Opposition MPs and other politicians met the Palestine ambassador Adnan Abu al Haija in the national capital on Monday to express solidarity amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“We have come to meet Palestine ambassador to express solidarity with the Palestinians. India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. We are friends with Palestine. In this time of difficulty when imperialist forces and Israel are oppressing them, we are standing with them,” Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan said.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Shahid Siddiqui said that the traditional position on Israel was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“The policy of India, which was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that we believe in the rights of Palestine. We recognise Israel, but Palestine should get its right as a nation. The attack on them in Gaza is against the rules of the United Nations and international law,” Siddiqui said.
CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ongoing violence in Gaza is nothing short of an “openly declared genocide”. “We came here to express our solidarity on behalf of Indian people. Right now, we all know whatever happened on the 7th of October, but it has not stopped there. Right now, what is happening in Gaza is nothing short of a very openly declared genocide. We cannot allow this to go on like this,” Bhattacharya said.
Following the meeting, Adnan Abu al Haija, the Ambassador of Palestine in India, expressed hope that India will play a role in stopping the siege on Palestinians in Gaza. “We discussed the situation in Gaza and in Palestine in general and they presented their solidarity with the Palestinian people… We hope India will play a good role in stopping the siege on our people of Gaza and putting pressure on the Israeli government for humanitarian aid to our people in Gaza,”
The Opposition MPs and other politicians emphasised on the need to bring about “peaceful resolution” of the conflict in Gaza. “We, the undersigned, believe that violence is never a solution as it leads to a cycle of destruction and suffering.
Therefore, we emphasise the need for increased efforts by the international community in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” read the press resolution by some MPs and politicians.
“The international community must exert pressure on the state of Israel to abide by international laws and respect the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. We call for intensified diplomatic efforts and multilateral initiatives to ensure a lasting peace in the region,” the statement added.
The Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that some 2,329 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,042 have been wounded in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces has said it has killed some 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory after they breached the border fence and rampaged murderously in southern Israel, killing over 1,300 people, mostly civilians.
Israeli Minister lauds India in fight against Hamas
TEL AVIV: Even as Israel’s ground attack on Gaza seems imminent, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli has thanked the Indian leadership, people of India for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel in its fight against Hamas. “I want to thank the leadership of India, the people of India for being with us shoulder-to-shoulder in this fight against brutal jihadist barbaric Islamist.
This is not just our war, this is your war too and we will win it together with your support,” he said. He further said: “I want to tell the people of India – we share the same values, we cherish life, we cherish good…We believe in human values.” He said that there are more than 120 confirmed hostages. “We will make every effort to bring them back home. It won’t be simple.
As you know, Hamas has absolutely zero mercy, zero human values…So, we have no expectations from Hamas. Still, we believe we might, with intelligence, with efforts, maybe we can rescue some of them,” he said. “My recommendation for Hamas militants—lay down your weapon, raise up your hands, come from your tunnel and maybe there will be mercy,” he added. One of the towns that bore the brunt of the Hamas’ attack is Sderot in the South of Israel.
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi says Hamas must be destroyed. “I have six children. All of them live in this situation. More than 50,000 people live in this situation. All of this time, I have asked the government to destroy Hamas” said the Sderot Mayor.
“We now see that the Hamas is the new ISIS of the world. Now, it’s not just Israel’s but everybody’s role to destroy the Hamas. It is like the Hezbollah, the ISIS,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator for the Captives and Missing Brigadier-General (Ret.) Gal Hirsch in his Second Meeting with Deputy US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steven Gillen, said: “I thank you for standing alongside Israel and greatly appreciate the assistance