Israel accuses Pakistan of ‘double standards’ over Osama bin Laden at UN

Israel has accused Pakistan of “double standards” at the United Nations Security Council, saying the country cannot change the fact that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was sheltered and killed on its soil.

“When bin Laden was eliminated in Pakistan, the question was not ‘why target a terrorist on foreign soil?’” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said on Thursday, pointing to Pakistan’s envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad. “The question was, ‘Why was a terrorist given shelter at all?’ There was no immunity for bin Laden, and there can be no immunity for Hamas.”

The exchange came during a UNSC meeting discussing Israel’s recent strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar. Ahmad condemned Israel’s actions as “illegal and unprovoked aggression” and accused it of repeatedly violating international law through military operations in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen.

Danon recalled the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, calling it “a day of fire and blood,” and referenced the Security Council resolution adopted in the aftermath, which forbids nations from harboring or funding terrorists. He argued that Pakistan’s criticism of Israel reflected a double standard.

“If you apply different standards to Israel than you apply to yourselves, that is the problem of this institution,” Danon said. “You cannot change the fact that 9/11 happened. You cannot change the fact that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, and he was killed on your territory.”

Ahmad responded that Israel’s accusations were “unacceptable” and “ridiculous,” accusing it of using the Council to mask its own violations of international law.

Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, by US special forces in a covert operation.

With PTI inputs