ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s influential religio-political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday announced a nationwide strike for April 26 in solidarity with Palestine, urging citizens to boycott brands allegedly supporting Israel amid its ongoing military offensive in Gaza.
The call came during a large Gaza Solidarity March held on the Expressway connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi, after authorities blocked access to Islamabad’s Red Zone, where JI had originally planned to rally near the US embassy.
The party has held similar protests in Karachi, Lahore and other cities in recent weeks, criticizing Washington’s support for Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian territory.
“There will be a complete nationwide strike on April 26,” JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said in his address to the crowd. “We will go from shop to shop, urging people to suspend business activities ... as we will wage a jihad through boycotts, strikes and social media campaigns.”
Rehman called on Pakistanis to boycott all products linked to Israel, vowing to keep the movement peaceful but persistent.
He also urged the government to formally recognize Hamas and allow it to open an office in Pakistan, calling the group “a legitimate power” that won democratic elections in 2006.
Participants at the march echoed Rehman’s demands, saying Pakistanis should take a more active role in supporting Palestinians by avoiding Israeli-linked brands and pushing the government to take diplomatic initiatives.
“We should boycott brands that support Israel in order to inflict financial damage and send a strong, clear message,” said a woman attending the march with her family, who identified herself as Mrs. Majid.
Dr. Liaqat Ali Meher, who traveled from District Gujrat in Punjab, said Muslim countries should go beyond verbal condemnations and coordinate political pressure on Israel and the US.
“The government should send parliamentary delegations to various countries to build political pressure on Israel and the United States to stop the killing of innocent people, including women and children,” he said.
Others at the march described their participation as a gesture of unity with Palestinians.
“The aim of our participation in this rally is to raise our voice for all the Palestinians martyred by Israel and to show that we stand with them and share in their pain,” Yasir Khan, an Islamabad-based government employee, said.
Pakistan does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and has repeatedly condemned its military actions in Gaza, particularly the killing of thousands of unarmed civilians.
Islamabad has also called for the resumption of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave and renewed negotiations toward a two-state solution.
It has long supported the creation of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Since October 7, 2023, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 116,000 wounded in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Islamabad locked down as Pakistani party stages mass rally in solidarity with Gaza
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Islamabad locked down as Pakistani party stages mass rally in solidarity with Gaza
- Jamaat-e-Islami’s top leader urges government to recognize Hamas, open its office in Pakistan
- Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman calls on the people of Pakistan to boycott all products linked to Israel
At ECO meeting, Pakistan proposes ‘Regional Innovation Hub’ to curb natural disasters
- Pakistan hosts high-level 10th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Islamabad
- Innovation hub to focus on early warning technologies, risk informed infrastructure planning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to set up a “Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction” that focuses on early warning technologies and risk informed infrastructure planning, the Press Information Department (PID) said on Wednesday, as Islamabad hosts a high-level meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
The ECO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is being held from Jan. 21-22 at the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan’s capital.
The high-level regional forum brings together ministers, and senior officials from ECO member states, representatives of the ECO Secretariat and regional and international partner organizations. The event is aimed to strengthen collective efforts toward enhancing disaster resilience across the ECO region, the PID said.
“Key agenda items include regional cooperation on early warning systems, disaster risk information management, landslide hazard zoning, inclusive disaster preparedness initiatives, and Pakistan’s proposal to establish a Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction, focusing on early warning technologies, satellite data utilization, and risk-informed infrastructure planning,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by delegations from ECO member states including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of regional and international organizations and development partners were also in attendance.
Discussions focused on enhancing regional coordination, harmonizing disaster risk reduction frameworks, and strengthening collective preparedness against transboundary and climate-induced hazards impacting the ECO region, the PID said.
ECO members states such as Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan and others have faced natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes in recent years that have killed tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 and 2025 that killed thousands of people and caused damages to critical infrastructure, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars.
Islamabad has since then called on regional countries to join hands to cooperate to avert future climate disasters and promote early warning systems to avoid calamities in future.
