Women, students march in Pakistan to support Palestinians

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Hundreds of women and children demonstrated Thursday in Karachi in support of Palestinians as such protests continued across Pakistan.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with pro-Palestine and anti-Israel slogans, women, many carrying children, gathered in the central district of the port city for the rally organized by Jamaat-e-Islami, the mainstream religiopolitical party.

In addition, more than 2,000 students attended a rally at Karachi University, one of the country’s largest institutes of higher learning, to denounce what they said is "Israel's war crimes in Gaza."

Carrying a 200-foot (61-meter) long Palestinian flag, male and female students, along with their teachers, marched on the campus.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Hassan Feroz, and Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, attended the rally, the second at a campus since Oct.7, when the Palestine resistance group, Hamas, launched a surprise attack against Israel.

"This is the joint responsibility of the international community to stop Israeli aggression against unarmed civilians, " Feroz told demonstrators.

"It's not war. it's massacre," he said.

Pakistan has seen massive protests since Oct. 7 with the president and caretaker prime minister expressing solidarity with Palestinians and denouncing actions by Israel.

President Arif Alvi last week visited the Palestinian Embassy in Islamabad to reiterate Pakistan’s support for Palestinians.

- Pakistan urges 'Israeli backers' to get cease-fire

Pakistan urged the "backers of Israel" on Thursday to play a role in bringing an end to the Israeli aggression and take effective steps to lift the siege of Gaza.

They also want them to “support a sustainable pipeline of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including water, fuel, food, and medicines for the besieged people of Gaza," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zehra Baloch said at a news conference in Islamabad.

The international community must also ensure that the violence and the bombing campaign do not spread and engulf the entire Middle East, she said.

She regretted that despite the "rising death toll, flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and calls for ethnic cleansing," the UN Security Council has failed to demand a cease-fire and put an end to the carnage in Gaza.

Islamabad reiterated its "full and unequivocal" support for Palestinians in Gaza "who are at the receiving end of an inhumane campaign of collective punishment by the Israeli occupation forces."

The conflict in Gaza began when Hamas, initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood -- a multi-pronged surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air.

Hamas group said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

More than 8,400 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.

Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and aid convoys allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what is needed.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​