ISLAMABAD, Dec 29, 2023 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan has banned New Year’s Eve celebrations to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the government said late Thursday, urging people to instead “observe simplicity”. 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 “completely banned all kinds of events regarding the New Year celebrations”. Israel’s relentless aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, has left much of the territory’s north in ruins, and killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The October 7 attack by the Palestinian militants left about…
