Pakistan calls for direct talks between Israel, Palestinian leaders

Pakistani Ambassador to UN says freeing Arab lands, including the Syrian Golan, is imperative for peace

UNITED NATIONS: Reaffirming  "full solidarity" with the Palestinian people, Pakistan called on the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to start direct talks based on agreed international parameters, clear benchmarks and timelines for enduring peace in the Middle East region.

"Both sides and the international community have to realise that it is now or never," Ambassador Masood Khan, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN, told the UN General Assembly on Monday.

"Violence will offer no solution; the parties should step back to reflect, make hard choices, and give peace a chance," he said while speaking during a debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East.

"The only path to viable and sustainable peace is  the establishment of the State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders with al Quds al Sharif as its capital," the envoy said, adding, "Until this realisation sinks in, peace would remain elusive."

Vacation of all Arab lands by Israel, including the Syrian Golan, he said, was imperative for peace.

He said the Palestinians continued to pass through a dark chapter in their history, but should not lose hope.

Masood said that his government t had contributed $1 million to UNRWA, the United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees, with hopes that it would alleviate suffering in the region.

While condemning the recent acts of desecration of the al Aqsa Mosque, attacks against worshippers and the use of weapons and bombs inside the mosque by the Israeli army, he said restrictions on worship that continue must end. "Steps to erase Palestinian, Muslim and Christian heritage must be halted," he pleaded.

"The massive settlements that increased by 150 per cent during the last year and culminated in the largest land grab in three decades doomed the faint hope for peace right from the beginning," he said.

The 50-day spate of Israeli attacks against Gaza over the summer, which left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, exacerbated the humanitarian plight of Gazans who were already food insecure and dependent on aid, the envoy said.

He welcomed the establishment of a Board of Inquiry by the Secretary General and a Commission of Inquiry by the Human Rights Council to look into the events of Gaza.

Forced displacements on the West Bank had increased by 24 per cent, he said. "Efforts to revive the peace process had failed and the viability of the two-State solution is questioned," he added.

Among steps needed to be taken, he said that the blockade of Gaza should be lifted, the demolition of Palestinian homes must stop, and Palestinian prisoners must be released, the envoy added.