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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has come under public scrutiny over the presence of a researcher in Islamabad’s delegation at this week’s UN General Assembly in New York, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied approving her attendance.  

Dr. Shama Junejo, a Pakistani researcher based in London, was seen sitting behind Defense Minister Khawaja Asif during a Security Council debate this week in videos and photos that have since gone viral on social media, with critics highlighting Junejo’s track record of supporting Israel.  

Given Pakistan’s staunch support of Palestine, Junejo’s presence near Asif at the UN caused an uproar among Pakistanis, prompting the minister to reaffirm his support for Palestine in a post on X on Friday. 

He said he did not know the woman sitting behind him in the footage, but that her presence would have been authorized at the discretion of the foreign ministry. 

“To clarify, the individual in question was not listed in the official letter of credence for the Pakistan delegation to the 80th UNGA Session, signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on X on Saturday.

“Her seating behind the Defense Minister did not have the approval of the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister.”  

Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has steadfastly supported an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also reiterated Islamabad’s stance during his address at the UNGA on Friday.

But in less than a day, the foreign ministry’s statement had garnered more than 1.3 million views and thousands of reactions on X, as users questioned the official clarification and highlighted Junejo’s previous claims of being affiliated with the government and flying on the official government jet. 

In a now-deleted post on X, Junejo wrote on Sept. 21 that she has been working as an adviser to Sharif since May 2025. The researcher has also been photographed in the past with the premier, his elder brother and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Defense Minister Asif. 

In August 2022, she wrote online that meeting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu “would have been an honor” and that she would have used a photo with him as her profile picture. She has also previously praised Israeli technology, including drip irrigation, suggesting it could benefit regions like Sindh and southern Punjab.

But the researcher said she joined others in leaving the UNGA during Netanyahu’s speech on Friday. 

“We walked out from UNGA when the war criminal Netanyahu entered,” Junejo wrote on X.

Asad Qaiser, a former speaker of the lower house of Pakistan parliament, said the defense minister and the foreign ministry were lying, and demanded answers regarding who allowed Junejo to travel in a Pakistani plane from London to New York, sit in an official Pakistani government seat behind Asif at the UNSC, and enabled her to attend UN sessions.

“These questions are extremely important … Most importantly she has been meeting Israeli diplomats and is known for her support (of) Israel,” he said. 

“This is an extremely grave situation that the PM himself must explain.”

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LONDON: A group of countries has called on the international community to deny Israel “the tools of genocide.”

The Hague Group, an alliance of states dedicated to putting pressure on Israel, met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

They discussed ways to alleviate suffering in Gaza, and to prevent Israel from committing further violence in the enclave and the occupied West Bank.

Members called for a block on exports to the country, a ban on participation in international cultural events, and support for an aid flotilla currently approaching Gaza in the Mediterranean.

The group is co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, whose government brought a case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice in December 2023.

Last week, South Africa’s ICJ case was joined by Brazil, which said Israel has no right to claim that its actions in Gaza constitute self-defense as an occupying power.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told the group: “We must turn indignation into action, law into justice, and justice into peace.”

His government has also called for an international mission to be sent to Gaza, similar to the one established by the UN in 1962 to oversee the end of apartheid in South Africa.

“International law requires a state not only to refrain from genocide but also to prevent it. Failure to do so may give rise to state responsibility including complicity with genocide,” Vieira said.

“The time has come for states to fulfill their obligations under the Genocide Convention by adopting effective measures to ensure that they don’t, directly or indirectly, collaborate with its perpetrators.”

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said it is essential that international corporations complicit in the occupation are identified. Chile, another member of the group, recently withdrew its ambassador to Israel.

Zane Dangor, director general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said preventing genocide is a duty, despite the difficulty in proving it legally, in the aftermath of a UN report earlier this month that found reasonable grounds to conclude that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to the UN, told The Guardian: “The Hague Group represented an inflection point in the struggle to secure accountability and to prevent Israel receiving arms and services. Much more needs to be done, and fast.”