KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has announced a nationwide protest on March 21, Friday, to condemn US and Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

In a statement, JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that protests would be held simultaneously across the country to denounce the ongoing Israeli crimes in Palestine, which are being carried out under US patronage. He emphasized that the Zionists have displayed the worst form of fascism in Gaza, killing more than 48,000 people, including women and children, and injuring millions. He added that thousands are still trapped under the rubble.

The JI chief further pointed out that Gaza is facing an acute shortage of food and medical supplies. He announced that rallies would be held in all major and small cities across the country in protest, urging the masses to actively participate. Yesterday, Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday, in an onslaught that ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled. Hamas, which still holds 59 of the 250 or so hostages Israel says the group seized in its October 7, 2023 attack, accused Israel of jeopardising efforts by mediators to negotiate a permanent deal to end the fighting, but the group made no threat of retaliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier he ordered strikes because Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension, and pledged to step up military action. The strikes hit houses and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the border line, witnesses said.