October 2023 - Page 4 of 9

Nawaz’s homecoming: PML-N gets go-ahead to hold rally at Greater Iqbal Park on Oct 21

The district administration of Lahore granted permission to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to hold a public meeting at the Greater Iqbal Park on October 21, where the party’s supremo Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to deliver his maiden speech after touching down in Pakistan after a span of almost four years, it emerged on Sunday.

The three-time former prime minister landed in London in November 2019 in an air ambulance to seek medical treatment for multiple diseases after he was allowed to leave Pakistan by the Lahore High Court (LHC).

In a statement, the district administration said that the former ruling party had been informed about the terms and conditions for the rally at the park. At the same time, the PML-N was directed to obtain separate permission from the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Karachi ahead of holding the rally.

The PML-N submitted an affidavit to the city administration wherein the former ruling party assured that it would pay the Parks and Horticulture Authority for any kind of damage in the park during the public meeting.

The district administration further said that they would remain in close contact with the authorities concerned on matters related to security, flow of traffic and organisers of the public gathering. A traffic plan and traffic advisory will be issued soon to avoid an inconvenience for the public.

Nawaz performs Umrah

On October 12, the former premier — who was on his way back home after four years of self-imposed exile — accompanied by his son Hussain Sharif and other close aides performed Umrah following his landing in Saudi Arabia ahead of his return to Pakistan.

Nawaz had left London for Pakistan via Riyadh and Dubai — on Wednesday.

After performing Umrah, the PML-N supremo will reside in Dubai for three days and then fly to Pakistan in a chartered plane on October 21 to address a gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan, where he will chalk out his agenda ahead of the next elections.

Nawaz stepped down as the country’s prime minister in 2017 after he was disqualified for life from holding public office by the Supreme Court for not declaring a receivable salary.

‘Umeed-e-Pakistan’

The flight carrying Nawaz to Pakistan will have the name “Umeed-e-Pakistan”, which can carry approximately 150 passengers. “The booking has been made and all arrangements are in place,” said a source.

The special flight will land in Islamabad from Dubai before proceeding to Lahore, where Nawaz will address the gathering arranged by his party.

Bail or jail?

PML-N senior leader Ishaq Dar says there is no chance of Nawaz being arrested on return to Pakistan.

He said that transit bail and protective bail would be obtained from the court. “Nawaz Sharif will follow the standard legal procedures.”

The former finance minister also said that PML-N’s narrative would be focusing on the economy. “Recovery of the economy is the best revenge.”

Nawaz will return to Pakistan next week with the status of a convicted criminal as he has been sentenced in two graft cases.

The former premier will have to get the sentences awarded to him in two National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases suspended upon his return to the country by filing appeals in the respective court.

He will have to file the appeals all over again, as for the first time, when he had filed the pleas for his acquittal and nullification of the sentence, they were thrown out by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) due to his status as an absconder and also owing to non-pursuance on the case.

Besides getting the convictions in both cases suspended, the PML-N supremo will also have to take the legal option for protection from arrest till he reaches a court.

In this regard, some legal experts believe that being an absconder, Nawaz will not be able to get any relief without having a trip to the prison.

Meanwhile, some others oppose this point and are of the view that whenever a convict surrenders before the court, it gives him a chance to face the law.

Surrender necessary

Ex-president of the IHC Bar Association Shoaib Shaheen told Geo.tv that even for an absconder, the court can grant the relief of a protective bail in “extraordinary circumstances”.

“However, there is no room [for such a relief] in the law for a convicted criminal, nor is there any such judicial precedent available,” he added.

He said that no absconding convict can have his plea heard in the court until they surrender themselves before the law.

Meanwhile, Niazullah Niazi, an Islamabad-based lawyer, said that Nawaz had gotten the bail after suspension of the sentence awarded to him but the bail has expired.

He said that the sentence had been restored after Nawaz was declared an absconder and now the court cannot entertain any petition until the absconding criminal appears before it and surrenders.

“Nawaz will have to seek bail after going to jail, then the court can give him any relief,” he said.

Some room?

Commenting on the matter, former advocate general Islamabad Barrister Jahangir Jadoon, said: “Nawaz Sharif — upon his return — might get protection for reaching court.”

He mentioned that when arrest warrants are issued after an individual is declared a proclaimed offender, the accused/suspect is to be apprehended and made to surrender before the law.

