In a rare and pointed inversion of Pakistan’s long-standing narrative on the Israel-Gaza conflict, Kashmiri and Pakistani voices on social media have accused their own security forces of behaving like the Israel Defence Forces and of turning Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK, or Azad Kashmir) into a local version of Gaza.
The trigger was a crackdown on 5 November 2026 in Rawalakot, where Pakistani Rangers, Frontier Corps personnel and local police moved against sit-ins organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). Reports, mainly from Indian media, local journalists and activists, state that at least seven civilians were killed and around 23 injured in the first hours of the operation between 8 am and 10 am. Some Pakistani journalists claim the toll could reach 12, including children.
Videos showed houses on fire near protest sites at Matialmera Bus Terminal and Umar Farooq Chowk. JAAC leader Sardar Umar Nazir showed what he said were bomb fragments found after alleged drone strikes on homes and camps.
Protests in the region have continued since June 2026, spearheaded by the JAAC, which is banned under the anti-terrorism law.
The JAAC has issued a 38-point charter of demands that includes lower prices for electricity and wheat, better healthcare and education, more employment, greater autonomy, and the removal of 12 reserved Assembly seats.
There have been reports of over 150 deaths as a result of the protests since early June, with repeated allegations of excessive force, enforced disappearances and communication blackouts.
There are reports of armed drones (and, according to some of the protesters, RPG-7 fire at residential areas) being used. Police have not responded to that. The authorities have described the demonstrators as armed rioters who allegedly opened fire on the security forces as they went in to clear the barricades. A widely circulated image of a downed quadcopter was later found to have been taken several months before the incident.
The reaction has been especially strong because it comes from people who once supported Pakistan’s official stance on Gaza. Islamabad-based Kashmiri Seema Bali wrote that after years of “failing” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,
Pakistan was now using force against peaceful protesters in Kashmir and that “Pakistan’s security forces are behaving like the IDF.” Abu Dhabi-based activist Sohaib Khan, who is connected to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, posted that the burning houses in Rawalakot after the alleged drone attacks showed “the same horrific scenes as Gaza” and that “occupier forces are occupied and brutal.
“No matter if it’s Palestine, or POK.” Similar language has appeared in posts comparing the actions of the Pakistani military to those of Israel. This comparison challenges decades of Pakistani government messaging that presents the country as a steady moral critic of Israeli actions.
For years, Pakistan’s leaders have pointed to civilian deaths, drone attacks, and collective punishment in Gaza as proof of occupation. Now, when similar tactics, or at least credible claims of them, are used against people Islamabad considers its own, those who once supported the official story use the same words. Whether the number of deaths in Rawalakot is three, seven, or more, and whether drones were used, the political impact is clear: the term “Gaza” is now being used to criticise Pakistan from within.