UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan criticised the 193-member United Nations General Assem­bly for remaining silent as Israeli military wreaked havoc on Gaza for nearly one month, which it termed “genocide”.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Masood Khan told a hurriedly-called UN General Assembly meeting on Wednesday — which was even not authorised to pass a resolution under pressure of Western countries — that the force used by Israel had been disproportionate, indiscriminate and lethal.

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“The established norms of international humanitarian law — distinction, proportionality and precaution — were cast aside. The whole territory of Gaza has been wrecked and ravaged. Most of Gaza is a wasteland. This was no war between two equals; there was no symmetry,” he added.

Pakistan, he said, regretted that the General Assembly was meeting so late, and that too in an informal setting, with its members serving as a mere sounding board and that no decision was on the anvil.

Mr Khan said that Pakistan emphasised that the human rights and humanitarian dimensions of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was a direct consequence of the denial of the fundamental right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2014