“If a proclaimed offender intends to surrender voluntarily, the court then allows him to do so. Nawaz would have to move the high court to revive the appeal against his sentence, as well as seek suspension of his sentence so that this matter could be decided upon soon,” Jadoon said while commenting on the prospects if the former prime minister surrenders before the court.

Jadoon said if Nawaz’s sentence is not suspended despite surrendering before the court, then the former prime minister might have to go to jail.

Meanwhile, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz said that the PML-N supremo, despite being a proclaimed offender, can file an application for protective bail.

Convictions and court orders

It is pertinent to note that an accountability court sentenced the three-time prime minister in Avenfield and Al-Azizia Steel Mills references.

The sentence was challenged in the high court which had suspended the accountability court’s sentence.

Appeal proceedings — for the petition challenging the sentence — were underway when Nawaz travelled abroad for medical treatment and didn’t return to pursue the case.

The PML-N supremo — after he moved to the LHC instead of the IHC — was allowed to go abroad for four weeks after his brother and party president Shehbaz Sharif submitted an undertaking in the court assuring Nawaz’s return once his health improves.

The IHC — in the absence of the PML-N supremo — threw out the appeals on account of “non-prosecution” instead of adjourning the proceedings for an indefinite period.

The court, while declaring Nawaz as a proclaimed offender, noted that the appeals were rejected on technical grounds and not on the merits of the arguments.

The applicant can once again file an appeal against the sentence upon his return, the court added.

Israel’s ‘deliberate, disproportionate’ targeting of Gaza civilians in violation of international law: PM Kakar

Israel has imposed a “total siege” to stop food and fuel from reaching the enclave of 2.3 million people, many poor and dependent on aid in response to a surprise Hamas offensive on October 7 that left 1,300 Israelis dead, according to officials.

After it suffered the deadliest attack in its history, Israel unleashed a relentless bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip that has flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people, mainly civilians.

The statement by the premier comes a day after Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani slammed Israel for “committing a genocide” against Palestinians and said the grave situation stemmed from seven decades of illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

In a statement on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Kakar said, “Pakistan is deeply concerned on the ongoing violence and loss of life in Gaza. We stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine and call for an immediate ceasefire and lifting of the blockade in Gaza.”

He said that the violence needed to be viewed in “the context of years of forced and illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and repressive policies against its people”.

“The UN and international community must immediately act to open safe and unrestricted humanitarian corridors for transportation of urgently needed relief supplies to the besieged Gaza,” he said.

The prime minister added that Pakistan was closely coordinating with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its member states on the “fast deteriorating situation” in Gaza.

He said that the foreign minister would also be attending an emergency meeting of the OIC’s executive committee on October 18 and “call for urgent action to alleviate the suffering of people of Gaza”.

One million Gazans flee as Israel readies for ground attack

More than one million people have fled their homes in Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair as Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled territory and continued massing troops on Monday in preparation for a full-blown ground invasion.

Following an Israeli order to move to the south of the Gaza Strip, people have fled their homes in the north of the enclave to seek shelter wherever they can, including on the streets and in UN-run schools.

Palestinians carrying whatever belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed onto three-wheeled motorbikes, battered cars, vans and even donkey carts have become a common sight.

“No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like I’m losing my humanity,” said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza City to Rafah in the south of the enclave, and is having to stay with strangers.

US President Joe Biden said in an interview with the CBS news programme ‘60 Minutes’ that while invading and “taking out the extremists” was needed, any move by Israel to occupy Gaza would be a “big mistake”.

Biden said he believed Hamas must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state.

‘Verge of abyss’

A bereaved and infuriated Israel has massed forces outside the long-blockaded enclave of 2.4 million in preparation for what the army has said would be a land, air and sea attack involving a “significant ground operation”.

“We are at the beginning of intense or enhanced military operations in Gaza City,” spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Jonathan Conricus said. “It would be unsafe for civilians to stay there,” he added.

Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have warned that an invasion of Gaza would be met with a response.

“No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts” if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza, said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border has intensified in the last week, prompting Israel to shutter the area to civilians.

On Sunday, a rocket hit the UN peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah attacks killed one person in Israel, the Israeli military said. At least 11 people have been killed in Lebanon and at least two in Israel in the past week.

Among those killed in Lebanon was a Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken was due to hold talks in Israel on Monday after a crisis tour of Middle Eastern countries in a frantic attempt to avert a wider crisis in the volatile region.

But as Israel seeks to avenge the brutal attack that also saw Hamas fighters take scores of hostages, the Arab League and African Union have warned an invasion could lead to “a genocide”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned that the entire region was “on the verge of the abyss”.

