WEBDESK: Pakistan strongly condemned remarks by Israel’s ambassador at the UN Security Council after he compared Israeli airstrikes on Doha with the US operation against Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Islamabad called the comparison “absurd” and an attempt to justify aggression. The backlash led the Israeli envoy to apologise to his Pakistani counterpart during the meeting.
The heated exchange came during a special Security Council session on the Middle East, chaired by South Korea, and requested by Pakistan, Algeria and Somalia. Most member states condemned Israel’s strikes on Qatar.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, questioned Israel’s commitment to peace and rejected the envoy’s statement. He said it was “unacceptable and laughable” for Israel a country accused of continuous violations of international law and the UN Charter to make such comparisons. He called Israel an “occupier and aggressor” trying to deflect attention from its illegal actions.
Israeli envoy Danny Danon had defended the airstrikes, warning that Qatar must act against Hamas or Israel would do so itself. “There is no safe haven for terrorists, not in Gaza, not in Tehran, not in Doha,” he said, adding that Israel would pursue them as the US did against bin Laden.
Ambassador Ahmad dismissed the comparison as “false and misleading,” stressing Pakistan’s frontline role in the fight against terrorism. He accused Israel of ignoring friends, global institutions and international courts, while persisting with its aggression.
Later, Danon softened his tone, saying: “I think my speech upset my Pakistani colleague. If so, I apologise.”
In Islamabad, the Foreign Office also voiced serious concern. Spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said Pakistan was fully capable of defending its sovereignty, describing the country as a responsible nuclear state committed to regional peace. Without naming Israel, he called it “an irresponsible rogue state” guilty of “decades of state terrorism” against Palestinians.
The spokesman added that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had condemned Israel’s actions, and an emergency Arab-Islamic summit would be held in Doha on 15 September to form a joint response.
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