Pakistan, Sept. 30 -- Pakistan has called for immediate steps to halt Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to protect civilians from ongoing violence.

"We cannot affirm Palestinian statehood while allowing its territorial foundations to be destroyed," Ambassador Usman Jadoon, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council, which debated the situation in the Middle East on Monday.

Welcoming sanctions announced by the United Kingdom, France and Canada concerning goods from illegal settlements, the Pakistani envoy said. "Unlawful settlement activities and those who sustain them must face consequences."

Gaza and the West Bank, inclu...