Israeli troops prepare weapons and armed vehicles near the southern city of Ashkelon on October 15. — AFP

Escalation risk

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country had “no interest in a war in the north, we don’t want to escalate the situation”.

The United States, which has given unequivocal backing to Israel, has sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent.

The White House has voiced fears at the prospect of Iran becoming “directly engaged”, after Tehran praised the Hamas attack but insisted it was not involved.

Biden, asked in the ‘60 Minutes’ interview whether US troops might join the war, said “I don’t think that’s necessary”.

“Israel has one of the finest fighting forces … I guarantee we’re gonna provide them everything they need,” he said.

The United States has also appealed to China to use its influence in the region to ease tensions.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel’s response had “gone beyond the scope of self-defence”, and demanded that it “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”.

People gather in a neighbourhood in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, after it was hit by an Israeli strike on October 15. — AFP

Aid agencies’ alarm

Massing thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, the Israeli military has said it is awaiting the “political” green light to go into northern Gaza.

The army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip to head to the south of the enclave.

But Israeli air strikes were continuing in the south of Gaza, including in Khan Yunis and Rafah, where one resident said a doctor’s house was targeted. “All the family was wiped out,” said Khamis Abu Hilal.

The UN said on Monday that 47 entire families, amounting to around 500 people, have been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign.

Foreign governments and aid agencies, including the UN and Red Cross, have repeatedly criticised Israel’s evacuation order.

The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said on Sunday that some one million Palestinians had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict — but the number was likely to be higher.

Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, decried that Israel was connecting humanitarian aid into Gaza with the release of scores of hostages kidnapped during the Hamas attack.

“Neither should be conditional,” she insisted in a video posted by the UN. “They have said they want to destroy Hamas, but their current trajectory is going to destroy Gaza.”

Evacuations

In Gaza, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured, with officials saying Sunday that some 9,600 people have been wounded.

Israeli energy minister Israel Katz on Sunday said water supplies to southern Gaza had been switched back on.

But power outages threaten to cripple life-support systems, from sea water desalination plants to food refrigeration and hospital incubators.

Even everyday functions — from going to the toilet, showering and washing clothes — are almost impossible, locals said.

Gazans are effectively trapped, with Israeli-controlled crossings closed and Egypt also having shut the Rafah border in the south.

Blinken said he was confident the crossing “will be open” for aid into the strip, amid reports that Egypt was blocking the passage of Gazans with foreign passports until relief supplies are allowed in.

He categorically rejected the idea floated of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Thousands take part in pro-Palestinian rally in Turkey, Morocco

Thousands turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul on Sunday, after sustained Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip and warnings about a ground attack there.

“They’ve been chasing people out of their homes for years. Now they’re not killing people one by one day by day, they’re killing them en masse,” one of the marchers, Bayram Atabey, a shopkeeper in his thirties, told AFP.

“This is what Israel is doing and we are protesting against it,” he added at the rally organised by a radical Islamist group allied to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamo-conservative AKP party.

Two other large-scale demonstrations took place on Friday and Saturday on Istanbul’s historic peninsula to denounce Israel’s response to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s bloody attack on the Jewish state on September 7, the bloodiest ever committed on its territory.

One of Erdogan’s sons, and a son-in-law, took part in Saturday’s march.

During his two decades in power, Erdogan has repeatedly taken a stand in favour of the Palestinians, notably in a virulent indictment of former Israeli president Shimon Peres at the Davos forum in 2009.

Last year, however, he ended more than a decade of diplomatic rift with Israel.

In September he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

This week the Turkish president nevertheless forcefully denounced “the indiscriminate massacre of innocent people in Gaza”, asserting that Israel “does not behave like a state”.

Tens of thousands march in Morocco for Palestinians

Tens of thousands protested in Morocco Sunday in support of Palestinians amid the Gaza war, the biggest demonstration in the North African kingdom since it normalised ties with Israel in 2020.

Crowds stretching for two kilometres (more than a mile) marched through the capital Rabat in the mass rally called by an alliance of Islamist parties and a left-wing coalition.

“The people will liberate Palestine,” demonstrators chanted while others waved huge Palestinian flags, donned keffiyehs and voiced “unconditional support for resistance to the occupation”.

“We apologise to the people of Gaza because we can’t do more than protest,” said university professor Sheherazade Bekkari, 50, who had travelled more than 200 kilometres from Fez with her children to join the protest.

“Down with Zionism”, read some placards, while others declared that “Hamas is Palestine”.

