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Pakistan on Wednesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state and urged Israel to honor its commitments under the Board of Peace plan, including withdrawing its forces from Gaza.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Palestinian statehood is firmly rooted in international law and U.N. resolutions, while warning that any refusal by Israel to withdraw from Gaza would be a "serious setback" to commitments made under the peace plan.
Speaking at his weekly news conference in Islamabad, Andrabi said Pakistan had taken note of Netanyahu's recent remarks rejecting Palestinian statehood and his reported refusal to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza and move to the second phase of the plan.
"This would be a serious setback to the decision taken at the Board of Peace, because the disarmament of Hamas and the evacuation of Gaza by Israeli troops were twin commitments," Andrabi said.
"We hope that Israel will abide by its commitments," he added.
Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a 15-point document presented by the Board of Peace, insisting that Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza before Hamas was fully disarmed.
Addressing Netanyahu's opposition to a Palestinian state, Andrabi said the issue did not depend on the position of any individual Israeli leader.
"As regards the State of Palestine, this is in accordance with international law and U.N. resolutions," he said.
Andrabi said Palestinian statehood had "an established international legality" and argued that statements rejecting it could not change its legal and diplomatic status.
"Remark to the contrary to this established international legality means nothing," he said, describing Netanyahu's position as a personal view that Pakistan "emphatically" rejected.
Pakistan has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
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