By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will observe a nationwide day of mourning on Friday to condemn Israeli actions in Palestine and express solidarity with the Palestinian people, following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in a rocket attack in Tehran, the government said on Thursday.
A meeting of government allies, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denounced Israel’s “state-sponsored terrorism” and announced a funeral prayer in absentia for Hamas leader Haniyeh, killed on Wednesday.
The meeting condemned Israeli brutalities in Palestine, which have killed hundreds since last year, and criticized the international community’s silence on the issue. “The ongoing Israeli aggression is a tragedy for the Muslim world,” Sharif said.
Sharif also condemned the attack on Haniyeh as “tantamount to trampling on international laws”, saying it was an example of “open brutality and destruction” by Israeli forces.
“The attack on Ismail Haniyeh is equivalent to trampling international laws,” Sharif said in an address to a meeting of coalition parliamentary parties. “Netanyahu and the Israeli military have resorted to open brutality and destruction.”
“Violating Iran’s territorial boundaries, Ismail Haniyeh was martyred in a rocket attack, trampling on international laws. No regard was given, and Ismail Haniyeh, whose children and grandchildren had already been martyred, was martyred there. Such brutality is unprecedented.”
Sharif described the situation in Palestine as a “bloodbath”, with over 40,000 Palestinians, including children, martyred in the last nine months. “Hospitals have been completely destroyed, and every day corpses are falling in Gaza. Entire cities and neighborhoods have been razed to the ground.”
The meeting decided that Pakistan will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians and offer medical treatment to those injured. The government also announced plans to admit Palestinian medical students to Pakistani colleges with financial support.
The meeting was attended by leaders from several political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, and Balochistan Awami Party.
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