Israel’s new war was sparked when the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people.

Israel has launched an intense reprisal, pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes and killing more than 2,450 people.

Some protesters in Morocco stamped on Israeli and American flags, denouncing Washington’s support for Israel.

Other placards denounced “terrorism regardless of its perpetrators”.

The protest, which was punctuated by prayers against “tyranny and oppression”, was the largest in Morocco since it normalised relations with Israel in December 2020 in a US-sponsored deal.

“The people want to abolish normalisation” some protesters chanted, as well as the slogan “against occupation, against normalisation”.

Until now, Morocco’s anti-normalisation movement had been able only to mobilise, at most, a few hundred people.

The treaty with Israel has been of great importance to Rabat because it came in exchange for Washington recognising Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Morocco maintains that the territory, a former Spanish colony under its control, is an integral part of the kingdom.

The Polisario Front, which campaigns for Western Sahara’s independence with the support of Algeria, demands a referendum on self-determination.

Israel and Morocco have strengthened their economic and security cooperation following the deal.

However, Moroccan supporters of normalisation have been embarrassed by extreme right-wing parties entering Israel’s government and surging violence in the occupied West Bank over recent months.

The right-wing populist Law and Justice party is on course to win most seats in Poland’s general election, an exit poll suggests, but is unlikely to secure a third term in office.

Known as PiS, it is set to win 36.6% of the vote, with the centrist opposition on 31%, says the Ipsos poll.

If that is correct, Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition has a better chance of forming a coalition.

He is aiming to end eight years of PiS rule under leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The PiS leader admitted he did not know if the party’s “success will be able to be turned into another term in power”.

Initial results give PiS the lead, but they reflect small towns and the countryside which are party strongholds. A second Ipsos poll published on Monday morning reinforced its first poll on Sunday evening.

“Poland won, democracy has won,” Mr Tusk, 66, told a large crowd of jubilant supporters in what felt like a victory rally in Warsaw. “This is the end of the bad times, this is the end of the PiS government.”

There were roars as the Ipsos poll flashed up on the screen and Mr Tusk appeared to loud cheers and chants of his name.

Supporters appeared stunned, and election officials said later that turnout was probably 72.9%, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.

Polls closed at 21:00 local time, but there were still queues of voters reported well into the night in Warsaw and Krakow, and into the early hours in Wroclaw.

A larger proportion of 18-29 year-olds had turned out to vote than over-60s, Ipsos said.

PiS was heading for 198 seats in the 460-seat Sejm or parliament, according to the later poll, and would fall short of the 231 needed for a majority. It is unlikely to have much help from the far-right Confederation party, whose leader admitted it had fared far worse than expected, with a predicted 14 seats.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski told supporters they had to hope, but the exit poll showed a loss of 35 seats

Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk has described the vote as Poland’s most important since the fall of communism and vital for its future in the European Union.

He has vowed to improve relations with the EU and unlock €36bn (£30bn) of EU Covid pandemic recovery funds frozen in a row over PiS judicial reforms that led to staffing top courts with judges sympathetic to the ruling party.

If the two exit polls are borne out, Mr Tusk’s party has more chance of forming a broad coalition, with centre-right Third Way and left-wing Lewica.

There were few smiles among PiS party faithful in the minutes before the close of polls.

“We have to hope,” Mr Kaczynski declared. “Regardless of whether we are in power or whether we are in opposition, we will implement this project in various ways and we will not allow Poland to be betrayed.”

PiS supporters put on a brave face, chanting “Jaroslaw” and waving Polish flags, as the later exit poll suggested they had lost 37 seats since the 2019 election.

A party spokesman told the BBC he was still hopeful of forming a government as the poll was just a prediction.

Queues formed outside polling stations across Poland and beyond on Sunday.

A marbled foyer in Warsaw’s Stalinist Palace of Culture was crammed with voters, who snaked out into the square outside.

“The campaign was very strong and emotional, that’s why there are so many people,” a PiS voter called Agnes told the BBC.

One result of Poland’s ferocious election campaign was the increased turnout. “It seems that we beat the turnout record,” Commission head Sylwester Marciniak told a news conference.

Many voters in central Warsaw came with children and even pets, and election officials and security guards helped elderly voters climb the steps.

Voters talked of being nervous of the result of the election, and all of them saw it as decisive for the future direction of Poland.

