Israel-Palestine escalation: Pakistan says 'closely monitoring' situation

The Foreign Office (FO) said Saturday that it was “closely monitoring the unfolding situation” in the Middle East in light of the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and Palestine.

“We are concerned about the human cost of the escalating situation,” the FO added.

“We call on the international community to unite for a cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and for a lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Pakistan has advocated for a two-state solution as the key to enduring peace in the Middle East, with a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Palestinian question anchored in international law and in line with relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions.

“A viable, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine should be established on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the FO statement added.

Palestinian group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing at least 100 people and claiming it had taken dozens of hostages in a surprise assault combining gunmen crossing into Israel and a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.

Israel said the Iran-backed group had declared war as its army confirmed fighting in several Israeli towns and military bases near Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.

“Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he said. “We are in a war and we will win it”.

The Israeli air strikes in response have killed at least 198 people and wounded 1,610 with different injuries.

Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group was holding a large number of Israeli captives, including senior officials. He said Hamas had enough captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in its jails.

Hamas said the attack was driven by what it said were Israel’s escalated attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

In a related development, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed support for an attack Hamas launched against Israel on Saturday, calling it a “proud operation”.

“We support the proud operation of Al-Aqsa Flood,” Yahya Rahim Safavi said at a meeting held in support of Palestinian children in Tehran, quoted by ISNA news agency.

“We support this operation, and we are sure that the resistance front also supports this issue,” said Safavi, who is a senior general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran, which hosted leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in June, considers Israel its arch enemy.

The two sides have for years been engaged in a shadow war, with Iran accusing Israel of a series of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.

The United States and Israel have previously accused Iran of using drones and missiles to attack US forces and Israel-linked ships in the Gulf.