Pakistan has strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of a UNRWA school in Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza earlier this week, which led to multiple deaths, mostly of women and children.

“This attack is another crime in a series of attacks against civilians, including an IDP camp last week that resulted in the deaths of 45 Palestinians,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing.

“The deliberate targeting of civilian population and facilities is a grave violation of international law and constitutes war crimes.”

Pakistan also condemns the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by hundreds of Israeli extremists under the protection of Israeli police forces, Baloch said.

“The reprehensible act violates its decades long international agreements and international norms on respect for religious sites.”

She noted that under international law, it is the responsibility of the occupational authorities to respect religious sites, adding that “Israeli occupation forces should therefore ensure the security of Al-Quds.”

Baloch said Pakistan reiterates its call for an urgent and unconditional ceasefire for an immediate end to the massacre of the civilians and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes.