ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has announced the formation of a committee to identify companies financially supporting Israel’s war in Gaza and recommend banning their products, according to a close aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday.
Rana Sanaullah, the PM’s political adviser, shared the decision after negotiating an end to a sit-in by the religious group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which was demanding an official ban on such products and increased food and medical assistance to Palestinians.
The TLP, which also asked the government to declare Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a terrorist,” called off its week-long sit-in after reaching an agreement with the government, as shared by the information ministry.
“Israel has emerged as a terrorist state and Netanyahu has committed war crimes,” Sanaullah said in a news conference in Islamabad after the TLP agreement. “Pakistan’s prime minister has condemned this in strong words during the Shanghai conference and Pakistan government will continue to condemn this on every forum, using all the possible steps to help Palestinian Muslims.”
“We have also agreed on and will follow it with details that not just Israel, but all the products related to them or those companies who, in any way, directly or indirectly, are involved in this cruelty or assisting that country [Israel] and its forces in any form, will be boycotted and use of their products will be banned,” he continued. “We have formed a committee in this regard, and we will go in detail to find out the companies that might be linked to Israel and if we may be using their products and because of that these forces who are involved in this cruelty are being helped financially.”
Many people in Pakistan have called for a boycott of foreign companies suspected of supporting Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
Social media campaigns and public figures have also voiced support for such a boycott, urging consumers to choose alternative products.
Israel’s has so far claimed at least 39,000 lives, many of them women and children. The casualties have sparked anger and protests worldwide, including in Pakistan, where the country’s civil society and political factions have consistently led pro-Palestine rallies.
The TLP set up its protest camp last Saturday at a busy traffic juncture, the Faizabad Interchange, connecting Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Known for its hard-line stance on blasphemy laws, the party also staged similar sit-ins at the same spot in the past, significantly disrupting the flow of traffic between the two cities.
Pakistan forms committee to identify businesses supporting Israel as religious party calls off sit-in
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Pakistan forms committee to identify businesses supporting Israel as religious party calls off sit-in
- TLP supporters staged a pro-Palestine sit-in at Faizabad Interchange connecting Rawalpindi and Islamabad last Saturday
- They asked the government to declare Israeli PM ‘a terrorist’ and send more food and medical supplies to Gaza Strip
Pakistan, other Muslim states raise alarm over Gaza situation after heavy flooding
- Cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing damaged buildings to collapse
- The situation has been compounded by lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies and materials
ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations on Friday voiced concern over the situation in Gaza, following severe flooding triggered by heavy rains in the territory.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating.
Cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities over past weeks, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing buildings damaged in Israeli bombardment to collapse. UNICEF says at least six children have now died of weather-related causes.
In a joint message, foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, expressed their “deepest concern” over the situation, compounded by lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies, and the slow pace of the entry of essential materials required for the rehabilitation of basic services.
“The ministers highlighted that the severe weather has laid bare the fragility of existing humanitarian conditions, particularly for almost 1.9 million people and displaced families living in inadequate shelters,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a joint statement.
“Flooded camps, damaged tents, the collapse of damaged buildings, and exposure to cold temperatures coupled with malnutrition, have significantly heightened risks to civilian lives, including due to disease outbreaks, especially among children, women, the elderly, and individuals with medical vulnerabilities.”
The statement came a day after UNICEF said a 7-year-old, Ata Mai, had drowned Saturday in severe flooding that engulfed his tent camp in Gaza City. Mai had been living with his younger siblings and family in a camp of around 40 tents.
They lost their mother earlier in the war, according to the UN agency.
Video from Civil Defense teams, shown on Al Jazeera, showed rescue workers trying to get Mai’s body out of what appeared to be a pit filled with muddy water surrounded by wreckage of bombed buildings. The men waded into the water, pulling at the boy’s ankle, the only part of his body visible. Later, the body is shown wrapped in a muddy cloth being loaded into an ambulance.
Foreign minister of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other states appreciated the efforts of all United Nations (UN) organizations and agencies as well as non-government organizations (NGOs) in continuing to assist Palestinian civilians and deliver humanitarian assistance under extremely difficult and complex circumstances.
“They demanded that Israel ensure the UN and international NGOs are able to operate in Gaza and the West Bank in a sustained, predictable, and unrestricted manner, given their integral role in the humanitarian response in the Strip. Any attempt to impede their ability to operate is unacceptable,” the statement read.
The foreign ministers reaffirmed support to President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the ceasefire, bringing an end to the war in Gaza, to secure a dignified life for the Palestinian people who have endured prolonged humanitarian suffering, and leading to a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.
“In this context, they stressed the urgent need to immediately initiate and scale up early recovery efforts, including the provision of durable and dignified shelter to protect the population from the severe winter conditions,” the statement read further.
“The ministers called on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies including tents, shelter materials, medical assistance, clean water, fuel, and sanitation support.”
