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Pakistan bans New Year's Eve celebrations in solidarity with Gaza

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Agence France-Presse

<div> </div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Palestinians fleeing Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza, carry some belongings as they walk along a road leading to the southern areas of the enclave on November 18, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Mohammed Abed, AFP." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/11/20/palestinians-fleeing-gaza-city.jpg"/><figcaption>Palestinians fleeing Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza, carry some belongings as they walk along a road leading to the southern areas of the enclave on November 18, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. <em>Mohammed Abed, AFP.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan has banned New Year&#x27;s Eve celebrations to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the government said late Thursday, urging people to instead &quot;observe simplicity&quot;.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/28/23/displaced-by-war-gaza-mother-gives-birth-to-quadruplets">Displaced by war, Gaza mother gives birth to quadruplets</a></li></ul><p>In an evening televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said because of the situation in the Gaza Strip, the government had &quot;completely banned all kinds of events regarding the New Year celebrations&quot;.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/27/23/esim-cards-help-war-torn-gaza-stay-online">eSIM cards help war-torn Gaza stay online</a></li></ul><p>Israel&#x27;s relentless aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, in retaliation for Hamas&#x27;s October 7 attack on Israel, has left much of the territory&#x27;s north in ruins, and killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.</p><p>Kakar said Thursday, &quot;The entire Pakistani nation and the Muslim Ummah were deeply saddened by the genocide of the oppressed Palestinians, especially the massacre of innocent children, in Gaza and the West Bank.&quot;</p><p>New Year&#x27;s Eve is usually marked in boisterous fashion in Pakistan, with fireworks and aerial gunfire — as well as a bank holiday on January 1.</p><p>Sharjah, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday banned New Year&#x27;s Eve fireworks over the war in Gaza.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/multimedia/photo/12/27/23/trying-to-earn-a-living-amid-war">Trying to earn a living amid war</a></li></ul><p>The ban was &quot;a sincere expression of solidarity and humanitarian cooperation with our siblings in the Gaza Strip&quot;, Sharjah police said in a Facebook post.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

New Year's Eve is usually marked in boisterous fashion in Pakistan, with fireworks and aerial gunfire — as well as a bank holiday on January 1.