Pakistan can help end Israeli aggression: Haniyeh

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday sought Pakistan's support against the Israeli occupation and defended the October 7 raids by Hamas fighters, saying that they acted in self-defence to pre-empt the Jewish state’s plans for usurping more Palestinian territories.

In a virtual address to the National Dialogue on 'The Sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Responsibility of the Muslim Ummah', organised by Majlis Ittehad-e-Ummah Pakistan, Haniyeh stressed the need for addressing the challenges facing the Palestinian people.

Haniyeh highlighted the arrest of approximately 16,000 Palestinians and desecration of holy sites by Israel in violation of international norms. He expressed disappointment over the non-implementation of the Oslo Accords. Praising Pakistan as a brave nation, he suggested that if Israel faced resistance from Pakistan, the cruelty against the Palestinian people could cease.

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Expressing hope in Pakistan's support, he referred to the country as a land of Mujahideen. He spoke the high expectations, the Palestinians had of Pakistan. Haniyeh accused the United States and other countries of supporting Israel. He claimed that Israel had planned a sudden attack on Gaza with the intention of permanent destruction of the enclave.

“Hamas is countering Israel's most advanced weapons. We are determined to thwart Israel's intentions.” Addressing the conference, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Fazl said that in prevailing circumstances, the role of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was getting more and more important along with China and Russia.

He urged China and Russia to move to stop the US in the Gulf. Fazl announced that the observation of the ‘Protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque Day on Friday (tomorrow). The next Friday, the JUI-F chief added, there would be protests across the country. He announced his full support for the conference’s joint declaration.

On the occasion, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Sirajul Haq called for boycotting the companies which supported Israel. Renowned scholar and President of Al-Madaris al-Arabiya Mufti Taqi Usmani said that the two-state solution for the resolution of the Palestinian issue was not acceptable.

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“A two-state solution means recognising Israel. No Muslim can accept Israel,” he said, adding that it was the duty of every Muslim to help the Palestinians as much as possible. He said that Hamas men should be called Mujahideen instead of fighters.

He lamented that despite immense wealth and resources, the Muslim countries were living a life of slave. “If the world of Islam unites and cooperates, the Western powers cannot do any harm,” he said, urging the Muslim countries to demand immediate halt to the Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians.

Caretaker Religious Affairs Minister Aneeq Ahmed said that if the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) failed to resolve the Gaza crisis, then it would a failure of the Muslim leaders. He emphasised the important role Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia could play in the prevailing circumstances.

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Later, the joint declaration of the conference was issued. The declaration said that the scholars from different school of thought strongly condemned the Israeli atrocities on Gaza and demanded an end to Israel's brutal bombing and war crimes against the Palestinian people.

The conference demanded the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque; an end to the blockade of Gaza Strip; permanent opening of the Egypt-Rifah border; increasing Pakistan’s relief shipment for the Gaza people; severing diplomatic and trade relations with Israel and boycott of Israeli products.