New York: Pakistan sternly addressed the UN Security Council during a monthly briefing on the Middle East, asking how Palestinian civilians continue to be killed and "Israeli" military strikes persist if a ceasefire is supposedly in effect.

“If the ceasefire is holding — as we have been told — then how are strikes continuing and civilians being killed?”, asked Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, while underscoring that ending military action “was the first, most essential step” of the 15 point peace plan for Gaza.

 “Despite the clear position of this Council and repeated calls for their cessation, Israel’s illegal settlement activities continue unabated,” he told the 15 member Council.

The advancement of the so-called E1 settlement project, which would effectively sever the northern and southern part of the West Bank, is particularly alarming , and a  “dangerous escalation”, the Pakistani envoy said.

“Beyond threatening the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state, the project places thousands of Palestinians at risk of forcible displacement.”

Highlighting that violence by armed cohorts has also reached alarming levels, the Pakistani envoy said, noting that the UN recorded approximately 190 attacks per month in early 2026, which is “unacceptable and warrants urgent action”.

And he called out the continued withholding of over six billion USD in Palestinian clearance revenue, which is undermining the Palestinian Authority’s ability to provide essential services.  “These revenue must be released without delay,” he said.

HE pointed out that despite mediation efforts by the US Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye, "Israel’s" continued military escalations and rejection of the roadmap threaten to derail this diplomatic process and undermine the prospects for peace.

The occupying force, must immediately halt all unlawful measures aimed at altering the legal, geographic and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestine, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said.

 He also called for ensuring accountability for all violations of international law and international humanitarian law in Occupied Palestine , including war crimes and other grave violations.

“Illegal occupation that must be vacated, in the interest of durable peace and stability in the region, the shared objective of this Council and the international community.”

Pakistan, he said, stands with the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for dignity, justice and self determination.

“The only viable path to peace for all people in the region is a just, comprehensive peace based on UN Security Council resolutions and international legitimacy, with the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State on the pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds al Sharif as its capital.”

UN Acting Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov told the Council that conditions in Gaza remain dire despite a nearly year-old ceasefire as he reported renewed Israeli airstrikes on 12 August after a one-week lull; 100 Palestinian deaths and over 400 injuries during the reporting period; and continued settler attacks in the West Bank.

Palestine has said that the occupying force known as Israel is clearly determined to destroy the Palestinian State.