Nakba Day: Pakistan backs sovereign, viable Palestinian state

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday, on the occasion of Nakba Day, reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for self-determination, freedom and dignity.

"The Day is a solemn reminder of the events of 1948 that led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and lands, leading to their prolonged suffering," the president said in a message on the observance of the Day.

For the Palestinian people, he said that the Nakba was not a closed chapter of history. It remained a continuing reality marked by occupation, displacement, dispossession, and denial of rights.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan reaffirms its resolute support for the creation of a sovereign, independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

In a post on X, he said, "As our Palestinian brethren mark the 78th solemn anniversary of Nakba, we remember the enduring suffering and displacement of the Palestinians from their homeland since 1948."

"On this solemn occasion, Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We demand an immediate end to the oppression, occupation, and violence being perpetrated by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinians," he added.

United Nations

Pakistan has reaffirmed its "unwavering" solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just struggle for self-determination at a special meeting marking the seventy-eighth anniversary of the Nakba - an Arabic word meaning "catastrophe" - held at UN Headquarters in New York.

Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the meeting organized by the United Nations Palestinian Rights Committee, that "Tragically, for the Palestinians, the Nakba is not a closed chapter of history," the Pakistani envoy said, adding, " It is a continuing reality marked by occupation, displacement, dispossession and denial of rights."

He said millions of Palestinians continue to live in exile, with the temporary refugee camps having become symbols of prolonged statelessness and collective suffering.

"Today, as we commemorate the Nakba, we are also witnessing its most devastating contemporary manifestation in Gaza," he said, pointing out that the enclave for two years endured devastating Israeli attacks with over, 70, 000 Palestinians killed, majority of them women and children.