ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, parliamentarians and thousands of people on Friday offered funeral prayers in absentia for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, condemning Israeli military actions in Palestinian territories.
Haniyeh and a bodyguard were killed in the pre-dawn attack on their accommodation in Tehran early on Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said. He had traveled to Iran to attend Tuesday’s swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The Hamas leader’s assassination came just hours after Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut, killing Fuad Shukr, the military commander of Hamas-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, deepening fears of a wider regional escalation.
Sharif along with Pakistani lawmakers offered prayers at Parliament House in Islamabad, which were broadcast live by the state television. Separately, hundreds of people offered funeral prayers in absentia for Haniyeh at Islamabad’s iconic Faisal Mosque.
“An incident of worst brutality has come to the fore, which the entire world, including Pakistan, Turkiye, Malaysia, China and Russia, has condemned in the strongest words,” Sharif said at an earlier press talk on Friday, referring to Haniyeh’s assassination.
“The world peace institutions, which were formed decades ago to establish law and order, I believe their conscience must be awaken today.”
Funeral prayers for the slain Hamas chief were offered elsewhere in the South Asian country as well.
Separately, Pakistan’s National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, passed a unanimous resolution expressing its “unified grief and anger” over the ongoing Israeli oppression and brutality against Palestinians for the last nine months.
“This house strongly condemns the ongoing state oppression and brutality by Israel in Palestine as a tragedy for the Muslim Ummah and the world,” read the resolution passed by the National Assembly, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and extending condolences to the family of Haniyeh.
The resolution called on the international community to take “collective action” to halt Israel’s oppression and brutalities and deliver justice to the Palestinian people.
“This house calls for the immediate admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations,” the resolution added.
The Pakistan parliament also decided to continue to supply aid to Palestine and take effective measures for medical assistance to the oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters, including treatment in Pakistan.
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. The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.
Separately, Sharif told Pakistan’s parliament on Friday that his country would continue to provide relief goods and medical assistance to the Palestinians.
“It has been decided to continue providing relief goods to Palestine and will undertake measures for the wounded Palestinians through which arrangements will be made to bring them to Pakistan for treatment,” he said.
“We have also decided Palestinian medical students will be admitted to Pakistani medical colleges.”
Israel launched a war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 in response to an attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Militants also took around 200 Israelis hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
PM among thousands at Islamabad funeral in absentia for slain Hamas leader
https://arab.news/2jse7
PM among thousands at Islamabad funeral in absentia for slain Hamas leader
- Pakistan observes ‘Day of Mourning’ in solidarity with Palestine after killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
- Pakistan parliament passes resolution demanding global community deliver justice to Palestinian people
Pakistan’s transportation strike could cause economic losses of $1 billion, warn analysts
- Traders, textile mill owners say strike has cost $60 million per day in exports, port demurrages, detention charges
- Analysts warn 10-day strike could threaten economic stability by deepening inflation, widening current account deficit
KARACHI: Pakistan’s ongoing transportation strike has the potential to cause economic losses of up to $1 billion and threaten macroeconomic stability in the country, a leading economist warned this week.
Transport unions have been protesting against stricter enforcement of axle-load limits — legal caps on how much weight trucks can carry — as well as increases in toll taxes and what they describe as heavy-handed policing on highways and motorways.
The strike, which began on Dec. 8, is now in its tenth day. It has slowed the flow of goods between ports, industrial centers and markets, raising concerns over supply chains in an economy heavily reliant on road transport for domestic trade and exports. Trucking is the backbone of Pakistan’s logistics system, moving food, fuel, raw materials and manufactured goods.
“We are expecting a tremendous impact of the ongoing transportation strike,” Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“I believe that the major impact could be to the tune of $1 billion. And the reason behind that is primarily Karachi being a business hub will be most impacted with the ongoing strike.”
While a section of the transporters, the All Pakistan Goods Transport Association (APGTA) called off the strike after successful talks with the Punjab government on Friday, the rest of the transporters have vowed to continue the disruption.
Manufacturers and exporters from the textile industry, which earns Pakistan the highest amount in exports, have estimated their daily losses at more than $60 million.
Kamran Arshad, chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), said these losses were on account of disruption to exports as well as demurrage and detention charges that affected traders are bound to pay at local ports.
“I have estimated disruption to as much as $60 million ($540 million for nine-day losses) worth of exports and demurrage and detention charges of up to $300 per container per day stuck at ports,” Arshad said.
Arshad lamented that the textile industry was facing a critical situation as raw materials and essential inputs were stuck at ports and not reaching factories. On the other hand, finished export consignments were also unable to reach ports, he said.
“Containers are stuck at mills, ports and depots and inventories are building up,” the APTMA chief said. “And backlogs are growing by the day.”
Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Patron-in-Chief Khurram Mukhtar calculated Pakistan’s monthly average textile exports at $1.5 billion.
“An eight-day transport shutdown alone has already caused approximately $400 million in export losses, with severe supply chain disruptions on top,” Mukhtar said.
’BIG HIT’ TO EXPORTS
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has tasked his government to ensure sustained economic growth through an export-driven economy. However, Pakistan’s exports have shown far from promising results, falling by 15 percent to $2.4 billion in November, according to data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
From the July-November period of this fiscal year, the country’s exports declined by six percent to $12.8 billion, while imports surged by 13 percent to $28.3 billion. This widened the trade deficit by 37 percent to $15.5 billion.
Arshad said other than financial losses, the trade industry was suffering from “serious reputational damage” when it came to international buyers due to the strike’s disruptions.
“Missed delivery schedules result in cancelations and loss of future orders,” he told Arab News. “And once a buyer is lost, it is extremely difficult to regain their confidence.”
Rehan Hanif, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), agreed.
“Our exports are already in trouble forcing us to run after dollars, so the exports are going to take a big hit,” Hanif explained.
He urged the government to engage transporters and address their “genuine” demands immediately.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad did not respond to queries sent by Arab News till the filing of this report.
Hanif said the prolonged strike had created a huge backlog of cargos at local ports.
“They would have no space for more containers if this strike persisted for a couple of more days,” he said. “Pakistan’s daily losses from the strike are running in billions of rupees.”
POSSIBLE INFLATION SPIKE
However, Karachi Port Trust spokesperson Shariq Amin Farooqui rejected Hanif’s claims, saying that cargo “is coming and leaving” the country’s largest port smoothly.
Pakistan’s inflation rose by 6.1 percent in November and is expected to fall in the SBP’s target range of 5 to 7 percent this financial year, which is ending in June.
Pakistan’s current account balance reported a $112 million deficit in October from an $83 million surplus in September, according to the central bank.
Mehanti warned the strike could pose dangers to Pakistan’s hard-earned macroeconomic stability.
“Inflation will be higher, and the current account deficit will be higher due to challenging economic situation,” he said.