Whoever wins, Poland’s strong support for Ukraine is unlikely to change, almost 20 months into Russia’s full-scale invasion. However, PiS leaders showed signs of wavering in recent weeks, in an apparent bid to bring back voters attracted to the Ukraine-sceptic Confederation party.

There were queues outside polling stations across the country

“We have a war on our border. We have to be sure the government will take us in the right direction and be more resistant to Russia,” said another voter called Ela.

Poles voted in more than 30,000 polling stations, and there were long queues outside Poland too, with 600,000 expats registered to vote.

“They’re the most important elections I’ve voted in during my lifetime,” said Magdalena Bozek as she queued up to vote in London. “It’s been quite a difficult eight years for us, for pro-Europeans.”

Civic Coalition has also vowed to liberalise abortion laws, after a near-total ban imposed in 2021.

The centre-right Third Way appeared to be one of the big winners of the night, with a predicted 13.5% of the vote, promising to simplify taxes and offering an alternative to the two big parties.

Piotr Buras, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, said an opposition victory would open the way to a “massive reorientation” of domestic and European policy. Their immediate goal would be to remove PiS figures from state institutions and public TV, he added.

Poland is divided into 41 districts and has a proportional representation system for its parliament, based on party lists. Expat votes count towards the Warsaw district.

President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the socially conservative ruling party, would normally ask the biggest party to form a government, and his aide indicated that was the traditional next step.

But if PiS fails to win a vote of confidence, then parliament would appoint a new prime minister who would then choose a government and also have to win a confidence vote in the Sejm .

That would leave PiS as Poland’s caretaker government potentially into December.

Five parties are set to cross the 5% threshold and enter the 460-seat Sejm or parliament.

Poles also voted for the upper house, the Senate, and taking part in four referendums that all appeared designed to bring PiS voters out to vote.

One asked whether the retirement age should increase, another whether Poland should accept more migrants from the rest of the EU.

Rishi Sunak is to address MPs to set out the government’s response to the unfolding crisis in the Middle East.

The session will follow a visit by the prime minister to show support for the Jewish community, Downing Street said.

It will also mark the first time Parliament has met since the four-week recess for party conference season.

Fears are growing of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, with the UN warning that the territory’s hospitals are likely to run out of fuel on Monday.

Hamas has said that some 400,000 of the 1.1m people in Gaza’s north have so far complied with Israel’s request that they move south.

Israel is preparing to launch a ground invasion in northern Gaza intended to target Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 people in a series of attacks on 7 October.

At least 17 British nationals are missing or confirmed dead following the attacks, and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Sunday that as many as 10 may be being held hostage.

The government said last week it believed up to 60,000 UK nationals are in Israel or Gaza.

On Monday, Mr Sunak will give a statement to Parliament “reiterating the UK’s total condemnation” of the attacks and “setting out the government’s approach to the developing crisis”, his office said.

He will outline the assistance the UK is providing to Israel, efforts to support British nationals caught up in the violence, and its response to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Earlier the same day, Mr Sunak will undertake a visit intended to demonstrate the government’s “continued support for the Jewish community” and “zero-tolerance for antisemitic abuse”.

Last week, he also chaired a roundtable meeting with police chiefs and announced £3m in additional funding for the Community Security Trust, a charity that works to improve the security of the Jewish community.

Following the attacks in Israel, the Metropolitan Police reported a “massive increase” in antisemitic incidents and offences in London.

On Monday, Mr Cleverly will also travel to the annual Berlin Process Summit of European and Western Balkan leaders, which this year is being held in Albanian capital Tirana, and will use the event to further rally support for Israel, the Foreign Office said.

Diplomatic efforts by world leaders are under way to try to stop the conflict in Gaza escalating or dragging in other countries in the region.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in Egypt, with which Gaza shares a border, for talks with the country’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

It was the latest stop on a tour that saw Mr Blinken hold talks in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as well as Israel.

Also on Sunday, Mr Sunak received King Abdullah of Jordan, who is on his own tour of European capitals, at Downing Street. The prime minister will hold further talks with international partners, including Middle Eastern leaders, in the coming days, his office said.

Concerns continue to mount about the situation inside Gaza and conditions for people still trapped there.

In recent days, US and UK officials have been trying to arrange for the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border – currently the only way out of the territory – to be opened to allow their citizens and dual nationals to leave.

Following his meeting with President Sisi, Mr Blinken said the crossing “will be reopened”, although he did not provide specifics, and said that he was working with the UN and others on a “mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it”.

Hundreds of tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula pending a deal that would allow it to be delivered via the crossing.

