ISLAMABAD: Pakistan joined the Muslim world in strongly condemning the Israeli minister’s threatening statement of nuking Gaza and termed this a wake-up call for the global community to the threat posed by Israel to regional peace, security, and stability.
Following the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza due to Israeli aggression, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also called an extraordinary summit to be held in Riyadh on November 12.
“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation will hold an extraordinary Islamic summit at the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as Chair of the current Islamic Summit, on Sunday, 28 Rabi’ul Thani 1445, corresponding to 12 November 2023, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in order to discuss the brutal Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,” read a statement of the OIC.
On Monday, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch voiced Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the Israeli minister’s threatening statement about using nuclear weapons against Gaza.
“We are appalled by [the] statement of an Israeli minister threatening nuclear force against Palestinians. Reflects an intention for ethnic cleansing and genocide,” Baloch said.
She said “this is a wakeup call for the international community to the threat posed by Israeli aggression to regional peace, security, and stability.”
In an interview on Sunday, an Israeli Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Amichai Eliyahu from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party said that dropping an atomic bomb on the Gaza Strip was “an option”.
Eliyahu, who was later reportedly suspended for his remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has also stated that there were no “non-combatants” in Gaza and providing humanitarian aid to the Strip would constitute a failure.
The Israeli minister’s threatening statement prompted anger in the Muslim world, as various Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Iran, and others including the OIC strongly condemned the highly irresponsible remarks by the Israeli minister.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns ‘in the strongest terms possible’ the extremist remarks by an Israeli occupation government minister regarding dropping a nuclear bomb on the besieged Gaza Strip which show the pervasiveness of extremism and brutality among members of the Israeli government,” read a statement issued by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Moreover, not dismissing the minister from the government immediately and only freezing his membership constitutes the utmost disregard for all human and religious morals values and legal norms by the Israeli government,” it added.
The OIC, in its statement, also condemned the “racist” comments by the Israeli culture minister, Amichai Eliyahu, calling for a nuclear bomb to be dropped on the Gaza Strip. The OIC described it as extremist and hate speech, an incitement to violence and organised terrorism, and genocide perpetrated daily by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, in flagrant violation of international law, instruments, and resolutions.
“The OIC views this abhorrent speech as an extension of terrorist racist ideology which calls for the international community’s condemnation and effective measures to stop the military aggression, daily massacre, and genocide carried out by the Israeli occupation,” it added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, in a statement, stated that the State of Qatar strongly condemns the statements made by the heritage minister in the Israeli occupation government regarding the threat to strike the besieged Gaza Strip with a nuclear bomb.
“It considers this a serious incitement to a war crime and a disregard for human and moral values and international laws. Noting the leniency of the occupation government to the minister’s threats by merely suspending his membership, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that these hateful and provocative statements represent an extension of the escalatory policy adopted by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories,” read the statement.
It also stressed the need for the international community to act urgently to protect the Palestinian brothers trapped in the Gaza Strip.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates Qatar’s firm position on the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it added.
The UAE categorically rejected the Israeli minister’s threatening statement with regard to using nuclear weapons.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms the UAE’s categorical rejection of the threat of using nuclear weapons. The UAE stresses that the immediate priority is to preserve the lives of civilians and provide them with necessary humanitarian assistance,” read the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.
The ministry also called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life. It emphasised the importance of protecting civilians according to international law, including international treaties, and the need to ensure they are not targets during conflict.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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