Pakistan bans New Year celebrations in solidarity with Gaza

Fireworks explode during the celebrations of new year in Islamabad, Pakistan, on January 01, 2023. [Photo by Muhammad Reza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images]

Pakistan has joined the UAE Emirate of Sharjah to ban fireworks and public celebrations for the New Year in solidarity with Gaza. Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said yesterday because of the situation in the Gaza Strip, the government had “completely banned all kinds of events regarding the New Year celebrations”.

On Tuesday, Sharjah Police warned legal measures would be taken against those violating a ban on New Year fireworks.

The ban is “a sincere expression of solidarity and humanitarian cooperation with our siblings in the Gaza Strip,” police said in a Facebook post.

More than 21,100 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal bombing of Gaza since 7 OCtober, the majority children and women. A further 55,000 have been injured while some 85 per cent of Gaza’s population has been forced out of their homes and displaced.

READ: WHO urgently calls on global community to address critical threat to Gaza’s population

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