestinian people,” he stated.
Dar also welcomed “international momentum” towards the recognition of a Palestinian state by governments around the world and appreciated the International Conference on the Two-State Solution, which was co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, on July 28.
“We urge those states that have yet to recognise the State of Palestine to do so as soon as they can,” he urged.
“We need to do more. It (the conference) must now be followed up by coordinated international action to realise the long-overdue settlement, based on a viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital,” Dar added.