PM Shehbaz condemns Israeli curbs on Gaza aid, orders foreign ministry to urgently scale up relief

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned Israel’s continued restrictions on essential humanitarian assistance entering the Gaza Strip, warning that the compounding deprivation suffered by displaced Palestinians amid winter rainstorms constitutes a grave humanitarian crisis.

How did PM Shehbaz describe worsening conditions in Gaza's displacement camps?

Expressing deep distress over the plight of civilians, the prime minister stated that visual reports emerging from the enclave—particularly of rainwater inundating makeshift tents and leaving young children exposed without basic shelter—were "heartbreaking".

Sharif stressed that displaced civilians across Gaza are being forced to endure acute hunger, harsh winter conditions, and an utter lack of adequate sanitation and protective cover. He emphasized that the accelerating humanitarian disaster demands immediate international attention and decisive multilateral intervention to dismantle border bottlenecks and ensure the unhindered flow of life-saving food, warm clothing, and medical supplies.

What directives did prime minister issue to Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

The prime minister strongly denounced what he characterized as continued violations of international law, ceasefire terms, and basic humanitarian conventions, stating that the collective deprivation inflicted on Palestinian civilians is entirely intolerable.

To address the immediate emergency, Sharif directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to aggressively explore all diplomatic, logistical, and multilateral avenues to scale up Pakistan’s humanitarian relief pipeline.

The directive tasks Pakistani diplomatic missions with coordinating alongside regional transit partners and international relief agencies to ensure that additional shipments of winterized tents, tarpaulins, medicines, and essential provisions reach vulnerable populations in Gaza without delay.

How do border curbs and seasonal weather compound regional crisis?

The prime minister’s statement comes as heavy seasonal downpours flood low-lying encampments and informal settlements across Gaza, washing away makeshift shelters and destroying food rations.

United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations have warned that persistent administrative obstacles, restricted entry points, and active hostilities have severely throttled aid delivery, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced families without insulation or clean water as temperatures plunge.

Pakistan has repeatedly used multilateral forums—including the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Security Council—to demand an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, full compliance with international humanitarian law, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and diplomatic channels are preparing to coordinate additional air consignments of winter relief gear.