UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan on Tuesday deplored Israel's “open defiance” of the international community's calls for a final settlement of the decades-old Middle East dispute, saying it was prolonging the suffering of Palestinians living under occupation.

“The collective voice of peace and compassion emanating from various chambers of the United Nations continues to be ignored,” Pakistan's delegate Tahir Hussain Andrabi told the General Assembly during a debate on the Middle East question which coincided with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

He said the resumption of direct Israel-Palestine negotiations in September this year had rekindled hopes for a sustainable peace in the Middle East and permanent political settlement. “But I fear our hopes and optimism appear to be short-lived as the window of opportunity for meaningful and sustained negotiations is once again closing,” he said.

The major hurdle for a long-term political process was Israel's ongoing settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory, the Pakistani delegate said. The settlements were a major provocation that violated international law and undermined negotiations.

Any meaningful negotiation process must run parallel with improvement in lives of Palestinians who lived under checkpoints, roadblocks, military siege and separation walls. Recent measures to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank and improve Gaza access offered some hope, but they must be sustained by a deeper political commitment to human rights, freedom of movement and unrestricted flow of commerce, Andrabi said.

The Pakistani delegate called on the international community to increase assistance to the Palestinian Authority; an economic boom and entrepreneurship could be a solid edifice for Palestinian statehood, promising lasting peace if it was complemented by generous development assistance.

But, he said, a lasting settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict could not be achieved without Israel's complete withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and all other occupied Arab territories, including Syrian Golan and South Lebanon.

“We also look forward to substantive and objective investigations by the Secretary General's Panel of Inquiry on the Freedom Flotilla -incident of 31 May 2010. The Panel must diligently pursue the matter. Justice must prevail and those affected must be duly compensated,” he said.