I thank you, Madam President, for convening this important meeting. It is a pleasure to see you chairing today’s very important discussion. I also thank Under Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo for her sobering briefing.

2. We are meeting today at a critical juncture. On the one hand, intensified diplomatic efforts are underway to consolidate the ceasefire, alleviate the suffering of Palestinians, and advance implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict endorsed by Security Council resolution 2803. On the other hand, Israel’s continued ceasefire violations, annexation attempts and illegal actions across the Occupied Palestinian Territories continue to undermine these efforts and threaten prospects for a just and lasting peace.

Madam President,

3. Pakistan remains fully engaged in diplomatic efforts aimed at permanent cessation of hostilities and a just resolution of the conflict. We appreciate peace efforts led by US President Donald Trump. In this regard, we are working closely as part of the Group of Eight Arab and Islamic countries, namely Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan and Türkiye.

Madam President,

4. Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank are gravely disturbing. In the Joint Statements of 7th and 17th February, the Foreign Ministers of the eight Arab-Islamic countries condemned in the strongest terms these measures and decisions, aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, designating lands as so called “state land” and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank. We affirmed that these illegal measures are null and void and constitute a clear violation of international law and international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. They also violate relevant Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2334, as well as the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

5. The group of eight Arab-Islamic countries also expressed its strong condemnation of Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, which have resulted already in the killing and injury of more than a thousand Palestinians.

Madam President,

6. A successful peace process requires a conducive environment built on trust, restraint and good faith. Actions that alter facts on the ground and prejudice final status issues are mala fide and profoundly counter-productive.

7. Since the ceasefire, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed. UN premises, including UNRWA facilities have been attacked. Restrictions on humanitarian operations and pressure on international humanitarian organizations continue to impede humanitarian assistance, which has yet to flow at the scale required. This is totally unacceptable, and also reminds us of the fragility of the current situation.

8. Against this backdrop, full and faithful implementation of resolution 2803 is absolutely essential. Ceasefire must be fully respected with a view to a permanent cessation of hostilities. We must ensure safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian assistance at the right scale. The recovery and reconstruction phase must begin without delay, and without annexation, forced displacement or alteration of the territorial unity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Illegal settlement activity, settler violence, and attempts to alter the demographic, legal or historical character of the occupied territory, including holy sites, must cease immediately. And it is imperative to advance a credible, irreversible and time-bound political horizon leading to Palestinian statehood, in accordance with international legitimacy.

9. It is in pursuit of these objectives that Pakistan, as part of the Group of Eight Arab and Islamic countries, has joined the Board of Peace (BoP) in support of its mandate, as endorsed by resolution 2803.

10. We hope that the BoP under the framework of resolution 2803 will lead to concrete steps towards the implementation of a permanent ceasefire; further scaling up of humanitarian aid; reconstruction of Gaza; and realization of the right to self-determination of the people of Palestine through a credible, time-bound political process, consistent with international legitimacy and relevant UN resolutions, resulting in an independent, sovereign and contiguous state of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. This, Madam President, is the ultimate goal supported by the international community. Palestinian-led governance and institutional strengthening, with a central role of the Palestinian Authority, are indispensable in this regard.

11. Tomorrow, Pakistan will participate in the inaugural meeting of the BoP with the objective of reinforcing ongoing diplomatic efforts. We engage in this process with the firm conviction that sustained diplomacy, anchored in international law, including the UN Charter and guided by accountability, provides the only viable pathway to a just and lasting peace.

12. There can be no durable peace without justice, no stability without accountability, and no sustainable solution without the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

13. Pakistan’s solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters and their just cause remains unwavering. We stand with them in their legitimate pursuit of right to self-determination, dignity and freedom. Pakistan is ready and willing to contribute to all diplomatic initiatives, including President Trump’s Peace Plan, the BoP, the High-Level Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution, which must reinforce one another through coordinated and concrete implementation, in the interest of our shared objective of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

I thank you, Madam President!