Prominent Indian Muslim groups and individuals have expressed solidarity with Palestine during the ongoing escalation of hostilities between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas militants in the Gaza strip.
In a statement on Sunday evening, top Indian Muslim scholars’ group Jamaat-e-Islami Hind expressed “deep concern” over the violence in Gaza and southern Israel.
“It must not be forgotten that the current spate of violence is the result of Israeli aggression unleashed by the most right-wing (Prime Minister Benjamin’s) Netanyahu government against the Palestinians that has claimed the lives of hundreds of people including children,” the group’s President Syed Sadatullah Husaini has said.
Husaini slammed the Israeli government for its policy of creating “settlements” in Palestinian areas as well as “desecration” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on several occasions.
“The United Nations (UN) and the international community must immediately spring to action, de-escalate the situation and immediately stop the expansion of Jewish settlements,” the Indian Muslim group demanded.
It also called upon the international community to prevent a “disproportionate war” by Israel and Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007.
Another prominent Indian Muslim group, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH), also expressed "solidarity" with the Palestinian people and called for "immediate cessation of war declared by Israel," according to a statement.
"The Palestinians find themselves living as prisoners in their own homeland, unwaveringly striving for their homeland's freedom and the preservation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque," stated JuH president Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani.
Madani said that the "root cause" of the conflict, which he said was the "occupation" of Palestine by Israel, must be addressed to achieved for the resolution of the dispute.
The Indian Muslim community leader also expressed "deep concern and disappointment" regarding the "biased portrayal" of the Hamas-Israel war in the Indian media, noting that Palestinian fighters were being unjustly characterized as "terrorists".
Meanwhile, students from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in the city of Aligarh took out a procession to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause on Sunday evening.
Prominent Indian Muslims have also taken to social media to express support for Palestinian statehood since Saturday, after Hamas and allied Palestinian groups launched an unprecedented attack on Israel by raining nearly 2,200 rockets on major Israeli cities as well as sending fighters into south Israel.
India’s Reaction to Hamas-Israel Hostilities
India is home to nearly 200 million Muslims, according to the 2011 Census.
According to an official brief of India-Palestine relations, support for the Palestinian cause is an “integral part” of the nation’s foreign policy. New Delhi was one of the first countries to recognize Palestine in 1988.
While India has veered visibly close to Israel since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the Indian government from time to time has reaffirmed its solidarity with the Palestinian cause in official pronouncements.
Last November, Modi reiterated India’s “unwavering support to the Palestinian cause” on the ‘International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People’.
In the wake of a surge in hostilities over the weekend, PM Modi expressed “solidarity” with Israel following the “terrorist attacks”, according to a statement posted on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, India's main federal opposition Congress party called for an immediate stop to ongoing violence, even as it condemned the "brutal attacks" against the people of Israel.
"The Indian National Congress has always believed that the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a life of self-respect, equality and dignity must be fulfilled only through a process of dialogue and negotiations while ensuring the legitimate national security interests of the Israeli people," Congress' communications' incharge Jairam Ramesh has said.
Death Toll Mounts to Over 1,100
Israel has announced "Operation Iron Swords" to expel Hamas fighters from Israel and degrade the group’s capability to govern Gaza in the wake of the attacks, according to a former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus.
Conricus said on Monday that around a 1,000 Palestinian fighters crossed over into Israel and targeted civilians in residential buildings as well as military personnel, in what he described as Israel’s 9/11 and Pearl Harbour Movement “wrapped into one”.
“Approximately 700 Israelis have been killed, civilians and military included. More than 2,100 have been wounded… It is by far the worst day in Israeli history,” the IDF soldier said, adding that the death toll was likely to go up.
He said that a “large number” of Israeli soldiers, civilians, including women and children, have been taken hostage in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian foreign ministry said on Sunday evening that nearly 370 Palestinian citizens have been killed and nearly 2,200 injured in IDF strikes in Gaza since Saturday.
It accused the IDF of targeting residential buildings and commercial complexes, even as Israeli authorities say that they were hunting down Hamas militants hiding among civilians in Gaza.
The Palestinian MFA urged the international community to “immediately intervene and provide international protection to the Palestinian people and end Israel’s barbarous campaign of death and destruction”.