Pakistan dispatches 17th relief consignment for Gaza

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan on Monday dispatched a 17th consignment of relief goods for war-torn Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023.

The 100-ton consignment, which includes medicine, food, powdered milk, and other essential items, was dispatched through a chartered plane from Islamabad airport to Jordan, an official of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed to Anadolu.

The goods have been sent with the help of Al-Khidmat Foundation, one of the country's largest charities, which has been involved in relief activities in Gaza and Egypt in collaboration with Turkish and Egyptian NGOs.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who inspected the consignment on Sunday, said Pakistan will continue to provide political, diplomatic, and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Pakistan on Monday also condemned in "the strongest possible terms" the provocative and deeply offensive desecration of Al‑Aqsa Mosque by thousands of illegal Israeli settlers, senior Israeli ministers, officials, and members of the Knesset, who were "shielded by brutal Israeli occupying forces."

"The presence and statements of senior Israeli officials, and the repugnant declaration that 'the Temple Mount is ours,' are a dangerous and deliberate attempt to provoke religious sentiments across the world, escalate tensions, and alter the status of Al‑Aqsa Mosque," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.