ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday condemned fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza’s Khan Younis area that killed 49 Palestinians, describing it as a “mockery of humanity.”
Israeli tanks rolled back into the greater Khan Younis area after Israel ordered evacuations of some districts it said had been used for renewed attacks by militants.
The Palestinians were killed by tank salvoes in the town of Bani Suhaila and others fringing the eastern side of Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded by air, residents said.
“Such an aggressive attack within minutes of instructions given to Khan Younis refugees to evacuate is a mockery of humanity,” Sharif said in a statement. “The unarmed Palestinian refugees were not even given a chance to evacuate.”
The Gaza health ministry said the dead included several women and children and that at least 186 other people had been injured by Israeli fire.
Around 400,000 people are living in the targeted areas and dozens of families have begun to leave their houses, Palestinian officials said, adding they were not given time to get out of harm’s way before the Israeli strikes began.
The Pakistan premier said it was clear that Israeli forces were acting on “the agenda of genocide of the Palestinians.”
He reiterated Pakistan’s support for the Palestinians in their struggle for right to self-determination. “The United Nations must play its role in resolving the Palestine issue,” Sharif added.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October last year, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations and demanded international powers and multilateral bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas after militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border assault on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
The death toll among Palestinians in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then had reached at least 39,006 as of Monday, Gaza health authorities said.
Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’
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Pakistan condemns fresh Israeli attack on Gaza’s Khan Younis, calls it ‘mockery of humanity’
- Israeli tanks rolled back into the greater Khan Younis area after Israel ordered evacuations of some districts it said were being used by militants
- Israeli tank salvoes killed 49 Palestinians in the town of Bani Suhaila and others fringing eastern Khan Younis, with the area also bombarded by air
Traders say Karachi plaza fire caused $54 million losses as death toll climbs to 71
- Rescuers work through unstable debris as identification continues, compensation announced
- Rising death toll underscores scale of the disaster and the challenges now facing forensic teams
ISLAMABAD: A deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi has killed at least 71 people and caused estimated losses of up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million), traders and officials said on Friday, as recovery teams continue searching unstable debris and families await identification of victims.
The fire broke out on Jan. 17 at Gul Plaza, a densely packed commercial complex in the heart of Karachi that housed more than 1,200 shops. The blaze burned for over 24 hours before being brought under control, trapping workers and shoppers inside and leaving large sections of the building structurally unsafe.
Deadly fires are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowded markets, aging infrastructure, illegal construction and weak enforcement of safety regulations frequently contribute to disasters. Officials say a blaze of this scale is rare.
“We have processed 71 sets of remains, of which 20 have been identified,” chief police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said on Friday, underscoring the scale of the disaster and the challenges facing forensic teams.
Identification has been significantly slowed by the condition of the remains recovered from the site, Syed said, noting that many bodies were found in fragments, complicating DNA analysis and prolonging the process for families waiting for confirmation.
Tanveer Pasta, president of the Gul Plaza Market Association, said all shops in the plaza were destroyed, estimating total losses at up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million).
“There were big importers sitting here,” he told Arab News on Thursday. “Just three days before this fire, 31 [shipping] containers were unloaded.”
Relatives of dozens of missing persons have remained near the destroyed plaza and at hospitals even after submitting DNA samples, with some families expressing frustration over the pace of recovery and identification.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the city administration remained focused on rescue operations and on returning victims’ remains to their families as quickly as possible. His remarks came after he visited the homes of several victims, according to a statement from his office.
“Rescue personnel of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are still engaged in the rescue operation, while the administration is making every effort to hand over [remains] of the victims, loved ones to their families at the earliest,” Wahab was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, the Sindh provincial government announced compensation of Rs10 million ($35,720) for the family of each person killed in the blaze and said affected shopkeepers would also receive financial assistance.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire. Police have said preliminary indications point to a possible electrical short circuit, though officials stress conclusions will only be drawn after investigations are completed.
