ISLAMABAD: The first batch of 27 Palestinian medical students left for Pakistan from Cairo on Sunday to continue their medical studies in the South Asian country, the Pakistani embassy in Egypt said in a statement. 
Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced in July that Islamabad will provide scholarships to over 100 Palestinian students so that they are able to continue their medical studies in Pakistan as Israel’s war wreaks havoc in the Middle East. 
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed over 42,000 people in Gaza through relentless bombardment despite ceasefire calls and angry protests in several countries around the world. 
“Officials of Embassy of Pakistan in Cairo and representatives of Al-Khidmat Foundation facilitated the departure of the first batch of 27 Palestinian students from Cairo International Airport to Lahore today,” Pakistan’s Embassy in Cairo said. 
“This batch is part of 192 Palestinian medical students from Gaza who will continue their medical and dental studies in various medical institutes in Pakistan.”
The embassy said the Palestinian students would be facilitated to continue their studies in Pakistani medical universities on fully funded programs. 
“The initiative is being undertaken in collaboration with Global Relief Trust, Doctors of Rahman, and Al-Khidmat Foundation,” it concluded. 
Several international media outlets have reported significant destruction of hospitals and universities in Gaza since October last year. 
The World Health Organization and other sources have documented severe damage to the area’s health care facilities, including the largest hospital Al-Shifa, which has been rendered non-functional due to extensive damage in the ongoing conflict.
There have also been widespread reports of substantial damage to educational institutions along with reports of deliberate targeting of Palestinian academics.

ISLAMABAD: A key ally of the ruling coalition government this week proposed granting an “equal role” to the country’s parliament, judiciary and legal fraternity in appointing judges, as political parties continue consultations on a controversial constitutional amendments package that has earned the opposition of both the opposition and the legal fraternity. 
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition government has been trying to pass a set of constitutional amendments since last month that the country’s opposition and prominent lawyers say is aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments. The government denies the allegations and says the amendments aim to provide speedy justice to thousands of litigants and ensure the parliament’s supremacy remains intact.
The proposed amendments are expected to establish a federal constitutional court, raise the retirement age of superior judges by three years, and modify the process for the appointment of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Sharif’s key coalition ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has been spearheading negotiations with political parties and the legal fraternity after the government failed to muster the required two-thirds majority in parliament last month to get the amendments passed. Sharing a draft of the proposed amendments on Saturday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the party wanted to end the process of appointment of the judges by and for the judges.
“Instead, by merging the judicial and parliamentary committees we give an equal role to Parliament, Judiciary and legal fraternity,” the PPP chairman wrote on social media platform X.

Bhutto-Zardari said his party also proposed the creation of a Federal Constitutional Court which would have equal representation of all federating units. 
“The court would address all issues pertaining to fundamental rights, constitutional interpretation and federal/inter-provincial disputes,” the PPP chairman said. 
Pakistani lawyers last month threatened they would take to the streets if the government passed the amendments, saying that they would oppose any move to establish a “parallel” judicial system in the country. 
The PPP leader invited “legitimate meaningful feedback” from the public on the PPP’s proposed amendments. 
“The PPP has already been reaching out separately to political parties, Bar associations and civil society as part of our broader countrywide engagement on this important amendment,” he wrote. 
He said the PPP was engaged in consultations with the opposition Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan Fazl (JUI-F) party in hopes that political parties would build a “broader consensus.”