Islamabad: Pakistan has welcomed the decision announced by the United Kingdom to impose a ban on items originating from the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank. According to the statement issued by the Foreign Office Spokesperson Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan, the continued expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory constitutes a blatant violation of international law as well as relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Such illegal actions are undermining international efforts aimed at achieving a two-state solution as well as peace and stability in the region.

Sajjad Haider Khan said that in this regard, Pakistan also welcomes the announcement by several other countries, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, to consider similar measures and support such efforts against the illegal Israeli settlements.

He said that Pakistan hopes that these measures will send a clear and unequivocal message of rejection of illegal actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Sajjad Haider Khan said that Pakistan has been and will continue to stand by the people of Palestine in their just struggle for self-determination and continue to support all efforts aimed at the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.