“As we complete a year of Israel’s war on the people of Gaza, we honour the 42,000 lives lost, overwhelmingly women and children,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a press briefing in Islamabad.

“Pakistan remains deeply concerned about the starvation of and genocide of the people of Gaza,” she said.

The past year has seen Israel’s indiscriminate and horrifying attacks on civilian targets, including hospitals, schools and shelters, Baloch said, adding that Israeli forces conducted airstrikes on Khalifa Bin Zayed school in northern Gaza, the mosque in Deir-el-Balah in Central Gaza and the refugee camps in Jabalia and Tulkarem.

“These attacks which claimed the lives of innocent civilians included children and women represent egregious war crimes being committed by Israeli occupation forces with impunity.

“As we reflect on the last year of the conflict, we call upon the UN Security Council to act decisively and impose an immediate and permanent ceasefire protecting the people of Gaza.

“Israel should be held accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.