On Sunday, the UN’s humanitarian office warned that fuel reserves at Gaza hospitals were expected to last about another 24 hours.

“The shutdown of back-up generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk,” it said.

The mass movement of people to Gaza’s south has also placed huge strain on the territory’s already limited resources.

Last week, Israel cut off the supply of food, water, and energy to Gaza, although on Sunday it said it would resume the supply of water.

13 million Pakistanis won’t be able to vote in next elections?

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Friday refuted a news report that was “replete with inaccuracies and false information, incorrectly” suggesting that 13 million people won’t be able to vote in the next general elections.

ECP spokesperson, in a statement, said that the news report featured in Friday’s edition of a renowned daily newspaper is “saturated with inaccuracies and misinformation”.

The spokesperson clarified that voters’ registration was based on their permanent or current address as per their computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), and this process has no connection to population statistics.

“A census requires a person’s physical presence, whereas, voter registration is based on the address specified on the CNIC with no connection to population statistics,” he said.

Additionally, the election commission has lifted the freeze on electoral rolls, effective from September 28, ensuring the registration of all eligible individuals.

This freeze had been in place since July 20, 2017, under the provisions of Section 39 of the Elections Act, 2017.

He mentioned that the election commission was consistently raising public awareness regarding voter registration, exclusions, and accuracy through daily media campaigns, and this will continue until October 25, 2023.

Additionally, the election commission has acquired data for over 800,000 individuals who were issued CNICs by NADRA on October 1, 2023.

Data entry is currently underway, guaranteeing that all these eligible citizens can participate in the upcoming general elections and cast their respective votes, the spokesperson said.

Furthermore, the election commission has fixed October 25, 2023, as the final date for voter registration, exclusions, and verifications.

Consequently, individuals who would obtain their CNICs by October 25, 2023, can be confident about their eligibility to get their respective votes registered.

He mentioned that the election commission was fully conscious of its constitutional and legal obligations, as well as the rights of the voters.

The process of constituency delimitation will not infringe upon the voter’s rights.

Thousands rally in London, New York in solidarity with Palestinians

Attendees, who marched through the heart of the British capital as well as Manchester in northern England, Edinburgh in Scotland and other cities, were shadowed by a heavy police presence. Some held Palestinian flags and placards — bearing slogans including “freedom for Palestine”, “end the massacre” and “sanctions for Israel” — as they made their way towards the end-point for planned speeches. Chants of “Rishi Sunak, shame on you” could be heard.

“I think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end),” Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al Aqsa campaign, said.

In New York City, thousands rallied to show solidarity with Palestinians and draw attention to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Demonstrations occurred in various city neighbourhoods on Friday, where participants echoed the call for “Free Palestine” and an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories.

Ahead of the London protest, the city’s Metropolitan Police Service said it would deploy more than 1,000 officers, as the events thousands of miles away reverberate in Britain and elsewhere.

Police and the government have noted a spike in UK anti-Semitic crime and incidents while officers in Sussex, southeast England, arrested a 22-year-old woman suspected of having made a speech backing Hamas.

Israel readies troops for invasion as Palestinians in Gaza flee

The surprise attack by Hamas killed more than 1,300 people in the attack that Israel has compared to 9/11 in the United States, sparking a massive retaliatory bombing campaign targeting the group that has killed over 2,200 in Gaza.

Israel has warned around 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the Palestinian territory to flee to the south ahead of a ground incursion which the military has indicated will focus on Gaza City, the base of the leadership of the Hamas group.

The military said Gaza City residents must not delay their departure but a spokesperson said late on Saturday they still had time to leave ahead of the ground offensive.

Since Friday thousands of Gazans, who cannot leave the enclave as it is blockaded by both Israel and Egypt, have packed what belongings they can into bags and suitcases, to trudge through the rubble-strewn streets.

A stream of cars, trucks, three-wheeled vehicles and donkey-drawn carts joined the frantic mass movement south, all loaded with families and their belongings, mattresses, bedding and bags strapped onto the roofs of packed vehicles.

Palestinian families flee their homes following an Israeli attack on the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Octobers 15. — AFP

‘More is coming’

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday. AFP reporters near the southern Israeli city of Sderot saw troops fire at the densely populated enclave, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky.

The Israeli military said on Saturday the bodies of some of the dozens of hostages abducted by Hamas in its attacks had been found during operations inside Gaza.

Hamas earlier reported 22 hostages had been killed in Israeli bombardments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a flak jacket, earlier visited troops on the border front line, raising expectations of an imminent invasion.

“Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming,” he was heard telling several soldiers on a video released by his office.

To avert the risk of the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalating into a regional conflict, the United States deployed a second aircraft carrier that would “deter hostile actions against Israel”, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said.

A Palestinian walks by the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 15. — Reuters

Humanitarian crisis

Alarm has grown over the fate of Palestinian civilians in blockaded and besieged Gaza — one of the world’s most densely populated areas, home to 2.4 million — if it becomes the scene of intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting.

Aid agencies have said forcing Gazans to move is impossible while the conflict rages.

But with food, water, fuel and medical supplies running low because of an Israeli blockade, aid agencies are warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said Jumaa Nasser, who travelled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza with his wife, mother and seven children.

“We’ve had no food or sleep. We don’t know what to do. I’ve given my fate up to God,” he told AFP.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that forcing thousands of hospital patients to evacuate to already overflowing hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip could be “tantamount to a death sentence”.

Exiled Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing “war crimes” in Gaza but he ruled out any “displacement” of Gazans, including to Egypt.

Hamas is regularly accused by Israel of using civilians as human shields.

On the diplomatic front, Chinese envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East next week to push for a ceasefire and promote peace talks, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia has also pressed for an “immediate ceasefire”. Russia said it had asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on its ceasefire resolution.

Biden calls

In a call on Saturday, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu the United States was working with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan and others in the region “to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care”.

Biden also spoke with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and pledged “full support” to the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, “particularly in Gaza,” according to the White House.

Several people were reportedly killed in an Israeli bombardment while heading south on Saturday, according to Hamas officials and witnesses. AFP could not immediately confirm the report.

International aid agencies, including the UN and Red Cross, plus several foreign diplomats are concerned about the feasibility of the evacuation plan. “We fear an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” said Ivan Karakashian, of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

More than 423,000 Palestinians have already left their homes, and 5,540 homes have been destroyed, according to the United Nations.

Air strikes

Israel has fired thousands of missiles at northern Gaza. One air strike killed Ali Qadi, described as “a company commander of the Hamas ‘Nukhba’ commando force” involved in the unprecedented attack, the army said.

“Localised” raids have also taken place, as Israeli troops encircle the Gaza Strip, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus.

“We will likely evolve into additional significant combat operations,” he added. “When we do so, remember how this started… all of this is Hamas-made.”

But National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi admitted intelligence lapses that failed to spot the attack in advance.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which it has likened to the Islamic State group. But it maintains that ordinary Palestinians are not their target.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, while clashes in the occupied West Bank have killed 53 Palestinians in the past week.

Angry protests condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians in Gaza took place across the Arab world on Friday.

Western capitals, including London and Washington, also saw pro-Palestinian marches.

Northern threat

Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation on its northern border with Lebanon and artillery exchanges have taken place with the Hezbollah group in recent days.

On Friday, a Reuters video journalist was killed and six other reporters, from AFP, Reuters and Al-Jazeera, were wounded in shelling that Lebanon blamed on Israeli forces.

Two Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli shelling of a southern village on Saturday, its mayor told AFP. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed by Israeli fire.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Saturday night warned that the army “has very large forces in the north.” “Whoever reaches the fence to infiltrate Israel, will die,” he said in televised remarks.

A potential Israeli ground invasion has also increased fears for the safety of the 150 hostages, including foreigners, that Israel said Hamas seized.

Hamas has threatened to kill the hostages one by one for every unannounced Israeli air strike.

Israel’s army says it has contacted the families of 120 civilians being held so far. They called for medicines to be transferred to the captives as soon as possible.

British nationals in Gaza have been told to be ready in case the Rafah border crossing into Egypt is opened.

The crossing, which lies in Gaza’s south, is currently the only route out of the territory, with Hamas, Egypt, and Israel all exercising degrees of control over who can pass through.

It comes after a third UK government charter flight departed Israel.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will also host King Abdullah of Jordan on Sunday to discuss the conflict.

The last week has seen the supply of water, food, and energy to Gaza cut off, prompting international concern about the potential for a humanitarian disaster in the Strip.

The Israeli government has told the 1.1 million civilians in Gaza’s north to move south ahead of a ground offensive intended to target Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 people in a series of attacks in Israel last weekend.

At least 17 British nationals are missing or confirmed dead following the incursions. The UK government believes up to 60,000 British nationals are in Israel or Gaza.

In a statement late on Saturday, the UK’s Foreign Office said officials were working with Egyptian authorities to try to arrange for British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza via Rafah.

