ISLAMABAD, July 6: The newly constituted 47-member Human Rights Council, in a special session in Geneva on Thursday, adopted a strongly-worded resolution on human rights violations in the Palestinian territory.

The resolution, presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called for an immediate end to the Israeli military operations and asked Israel to abide by the provisions of international human rights laws, a statement received from Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva said.

Pakistan is the coordinator of the OIC group on human rights and humanitarian issues.

The resolution called for a negotiated solution to the ongoing crisis in the Middle-East and authorised the HRC to immediately dispatch a fact-finding mission to the region.

Adopted by 29 votes, the resolution sent a strong message that arbitrarily detained Palestinian ministers, lawmakers, and civilians should be immediately released.

China, Cuba, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Zambia were the non-OIC countries which voted for the resolution.

Ahead of the vote, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Masood Khan, addressed the Council and warned that the crisis was deepening.

“New developments have brought the two sides to the brink of war. The crisis should be avoided immediately so that the region does not descend further into an irreversible cycle of violence. The international community should act now to avoid a bigger crisis,” he stated.

Mr Khan also drew the council’s attention to the use of disproportionate force by Israel and continuous military strikes against the impoverished people and infrastructure that had left the Palestinians devastated.