NEW DELHI, Dec 21 — Pakistan and Iran have called for coordinated efforts by Islamic countries to end Israeli atrocities in Palestine.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan President Arif Alvi in a phone call on Wednesday discussed the genocide being committed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
The two leaders “underscored the need for coordinated efforts by the Islamic countries to bring an end to the ongoing massacre and crimes against humanity in Gaza,” Alvi’s office said in a social media post.
Such joint action will put pressure on the Israeli regime, according to a statement from Raisi’s side.
The two leaders criticised the inability of international organisations, including the UN Security Council, to defend the Palestinian people against the Israeli onslaught.
They agreed that “we must seek to seriously change the structure of international organisations, and Muslims must be pioneers in this field,” the Iranian statement said.
Meanwhile, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu in a statement on Wednesday also denounced the failure of the UN Security Council “to take decisive measures to put an end to the suffering in Gaza”.
Muizzu said the veto against the resolution calling for a ceasefire has made people around the world “question the value of humanity and the United Nations”.
He reiterated the Maldives’ call to the International Criminal Court to investigate possible war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
The United States has a history of blocking Security Council resolutions which are not in favour of Israel.
Washington vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Oct 18 calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million besieged population.
On Dec 8, the US vetoed another Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
As the situation in Gaza grows more desperate, the Security Council on Wednesday again postponed a meeting to discuss calls for “urgent humanitarian pauses”.
The death toll in Gaza has crossed 20,000, including 8,000 children and 6,200 women.
Gaza is facing a severe shortage of drinking water while the Israeli military continues to block supplies of food, fuel and medicines despite international humanitarian aid piling up across Gaza’s border with Egypt.
“Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death… children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink,” UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said on Wednesday.
“Children and their families are having to use water from unsafe sources that are highly salinated or polluted. Without safe water, many more children will die from deprivation and disease in the coming days,” she said.
— Bernama
