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KARACHI: Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), a leading Pakistani charity, has launched a Rs15 billion ($52.8 million) project to help rebuild infrastructure devastated by Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, the charity announced Sunday.

The development came days after US President Donald Trump helped reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas at a Sharm El-Sheikh summit, under which Hamas released 20 Israeli hostages and Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has sent several aid consignments for Gaza, was among leaders from eight Muslim-majority nations who met Trump in New York to discuss the situation in Gaza before the peace plan was formally unveiled in Egypt.

On Sunday, the AKH, which has been worked extensively in Pakistan to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, said it will help rebuild critical infrastructure to provide drinking water, food, winter relief, and health and education facilities to Gazans on short- and long-term bases.

“Al-Khidmat has always responded to human suffering beyond borders,” it said in a statement, urging philanthropists, donor agencies and the public at large to play their part in restoring hope and dignity for the people of Gaza.

“Our support for Gaza is not based on politics, but purely on humanitarian grounds.”

The AKH said it has already kicked off the process of food aid delivery to Gaza.

“One hundred tons of aid supplies have arrived in Cairo via air cargo from Pakistan, which will be sent inside Gaza in the next 3 days,” it added.

The statement came hours after Israeli military launched an attack on Gaza, Israeli media and residents reported on Sunday. The attacks dimmed hopes that the US-mediated ceasefire, which took effect on October 11, would lead to lasting peace in the enclave as Israel traded blame with Hamas.

Palestinians in Gaza told Reuters they heard explosions and gunfire in Rafah in the south of the strip and witnesses separately reported heavy gunfire from Israeli tanks in the eastern town of Abassan near Khan Younis, also in southern Gaza. Witnesses in Khan Younis heard a wave of airstrikes launched into Rafah early on Sunday afternoon.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a dispute over the return of the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel demanded that Hamas fulfill its obligations in turning over the remaining bodies of all 28 hostages.

Hamas has returned all 20 live hostages and 12 of the deceased and has said it has no interest in keeping the bodies of remaining hostages. The group said the process needs effort and special equipment to recover corpses buried under rubble.

CHAMAN/BALOCHISTAN: Hajji Abdul Bari Achakzai’s office wears a deserted look. The empty chairs in his office in the southwestern Pakistani city of Chaman reflect the impact that border closures, triggered by clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, have had on bilateral trade in both countries.

Pakistan and Afghanistan saw fierce fighting on Oct. 11, when Afghan forces struck multiple Pakistani military posts. Afghanistan officials claimed to have killed 58 Pakistani soldiers in response to what they said were repeated violations of Afghan territory and airspace. Pakistan’s military gave lower figures, saying it lost 23 soldiers and killed more than 200 “Taliban and affiliated terrorists” during retaliatory fire along the border.

The clashes caused border closures between Pakistan and Afghanistan last week, through the northwestern border crossing in Torkham and southwestern Chaman crossing in Balochistan, effectively halting trade and the movement of people between the two countries.

Seventy-year-old Achakzai’s family has been in the business of importing and exporting goods from Chaman since the past 60 years. The border closures have taken a toll on his business and affected Chaman, he said.

“Due to these repeated border closures, Chaman has reached near-total unemployment,” Achakzai told Arab News on Saturday.

Pakistan is a key exporter of goods, mainly fresh fruits, rice, flour and other edible items to Afghanistan, while it imports dry fruits and other scrap material from the country.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the administration in Kabul of failing to take action against militant outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which it alleges carry out attacks targeting Pakistan from Afghan soil. Kabul denies the allegations.

The TTP have become emboldened since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, carrying out attacks against Pakistani security forces. These attacks have caused repeated clashes between Pakistani and Afghan border forces, triggering frequent border closures.

Both countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Saturday, though tensions remain heightened, amid closure of border crossings.

As per the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), the annual Pakistan-Afghan trade volume has declined from $2.5 billion dollars to $10 million during the last two fiscal years.

Apart from Torkham in the northwest, the Chaman–Spin Boldak crossing is one of the busiest and most strategically important trade routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Chaman used to be a key route for trade between Kabul-Karachi and Hirat-New Delhi and this transit point remained a source of income for us,” Achakzai noted.

Zia Ul Haq Sarhardi, senior vice president of the PAJCCI, said recent tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan are causing losses worth billions of rupees that cannot be estimated accurately. He described the escalation in tensions as a “major tragedy.”

“I don’t see the border will reopen easily this time because the Pak-Afghan bilateral relations have been worsening,” Sarhardi said.

Muhammad Ayoub Meerani, president of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) in Balochistan’s capital city, blamed the Pakistani government’s policies for declining trade with Afghanistan. 

“Afghanistan’s landlocked market has moved away from us and into the hands of Iran, Uzbekistan, and other countries,” Meerani told Arab News.

“Even small, perishable items are not being exported from here causing millions of dollars’ damages to the business community of Balochistan.”

He called on both countries to end their conflict and for border trade to resume.

DESERTED MARKETS

Local traders remain busy hunting for customers in Chaman, where Naimatullah Achakzai, 36, runs a shop selling dry fruits on Taj Road.

“The market is almost dead,” he said. “Around 60 percent of the goods in our shop come from Afghanistan, like almonds, raisins, cashews, walnuts, and all kinds of dry fruits. We bring them from across the border and supply them throughout Pakistan.”

He warned that if the situation persists, around 2 million people in Chaman and Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak border town would be “devastated.”

Hajji Jamal Shah Achakzai, president of the traders’ association in Chaman district, agreed.

“Our entire livelihood depends on the border. Goods that used to go out and come in from the border are now almost non-existent,” he said.

“Chaman has suffered heavy losses. If the situation continues, people will start migration from this bordering town.”