British nationals are being urged to move south as directed by the Israeli government and have been sent messages telling them to be on alert in case the crossing is opened.

The statement said Mr Sunak spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the situation earlier this week, while Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is in contact with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.

“The UK is committed to supporting British nationals in Israel and Gaza following this brutal terror attack by Hamas,” Mr Cleverly said.

“The safety of all British nationals is our priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our advice and register their presence so we can get in touch.”

The in-laws of Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf are in Gaza, where they were visiting relatives last week. In a video shared on Friday by Mr Yousaf on X, formerly known as Twitter, his mother-in-law, Elizabeth El-Nakla, said: “Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. One million people. No food. No water.”

On Saturday, the US government said it had been working with Egypt, Israel, and Qatar to try to open the Rafah crossing for a number of hours that afternoon to allow Palestinian-Americans to leave, but that it was unclear whether any had been able to.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said US citizens were being told to move towards Rafah because “there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time.”

The Foreign Office also said that three government-chartered flights carrying British nationals have now departed Israel, with more expected in the coming days.

Multiple flights scheduled for earlier in the week had to be postponed because of problems obtaining insurance, PA reported.

King Abdullah’s office said his visit to London was part of a European tour intended to “rally international support to stop the war on Gaza”.

He will also travel to Rome, Berlin, and Paris for meetings to discuss the “dangerous and deteriorating situation in Gaza” and the “need to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians”.

Countrywide rallies held in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israeli aggression

ISLAMABAD, RAWALPINDI, PESHAWAR. KARACHI: Amid Israeli warplanes’ fierce bombardment on the besieged Gaza Strip for the 7th straight day, thousands rallied across Pakistan to express solidarity with the Palestinian brethren on Friday.

According to the latest statistics, at least 1,799 Palestinians — including 583 children — were martyred in Israel’s recent aggression on Gaza. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sounded the alarm over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus munitions in its recent military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, igniting international concern over the potential consequences of these actions.

After Friday prayer, hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life took to the streets in several parts of the country and staged protest demonstrations against the Israeli brutality against the oppressed Palestinians.

Earlier today, more than one million residents of Gaza City were warned by the Israeli military to evacuate and move to the south in the next 24 hours, as it deployed its tanks near the Gaza Strip amid fears of a major ground offensive.

The Israeli occupation military has warned about “significantly” operating in Gaza City in the coming days, insisting that the residents will only be able to return when a relevant announcement is made.

In Karachi, several protest rallies and marches were held to express solidarity with Palestinians. The participants of the rallies were holding banners and placards inscribed with different slogans in support of Palestinians.

The Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) staged a protest rally against the Israeli oppression in Kharadar. They demanded that Israeli “atrocities and terrorism” should be stopped immediately.

In Peshawar, mass protest rallies were held against the Israeli attack on Gaza in the metropolis. The protests were organised by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), MWM, Imamia Jirga, Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) and other political and social organisations.

The protesters urged the United Nations (UN) to stop the genocide of Palestinians. They vowed to stand with Palestinian brethren till their last drop of blood. Addressing the protest rallies, the speakers expressed their disappointment over the silence of Islamic countries over the Israeli aggression.

In Lahore, the JI staged the “Palestine Solidarity March” on Mall Road. A large number of women and children were among the attendees of the rally.

Addressing the rally, JI Emir Sirajul Haq said that raising its voice for oppressed Palestinians is the responsibility of the Muslim Ummah.

Terming the Palestine matter “issue of our faith and Islam”, the JI chief demanded that the Israeli settlers should vacate the Palestinians’ land. He also slammed the United Nations (UN) and the Security Council for their silence over the Israeli brutalities.

“Why are champions of human rights silent over atrocities against Palestinians today?” asked the JI chief.

He sees the defeat of Israel and its “masters” in Palestine.

A huge rally — comprising motorcycles and vehicles — in solidarity with Palestinians was taken out in Thatta. Protest rallies were also held in Quetta, Zafarwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Umarkot, Shabqadar, Sheikhupura, Tharparkar, Mirpur Khas, Jhang, Rawalpindi, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad and other cities.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also held rallies in different cities as the party decided to mark today as “Palestine Solidarity Day”.

A delegation of PTI headed by Babar Awan met the Palestinian ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad and expressed solidarity with the people in Palestine on behalf of his party’s incarcerated Chairman Imran Khan.

PTI, however, claimed that the authorities barred the party from holding rallies in support of Palestinians.

Month: October 2023