Pakistan strongly condemned Israel's deadly airstrikes on Gaza, which killed more than 400 innocent Palestinians, primarily women and children. The airstrikes on Tuesday ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire had stalled.
The airstrikes targeted homes and tent encampments from the northern to the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, while Israeli tanks shelled positions from across the border, according to witnesses. Gaza's health ministry reported that 404 people were killed, marking one of the biggest single-day death tolls since the war broke out.
Israel and Hamas each blamed the other for breaching the truce that had largely held since January, offering temporary respite to the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, where much of the infrastructure had already been reduced to rubble.
In a statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office condemned the airstrikes as a “horrific act of aggression” that occurred during the holy month of Ramadan. The Foreign Office further described the strikes as a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” warning that they represented a dangerous escalation with the potential to destabilise the entire region.
The Foreign Office called upon the international community to act swiftly in halting the violence and to resume diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate and lasting peace in Gaza and the wider Middle East.
