Fact Check | 2023 video from protest in Pakistan shared as 'visuals from Gaza'
The Verdict - Misleading
The video is from a pro-Palestine gathering that was held in Karachi in 2023, where fake body bags were displayed as a symbolic tribute.
What is the claim?
A video of small body bags kept on the floor, with the words "Save Gaza" written on a white sheet, was shared online with a claim that it shows the ones killed during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, "Birds of Jannah From Gaza." Similar posts can be found here, here, and here.
The video started circulating after Israel carried out airstrikes on Gaza on March 19 and 20, 2025, killing at least 85 Palestinians. On March 23, 2025, Israel attacked a hospital, claiming to have killed two Hamas members. Around the same time, Pakistan’s religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami held rallies condemning Israel’s attacks.
However, the video is from 2023 and shows a protest held in Karachi to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
What are the facts?
A reverse image search led us to an X post (archived here), published on November 20, 2023, where the user shared similar visuals and images of small body bags atop a Palestinian flag spread across the street. The post was captioned, "Thousands of Pakistanis gathered at Nishtar Park in #Karachi to show solidarity with #Gaza and #Palestine (sic)."
Using this as a cue, we searched for looked for reports about a protest held at Nishtar Park in Karachi and found images published by the Associated Press (AP) in November 2023.
One AP image is very similar to the visuals in the now-viral video, and according to the caption, the white body bags were laid down to represent Palestinians killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza in November 2023. The caption added that supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party participated in the rally. The photograph was attributed to AP news photographer Fareed Khan.
Alamy also published pictures from this rally held in Karachi on November 19, 2023, and attributed those images to the same AP photographer.
In November 2023, several pro-Palestine rallies were held in multiple cities in Pakistan in support of Palestine and against Israel’s strikes on Gaza.
The verdict
Visuals from a symbolic protest held in support of Palestine in November 2023 in Pakistan’s Karachi have been passed off as people killed in Gaza following the recent Israeli airstrikes.
(This story was originally published by logicallyfacts.com, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
