In an absurd turn of events, Israel's official X account managed by the Israel Foreign Ministry's Digital Diplomacy team, weighed in on the Pakistan versus India World Cup 2023 match that took place on Saturday.
While quoting a post shared by Naor Gilon, the Ambassador of Israel to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, on the site formerly known as Twitter, in which a man is seen holding an "India stands with Israel" poster, the official account stated, "We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel. We are happy that India emerged victorious in the India versus Pakistan match at Cricket World Cup 2023 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of Hamas."
We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel 🇮🇱
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) October 15, 2023
We are happy that India🇮🇳emerged victorious in the #INDvsPAK match at #CWC23 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of #Hamas. https://t.co/tvgYATe0Af
This was in reference to the match India won by seven wickets against Pakistan, held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. As a response, Pakistani writer and columnist Fatima Bhutto took to her own X account to quote the post and state as a response, "Happy to lose cricket games till the end of time if the alternative is being publicly cheered by a genocidal state that murdered 724 children in 7 days."
Happy to lose cricket games till the end of time if the alternative is being publicly cheered by a genocidal state that murdered 724 children in 7 days. https://t.co/7QOrTI1sFQ
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) October 15, 2023
This came after cricketer Muhammad Rizwan dedicated the Pakistan cricket team's ICC Cricket World Cup win against Sri Lanka to the people of Gaza, who have faced relentless Israeli attacks over the last few days. Rizwan was awarded the player of the match for his remarkable century in a historic victory for Pakistan, as they achieved their highest-ever successful run chase in the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in Hyderabad, India.
"This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza," said the sportsman on X after his impressive performance. "Happy to contribute to the win. Credits to the whole team, especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier. Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout."
This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. 🤲🏼
— Muhammad Rizwan (@iMRizwanPak) October 11, 2023
Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier.
Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout.
This move by Rizwan sparked outrage amongst many Indian fans of the sport, who rallied on the microblogging site to have the player banned from the World Cup.
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