Thousands rally across Pakistan to demand humanitarian corridor for Gaza

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Thousands rallied across Pakistan on Sunday to express solidarity with Palestinians and demand an "immediate end to Israeli atrocities" in Gaza, where over 31,000 people, mostly children and women, have been killed since Oct. 7.

Gaza marches were held in the capital Islamabad, the commercial capital Karachi, and other cities on the call of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), a mainstream religiopolitical party.

In Islamabad, thousands of people, including women and children, gathered at the capital's famous "D chowk" (roundabout) before they marched toward Serena chowk.

Holding banners and Palestinian flags, demonstrators chanted anti-Israel and pro-Palestine slogans, calling on the international community to force Tel Aviv to stop the "genocide" in Gaza.

Denouncing Washington's support for Israel, the JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq drew a comparison between the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

He announced that his party will take out a protest march toward the US Embassy in Islamabad on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Regretting the "silence" of Muslim rulers over the "genocide" in Gaza, he hailed those people in the US and Europe who had come out in support of the Palestinians.

In Karachi, thousands of men, women, and children marched through the M.A. Jinnah road, the city's busiest street, to denounce Israel's actions in Gaza.

Chanting slogans "Aqsa we are here", "Gaza we are here," and "Stop genocide in Gaza," the demonstrators demanded an immediate cease-fire and the establishment of a human corridor for the besieged enclave.

JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, who led the rally, said he observed that the US, UK, and other allies are not only firmly standing with Israel while providing weapons and aid. "I want to ask where are Palestine's allies? They cannot even provide food to their brothers," he added.

More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,600 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents in the north, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.