ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Pakistan on Friday welcomed the Israeli pullout from Gaza Strip as ‘a first positive step’ that would lead to a complete vacation of the Palestinian territories occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

A foreign ministry statement, following two days of dramatic scenes of evacuations by Jewish settlers in Gaza, expressed the hope that the move would pave the way for the establishment of “a sovereign and independent Palestinian state living in peace side by side with Israel.” It urged the international community to continue working for that goal.

“Pakistan has consistently supported all initiatives and developments that contribute to the just settlement of the long-festering Palestinian problem and durable peace in the Middle East,” the statement said.

It recalled Pakistan’s support to efforts for a solution based on the UN Security Council resolutions numbers 242 and 338, recent initiatives of a Middle East quartet and the Beirut Declaration of the Arab League members. “It is vital that the international community must continue to work for the realisation of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people that demand the establishment of their independent state in Palestine with Al Quds as the capital,” the statement said.

The quartet — multilateral guarantors of the Middle East peace process — comprises the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.