Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Thursday announced that all New Year celebrations will be banned across the country in an expression of solidarity with Palestinians facing the brunt of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip in the 11-week-long conflict since October 7, reported Geo News.
Pakistan has repeatedly condemned Israeli aggression in Gaza, which left 21,000 Palestinians dead and the majority of the 2.3 million population displaced. "Pakistani nation is in a sad state [...] so keeping in mind the situation, the Government of Pakistan has decided to ban all celebrations related to New Year’s," said caretaker PM Kakar in a televised address.
“I appeal to all Pakistanis: show solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians and observe simplicity with the dawn of the new year,” Kakar said, noting that the war situation was catastrophic. He also said that Pakistan has sent two consignments of humanitarian aid to Gaza and will send a third tranche of aid while consulting with Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts for the same.
This comes after Sharjah, an emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of few Arab states that has official ties with Israel, has banned New Year's Eve fireworks this year as an expression of solidarity with the people of Gaza. The ban is "a sincere expression of solidarity and humanitarian cooperation with our siblings in the Gaza Strip," Sharjah police said in the post.
The UAE forged ties with Israel in 2020 in a move that paved the way for other nations to build relations with Israel. The Arab country has repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war in Gaza, condemning Israel's relentless bombardment and ground operations.
Concerns over Israel-Hamas war
The development comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported thousands of people trying to flee the current fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in Gaza, as the former seek to expand their operations in the central part of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Palestinian health authorities said that 210 people were confirmed killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, raising the toll of the war to 21,320 dead. Thousands more dead are feared to be buried or lost in the ruins as the Israeli military operations are feared to spread further towards the south.
Additionally, more than 55,000 others have been wounded in the attack, according to the Gaza health ministry. The rising death toll has sparked international alarm, with many countries calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, on Wednesday.
Israeli forces continued to bomb cities, towns and refugee camps across Gaza overnight and into Thursday, killing dozens of people in an air and ground offensive against Hamas that has widened to most of the territory. Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas — which is still putting up stiff resistance, even in the north — and bring back more than 100 hostages still held by the militants after their October 7 attack into southern Israel.
Israel has escalated its ground war in Gaza sharply since just before Christmas despite public pleas from the United States - its closest ally - to scale the campaign down in the closing weeks of the year. Tens of thousands of people were reported fleeing the huge Nusseirat, Bureij and Maghazi districts were heading south or west on Thursday into the already squeezed Deir al-Balah city, crowding into hastily built camps of makeshift tents.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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