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MORE THAN 1,000 PERISH IN HAMAS-ISRAEL CONFLICT AS NETANYAHU DECLARES WAR ON GAZA Monday, 9 october, 2023 i 22 rabi ul awal, 1445
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US President extending support warns no enemy of Tel Aviv should exploit attacks
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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIV No 99 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Israel, Hezbollah exchange artillery and rocket fire in areas near Lebanon border
WFP calls for humanitarian corridors to bring food into Gaza amid Israeli air strikes
Pakistan deeply concerned by escalating hostility in Middle East: Jilani ISLAMABAD
staff report
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WASHINGTON agencies
SRAEL, reeling from the deadliest attack on its territory in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday as the conflict’s death toll surged close to 1,000 after the Palestinian fighters launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza. The conflict, which is being considered as the biggest escalation in decades prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a warning of a “long and difficult” war ahead as he dispatched thousands of Israeli forces to combat remaining Hamas fighters in the south while the air force once more bombed targets in the Gaza Strip. The latest conflict’s has claimed more than 600 lives on the Israeli side, the government press office said, while Gaza officials reported at least 370 deaths, with thousands more wounded on each side Tens of thousands of Israeli forces were deployed on Sunday to battle holdout Hamas fighters in the south, where the bodies of civilians had been found
strewn on roads and in town centres. “The enemy is still on the ground,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists as a second night fell after the attack, adding Israel was reinforcing its military strength near the Gaza Strip. Gun battles raged as the Israeli army sought to secure desert regions near the coastal enclave, rescue Israeli hostages and evacuate all areas near Gaza. “We’ll reach each and every community until we kill every terrorist in Israel,” vowed Hagari, a day after hundreds of Hamas fighters launched their shock offensive and surged into Israel using vehicles, boats and even motorised paragliders. There was widespread shock and dismay in Israel after at least 100 citizens were captured by Hamas and abducted into Gaza, with images circulating on social media of bloodied hostages, and distraught relatives pleading for the state to rescue them. Yifat Zailer, 37, said she was horrified to see online video footage from Gaza that showed her female cousin and the woman’s children, aged nine months and three years. “That’s the only confir-
Pakistan’s Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Sunday said that Pakistan is deeply concerned by the escalating hostility in the Middle East and the loss of innocent lives. “Pakistan is deeply concerned by the escalating hostility in the Middle East and the loss of innocent lives. We stand in solidarity with Palestinians and call for an immediate end to the violence and oppression by Israeli occupation forces,” Jilani wrote on his X account. Jalil Abbas Jilani said a viable and sovereign State of Palestine must be established on the basis of pre1967 borders and UN resolutions. He said the international community needs to intervene to bring an end to the conflict, protect civilians, and work towards a lasting peace in the Middle East. Fighting between Israeli forces and the Palestinian group Hamas raged Sunday, with hundreds killed on both sides after a surprise attack on Israel prompted Benjamin Netanyahu to warn they were “embarking on a long and difficult war”. Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others. Overnight, Israeli air strikes had hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 300 people, including 20 children.
Deaths mounting as Afghan earthquakes kill 2,445 KABUL
agencies
More than 2,400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. They were among the world’s deadliest quakes this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February. Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to Reuters that the toll had risen to 2,445 dead, but he revised down the number of injured to “more than 2,000”. Earlier, he had said that 9,240 people had been injured. Sayeeq also said 1,320 houses had been damaged or destroyed. The death toll spiked from 500 reported earlier on Sunday by the Red Crescent. Ten rescue teams were in the area, which borders Iran, Sayeeq told a press conference. More than 200 dead had been brought to various hospitals, said a Herat health department official who identified himself as Dr Danish, adding most of them were women and children. Bodies had been “taken to several places – military bases, hospitals”, Danish said. Beds were set up outside the main hospital in Herat to receive a flood of victims, photos on social media showed. Food, drinking water, medicine, clothes and tents were urgently needed for rescue and relief, Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Taliban political office in Qatar, said in a message to the media. The mediaeval minarets of Herat sustained some damage, photographs on social media showed, with cracks visible and tiles fallen off. Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan. Death tolls often rise when information comes in from more remote parts of a country where decades of war have left infrastructure in a shambles, and relief and rescue operations difficult to organise. Afghanistan’s healthcare system, reliant almost entirely on foreign aid, has faced crippling cuts in the two years since the Taliban took over and much international assistance, which had formed the backbone of the economy, was halted.
