The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), calling for accountability for Israel and justice for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, has persisted despite multiple international efforts to broker a ceasefire. The Palestinian death toll, according to latest figures, has exceeded 50,000, with women and children making up a large share of the casualties.

Thousands remain missing under the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. In parallel, there have been mounting reports of harassment, arbitrary detentions, and even sexual assaults against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“Over the past eighteen months, the Palestinian people under occupation have faced horror upon horror,” Pakistan’s top diplomat at the UN mission in Geneva, Ambassador Bilal Ahmed, told the Council. “Whether in the desolate Gaza Strip or the West Bank including East Jerusalem, this Council has borne witness to a litany of crimes that demand justice.”

Ahmed said the resolution reflects the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion from July 2024, which declared Israel’s continued presence in the Palestinian territories illegal.

It also incorporates findings by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence against Palestinians, particularly women and girls.

The resolution emphasizes the need to prevent and punish “incitement to genocide in Gaza,” in line with the ICJ’s provisional measures issued in January 2024.

It further calls for the establishment of an independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes under international law.

“We have long known that impunity for human rights violations enables more and worse violations,” Ahmed said. “The adoption of this resolution would signal the strong resolve of this Council to end impunity for serial violators. For the Palestinian people, it would be the light at the end of an unimaginably dark tunnel.”

Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva confirmed later that the resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority.