JAKARTA: President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday said peace in Middle East would remain elusive without the resolution of the Palestine issue and called upon the international community to play its role in finding a just solution in light of the UN resolutions to the long standing problem.
“Two states [Palestine and Israel] living side-by-side in peace and security is the goal that we ought to pursue,” the President said in his address at the fifth Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Palestine and Al Quds (Jerusalem) held here in the Indonesian capital.
The OIC summit titled United for just solution hosted by Indonesia at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gathered heads of state and representatives from 49 Muslim countries to find a solution to the Palestine issue and voice concern over the growing Israeli atrocities.
President Mamnoon who made his speech in national language Urdu at the international forum spoke categorically about the apartheid policies of Israel.
He mentioned Israel’s use of excessive disproportionate and indiscriminate force against unarmed innocent Palestinians and building settlements in the West Bank terming these as blatant violation of international law and UN resolutions.
All Israeli measures including settlements, separation wall, excavation beneath the Al Aqsa mosque and evictions of Palestinians from their homes which could change the situation on ground till a resettlement is reached must stop, he said.
The President said that Pakistan was in support of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, however, stressed that the talks should be based on internationally agreed parametres with clear benchmarks and timelines.
“While Israel does not seem to abide by these principles we fully support the Palestinian bid to internationalize the issue to bring more international force on the issue”, he said.
Source: APP