Pakistan grieved over devastating earthquake in Afghanistan: FO ISLAMABAD
staff report
Pakistan on Sunday expressed deep sadness and condolence over the loss of precious lives and properties in the devastating earthquake that hit Western regions of Afghanistan. “The Government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake in Western regions of Afghanistan yesterday, resulting in tragic loss of life and widespread damage to property,” a statement issued by the foreign office spokesperson said. “We extend our sincerest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and pray for the early and complete recovery of the injured.” The statement added that Pakistan stood in complete solidarity with the brothers and sisters in Afghanistan during this difficult time. “We are in contact with the Afghan authorities to get a first-hand assessment of the urgent needs of those affected by the earthquake. Pakistan will extend all possible support to the recovery effort,” it added. NDMA to dispatch relief items to quake-hit Afghanistan The National Disaster Management Authority has arranged relief items including food, medicines, tents and blankets as well as Search and Rescue Teams to be dispatched on immediate basis to quake-hit Herat Afghanistan. This was briefed at a special session of the National Emergency Operations Centre held in Islamabad on Sunday with Chairman NDMA Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik in the chair. The meeting reviewed the situation and humanitarian assistance package to Afghanistan in the wake of devastating quake in the country. The Chairman stressed for swift relief assistance for Kabul that should be sent through fastest means available utilizing air and land routes to Afghanistan. He also requested for facilitation and coordination by all the government departments and agencies involved in the process.
Diplomats and aid officials say concerns over Taliban restrictions on women and competing global humanitarian crises are causing donors to pull back on financial support. The Islamist government has ordered most Afghan female aid staff not to work, although with exemptions in health and education. In August, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was likely to end its financial support for 25 Afghan hospitals because of funding constraints. It was not immediately clear if the Herat hospital was on that list. The quakes triggered panic in Herat, resident Naseema said. “People left their houses, we all
are on the streets,” she wrote in a text message to Reuters on Saturday, adding that the city was feeling aftershocks. There are a total of 202 public health facilities in Herat province, one of which is the major regional hospital where 500 casualties had been taken, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a report on Sunday. A vast majority of the facilities are smaller basic health centres and logistical challenges were hindering operations, particularly in remote areas, the WHO said. “While search and rescue operations remain ongoing, casualties in these areas have not yet been fully identified,” it said.
ISLAMABAD
staff report
liest attack in years by Palestinian gunmen on Israel. On Saturday, a multi-pronged attack by Palestinian gunmen on Israeli towns left around 500 Israelis dead, with more than 300 Palestinians killed in Israel’s retaliatory bombardment. The scale of the attack prompted fears that a wider conflict could break out between Israel and other factions opposed to it in the region, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an armed party backed by Iran that has previously clashed with Israel.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Sunday said that Pakistan stood in solidarity with the Palestinians people and would utilize all multilateral forums like Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to galvanize a collective stance for the protection and dignity of Palestinians in the manner that supported their demand. In an interview with social media platform “Talk Shock” the prime minister said that Pakistan had always taken a firm stance on the Palestine issue and reaffirmed its position as ‘a friend of Palestine’. He said that Pakistan would continue extending diplomatic, social and political support to them at all global fora. The prime minister stressed that the two nations state was the key to the solution of the Palestine and Israel conflict which would bring stability in the Middle East. He also categorically reiterated that Pakistan did not recognize Israel. Palestinians had reached an agreement with Israel over the two-state mechanism, but the due right was constantly denied by Israel, he added. The caretaker prime minister cautioned that unless ‘the Palestine Question’ was addressed, the issue of radicalization would increase and stressed that the two political issues including Palestine and Kashmir should be resolved. To a question, he said that Pakistan wanted normal relations with all its neighbours but with regard to India, there were three parties, including Kashmiris. Their demands and aspirations should be met by India and if they were not made part of the normalization process with regard to bilateral ties by India, it would amount to ‘non starter’, he added.
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CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 mation we have,” she told AFP, her voicing breaking with emotion, and adding there was no information on her cousin’s husband and her elderly parents. “After the army took control of the kibbutz, they weren’t at home,” she said. “We assume they were kidnapped … We want to know what their condition is, we want them to return safe. They’re innocent civilians.” ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH EXCHANGE ARTILLERY, ROCKET FIRE Israel and Lebanon’s powerful armed group Hezbollah exchanged artillery and rocket fire on Sunday following the dead-
Two-state only viable solution to Palestine issue: PM Kakar