UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 (APP): The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, is arriving in New York Tuesday evening to lead Pakistan’ delegation to the high-level UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Palestine scheduled to to be held on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
The meeting, set to take place in the afternoon, will be chaired by United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, in her capacity as President of the 15-member Council for the month of February.<\/p>\n
The Council meeting follows Israel’s decision to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank, meaning it will be able to seize land from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership.<\/p>\n
For the first time since Israel\u2019s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, it will register such land as property of the state \u2013 also known as settlement of land title \u2013 in Area C of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
Area C is the part of the West Bank that remains under direct Israeli control. It covers about 60 percent of the West Bank.<\/p>\n
The development also comes as the foreign ministers of eight Muslim nations, including Pakistan, condemned the Israeli move to claim land in the occupied West Bank as \u201cstate property\u201d.<\/p>\n
The same eight countries had worked with US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration on a plan last year to end Israel\u2019s genocide and invasion in Gaza.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Pakistan had released a separate statement condemning the Israeli move, calling on the international community to reject its actions.<\/p>\n
During Wednesday’s meeting, the DPM\/FM will reaffirm Pakistan\u2019s principled and consistent position on Palestine. <\/p>\n
Officials said he will reiterate Pakistan\u2019s strong opposition of Israel\u2019s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank, emphasize the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, and the early commencement of Gaza\u2019s recovery and reconstruction.<\/p>\n
DPM Dar will also underscore Pakistan\u2019s continued engagement with international and regional partners, including the Group of Eight Arab and Islamic countries and the United States, in support of a just and lasting peace, anchored in international law, leading to the realization of the Palestinian people\u2019s right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.<\/p>\n
On the margins of the visit, the DPM\/FM will hold bilateral meetings with some counterparts to discuss matters of mutual concern.<\/p>\n