UPDATE - Rallies held across Pakistan to mark 1st anniversary of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza

UPDATES WITH GOVERNMENT-LED ALL PARTIES CONFERENCE DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Amir Latif Arain

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - People in major Pakistani cities on Monday held rallies and demonstrations, as well as formed human chains, to express solidarity with Palestinians on the first anniversary of Israeli forces' genocidal war on Gaza.

Different political and religious parties, primarily the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country's mainstream religiopolitical party, and the center-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) organized a string of events in the commercial capital Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha, Hyderabad, and other cities.

Thousands of citizens, including students, women and children, came out of their homes, offices and schools across the country at noon to express solidarity with the people of Gaza and Lebanon.

Men, women, and children carrying Palestinian flags gathered at several points across Karachi to mark the day.

A Palestine solidarity ceremony was held at the state assembly of southern Sindh province, which was presided over by Speaker Owais Shah Qadir, who in his speech, condemned Israel's genocidal military actions in Gaza and demanded an immediate cease-fire.

The government, which is officially commemorating the day, has called an "all parties" summit to send a "collective message" to the world about Palestine.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 of last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 42,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 97,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

- Government, opposition vow to continue supporting Palestinians

Pakistan's ruling and opposition political and religious parties on Monday threw their weight behind Palestinians' "just" struggle for freedom, urging the international community, mainly the big powers to play an active role for an immediate cease-fire.

The resolve was expressed at a multi-party conference held at the President Office with President Asif Zardari in the chair to mark the first anniversary of Hamas-Israel conflict.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, three-time premier and Shehbaz's elder brother Nawaz Sharif, and leaders of almost all mainstream ruling and opposition political and religious parties attended the summit called by the government.

The key opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, however, did not attend the summit.

We express our unwavering support for the inalienable right of the people of Palestine to self-determination and for the relevant OIC and UN resolutions on Palestine that call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Palestinian Territories and a peaceful and negotiated solution to the conflict," said a joint declaration adopted in the summit, read by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

"The declaration demands an immediate ceasefire and the end of aggression in Gaza,” he read. “We also demand the immediate, unimpeded provision of humanitarian aid and to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law, war crimes and genocide," it added.

“Pakistan supports an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital,” it added.

The declaration also called for Palestine’s full UN membership.