JI to hold Gaza March today at sea view Karachi

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) announced the Gaza Million march on Sunday, January 12, at Sea View to express solidarity with Palestinians who are facing oppression by Israel.

The Gaza March will begin from Nishan-e-Pakistan in the evening and JI chief Karachi chapter Munem Zafar appealed to all Karachiites to attend and stand united with the people of Gaza.

While reviewing preparations for the Gaza March, Munem Zafar said that Gaza is facing genocide and siege, with more than 85 per cent of the territory destroyed by Israel with the help of International forces.

He emphasized that being the land of Prophets and the first Qibla, Palestine is sacred for Muslims and its freedom is a matter of faith and belief for the entire Ummah.

Meanwhile, The United Nations said that over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed there since October 2023, most of them women and children.

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave “very serious and shameful”.

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

“We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians,” the text said

“We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country’s energy network has been hit.”

The pope, 88, who was present for the address but asked an aide to read it as he is recovering from a cold, also condemned anti-Semitism; called for an end to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world; and expressed concern over climate change.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope’s “state of the world” speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.