VIDEO: Citizens In Pune Fast Outside Sambhaji Garden In Solidarity With Gaza

To express solidarity with the people of Gaza and to ‘demand an end to the genocide and starvation deaths of the people of Palestine’, a group of citizens are fasting outside Sambhaji Garden on Jungli Maharaj Road in Pune. It started at 9 am and will go on 7 pm on Sunday.

The fast is being coordinated by various organisations such as Stree Mukti Andolan Sampark Samiti, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), Pune Collective, DYFI, SFI, Nav Samajwadi Paryaya, Lokshahi Utsav Samiti, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and several other groups from civil society.

Pune citizens fast in solidarity with Gaza on JM Road pic.twitter.com/uQwrhxPkn7

— Pune First (@Pune_First) August 3, 2025

VIDEO: Protest In Support Of Palestine Held Outside McDonald’s Outlet In Pune’s Katraj Area

Even India has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, uninterrupted humanitarian aid and release of hostages to address the deepening crisis in the region. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council's quarterly open debate on the Middle East, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said that mere pauses in hostilities are not enough to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, addressing an open debate in the UN Security Council, said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that more than 650,000 children have had no schooling for over 20 months.

Recently, as part of a coordinated nationwide protest, demonstrators gathered outside a McDonald’s outlet in Pune’s Katraj area, calling for a boycott of the fast-food chain in solidarity with Palestine. The protest was organized under the banner of Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine (IPSP), which is spearheading the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in India.

VIDEO: Over 100 Trees Cut In Pune's Kharadi; Residents, Activists Allege PMC-Builder Nexus

Talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar’s capital have stalled, as the war nears 21 months since it began with a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. On that day, around 1,200 people—mostly civilians—were killed, and 251 were taken hostage. Most of the captives have since been released through ceasefire deals or negotiations, though around 50 remain in captivity, with fewer than half believed to be alive.

In response, Israel launched a large-scale military campaign that has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run administration, reports that women and children make up more than half of those killed. While it does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its figures, the United Nations and other international agencies regard its casualty data as the most credible available.