ISLAMABAD (HRNW) – Pakistan on Thursday hit out at Israel which is in the eye of storm for back-to-back terror attacks in Lebanon.
Several people were killed and thousands injured in two attacks in Lebanon. In the first incident, pagers used by Hezbollah detonated as a result of which 12 people, including two children, were killed and thousands of people injured.
The very next day, explosions claimed 14 lives and left hundreds of people injured. Lebanon blames it on Israel.
FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra-Baloch said at a media briefing that Pakistan strongly condemned attacks in Lebanon, carried through detonation of electronic equipment. “Use of cyber and electronic means to commit terrorism in foreign countries is reprehensible,” she said.
“We condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations and offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the people and the government of the Republic of Lebanon,” she said.
The terror attacks were a manifestation of Israel’s alarming adventurism in the region, which had endangered regional peace and security, she said.
“Pakistan reaffirms its support to Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and calls upon the international community to take urgent steps to hold Israel to account for its acts of international terrorism and violations of international law,” Baloch said.
RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM’S VISIT
She said the Russian deputy prime minister met Ishaq Dar on Wednesday and the two sides agreed to work in diversified fields. They also signed several agreements which would help boost bilateral relations, she added.
NATIONAL ANTHEM ISSUE
She said Pakistan had registered its protest over ‘disrespect’ of national anthem at an event in Peshawar.
“We reject the Afghan consul general’s justification that the diplomat ignored the anthem due to music,” she said.
KASHMIR ELECTIONS
She said the Pakistan government rejected so-called elections in the occupied Kashmir. Pakistan wanted resolution of the Kashmir dispute according to UN resolutions and aspirations of the local population, she said.
GAZA TRAGEDY
Pakistan, she said, also condemned the Israeli air strikes in September against a school-turned-shelter in Gaza.
She said Pakistan called for “full implementation of ICJ’s advisory opinion” which emphasised the illegal nature of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
It also highlighted “the urgent need for the international community to uphold the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people.
“This includes an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to bring about an end to the suffering faced by the people of Gaza,” she added.
She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would highlight the issue of atrocities on Gaza at UNGA’s 79th gathering in New York.