Hamas chief appeals for Ummah support

Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashal meet JUI-F chief Fazl in Doha; slam Israeli operation Gaza

ISLAMABAD:

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and senior leader Khaled Mashal appealed to the Islamic world to come forward and help the Palestinian people, currently braving the Israeli bombardment in the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to a tweet posted by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on social media platform X, party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called on Haniyeh and Mashal in Doha, Qatar, and discussed with them the ongoing situation in Gaza.

قام رئيس جمعية علماء الإسلام مولانا فضل الرحمن بلقاء قادة حماس خالد مشعل وإسماعيل هانية.

وصل رئيس جمعية علماء الإسلام مولانا فضل الرحمن، مصحوبًا بوفد، إلى قطر أمس. - أسلم غوري

تبادل تفصيلي للآراء بين القادة حول قضية فلسطين - أسلم غوري

إسرائيل تحاول تغيير الوضع الراهن في فلسطين… pic.twitter.com/xhjc77jC2G

— Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan (@juipakofficial) November 5, 2023

Fazl, accompanied by a delegation including Maulana Rashid Mahmood Soomro and Mufti Abrar Ahmed, reached Qatar on Saturday, JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghori said. He added that the delegation held a detailed exchange of views on Palestinian situation with the top Hamas leaders.

"Israel is making a sinister attempt to turn the first Qibla [Al-Aqsa mosque] into a temple by oppressing the Palestine,” Fazl said during the meeting. Haniyeh, on the occasion, stressed the need for the Ummah unity against Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Read: We stand with Palestine: JUI-F chief

“It was incumbent upon the Muslim Ummah to unite against Israeli oppression. Countries calling for human rights send shiploads of weapons to Tel Aviv. [Therefore], the Ummah must come forward to support the Palestinian brothers, mothers, sisters,” he said.

Similar views were expressed by former Hamas leader Mashal, according to the JUI-F tweet. “The developed [Western] countries have the blood of innocent children and women on their hands,” he said, referring to the mass killings in Gaza.

According to the tweet, Mashal also expressed solidarity with the people of Kashmir, who are facing Indian atrocities for the past seven decades. “The lingering Kashmir and Palestine [issues] have been a slap in the face of those calling themselves as the advocates of human rights,” he said.

Ghori said that during the meetings, Fazl agreed that Israel was trying to change the status quo in Palestine through oppression and injustice by changing the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque. He stressed the need for the Ummah to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian brothers.

Read more: Blinken rejects Arabs' calls for Gaza ceasefire

“The Palestinians are not only fighting for their land, but they are waging a battle for the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque, fulfilling their duty of the Ummah,” Ghori quoted Fazl as saying. He added that the two leaders praised Maulana Fazl and described him as the ambassador of Pakistan to Palestine.

In a separate tweet on X, Fazl said that he met with Haniyeh and Mashal in Qatar and expressed condolences and solidarity from the Pakistani people, especially the JUI activists with the Palestinian people over the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

حماس کی قیادت سے آج ایک اور ملاقات pic.twitter.com/nuXiVUyMaK

— Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman (@MoulanaOfficial) November 5, 2023

“Assured them that we are standing by your side in every moral, political and diplomatic field,” Fazl said. “Ismail Haniyeh and Khalid Mashal conveyed their heartfelt gratitude to the people of Pakistan and the workers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam for their support for the Palestinian people.”

According to Ghori, during the meetings, Fazl offered condolence and prayed for the departed souls of the Palestinian martyrs and an early recovery of the wounded. According to Ghori, the JUI-F chief would meet Qatari leadership and travel to Turkiye for talks on providing aid to the Palestinian people.

(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)