Pakistan to observe ‘Palestine Solidarity Day’ on May 18

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan decided on Wednesday to observe “Palestine Solidarity Day” on May 18 countrywide.

According to Prime Minister Office, PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi directed the day to be observed across the country. “The government and the people of Pakistan would continue supporting their Palestinian brethren and present their case at every forum,” the statement said quoting the prime minister.

The day is aimed to demonstrate complete solidarity with the Palestinians in wake of Israeli troops killing dozens of Palestinians during clashes and protests along the Gaza border against the US embassy opening in Jerusalem on Monday – the conflict’s bloodiest day in years.

The governments of Pakistan and Turkey have also agreed to raise the issue of Palestinians’ massacre at the hands of Israeli forces at all international forums, including the United Nation.

In the bloodiest single day for Palestinians since 2014, Palestinian Health Ministry officials said 58 protesters were killed and 2,700 injured by live gunfire, tear gas or other means.

Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally, as its “eternal and indivisible capital”.

Peace talks aimed a finding a two-state solution to the conflict have been frozen since 2014.