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‘We stand with Palestine,’ PM Khan says as Israel escalates airstrikes on Gaza

‘We stand with Palestine,’ PM Khan says as Israel escalates airstrikes on Gaza
A Palestinian man looks at a destroyed building in Gaza City, following a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip early on May 12, 2021. (AFP photo)
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Updated 12 May 2021

‘We stand with Palestine,’ PM Khan says as Israel escalates airstrikes on Gaza

‘We stand with Palestine,’ PM Khan says as Israel escalates airstrikes on Gaza
  • More than 48 people, including 14 children, have been killed by Israeli missiles in the Gaza Strip
  • Tensions follow Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to expel Palestinians from their houses in Jerusalem

ISLAMABAD: “We stand with Palestine,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday, as Israel has intensified airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

More than 48 Palestinians, including 14 children, have been killed and 304 wounded by Israeli missiles fired on the Gaza Strip since Monday, according to Gaza health authorities. In response to the airstrikes, Hamas, which controls Gaza, fired rockets into Israel.

The violence escalated after Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for a third consecutive day on Monday, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and stun grenades at Palestinian worshippers gathered at the third holiest site in Islam in the final days of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Pakistan has since condemned the Israeli attacks on Gaza and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Wednesday morning, Khan took to Twitter to say: “I am PM of Pakistan and #WeStandWithGaza #WeStandWithPalestine.”

Tensions in Jerusalem and other Palestinian territories follow recent attempts by Israeli forces to forcibly expel Palestinians from their houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and hand over their properties to ultra-extreme Jewish settlers.