National Assembly unanimously passes resolution to condemn Israeli oppression.  Calls for global action to end Israeli brutalities in Palestine. Offers funeral prayer, Fateha for departed soul of Ismail Haniyeh.

ISLAMABAD   -  The National Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the ongoing Israeli brutality in Gaza, calling upon the international community to take effective action to halt Israel’s oppression and brutalities in Palestine and deliver justice to the Palestinian people.

The Resolution, moved by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, called on the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures to impose its call for a ceasefire in Gaza in order to stop the genocidal war being waged against Palestinian people.

“[Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran had] added to the angst and grief, and such incidents are seen as deliberate conspiracies to sabotage efforts to stop the ongoing oppression and brutality against Palestinians and to establish peace in the region”, the resolution says, noting that “atrocities by Israel on Palestinians have escalated, causing immense suffering and loss of over 40,000 innocent lives so far, including women and children”. It expressed their unified grief and anger over the ongoing Israeli oppression and brutality against the people of Palestine for the past nine months.

The lawmakers through a resolution decided to observe as a day of mourning across Pakistan [of Friday]“as a mark of solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and to unequivocally condemn Israeli brutality”. As, funeral prayers were also be held for “martyr Ismail Haniyeh across the country after Friday prayers.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Federal Ministers including Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, high level government authorities offered  “Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza” of Shaheed Ismail Haniyeh at the Parliament House.

The resolution noted that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has added to the anger and grief and that such incidents are seen as deliberate conspiracies to sabotage efforts to stop the ongoing oppression and brutality against Palestinians, and to establish peace in the region.

Strongly condemning extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings, the resolution said such incidents not only destroy the peace of the world, but also constitute a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermine efforts for peace.

Expressing complete solidarity with the Palestinian people and the family of Ismail Haniyeh, the resolution denounced the ongoing state oppression and brutality by Israel in Palestine as a tragedy for the Muslim Ummah and the world.

The resolution urged the UNSC to “impose its call for a ceasefire in Gaza” and hold Israel accountable for its “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. It also called for the immediate admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the UN.

It reiterated the call for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and the provision of sustainable and unhindered humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Palestinians, and immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza” as per a UNSC resolution passed in June.

The house asserted that Pakistan would continue to supply aid to Palestine and “take effective measures for medical assistance to the oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters, including medical treatment in Pakistan”.

It decided that Palestinian medical students would be given admission to Pakistan’s medical colleges on a gratis basis (free of charge) to complete their education.

It noted that “despite clear verdicts” of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Security Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and calls by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “Israel has not stopped the indiscriminate violence and attacks against innocent Palestinians”.

 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressing his concerns, termed Haniyeh’s assassination a “huge blow to peace efforts”.

 “Whoever was involved in this incident should be brought before the law,” he said, prompting someone to shout, “Israel, Israel”, pushing the premier to name the country responsible for Haniyeh’s assassination. “I have spoken about the Zionist state repeatedly in my speech. Once again — the Zionist state has committed these crimes [and] they must be brought before the law,” Shehbaz remarked, when the lawmakers echoed against Israel’ attack. “ The Zionist state has crossed all the limits of crimes... The lava of public anger is boiling... If justice does not prevail and the Zionist state killing innocent people is not held to account, the lava of public fury will be in no one’s control. It will risk the annihilation of world’s peace and development,” the prime minister said addressing the National Assembly after the House unanimously passed a resolution calling Haniyeh’s killing a ‘deliberate conspiracy to sabotage’ Gaza ceasefire efforts and condemning the ongoing Israeli “state oppression and brutality” in Gaza.

Referring to the death of Haniyeh’s three sons in Gaza in April, the prime minister asked: “What can be a bigger crime than this?  What can be a bigger story of sacrifice than this in the current era?,” he said, asserting  that  Palestine has become a slaughterhouse .

He added that the “Zionist state (Israel) had been committing genocide for the last nine months, leading to the martyrdom of more than 40,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children”.

“Blood splattered everywhere [in Gaza] is shaking humanity’s soul, asking loudly while looking towards the sky, ‘When will justice be served and when will this story of violence and injustice end?’.” Shehbaz noted that it was not just Muslims across the world, but all those believing in justice and human rights and belonging to “every race and religion” who were raising the same question.

Highlighting that even UN buildings, media offices, schools, and hospitals were targeted in Gaza, the premier asserted that Israel had exceeded all bounds of crimes against humanity.

He also warned that if justice was not served and Israel was not held accountable, it would further inflame public sentiments and anger.

 At the outset, the House offered fateha for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran.

Meanwhile, members from both the treasury and opposition benches, in their speeches, strongly denounced Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.

Paying glowing tributes to the sacrifices of Palestinian people, they called upon the international community including the Muslim countries to take concrete steps to bring an end to the Israeli blatant human rights violations in Palestine.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, members of the Federal Cabinet and the Parliamentarians on Friday offered the funeral prayer in absentia of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas, martyred in Tehran.

The funeral prayer was held across the country as part of the government’s decisions, taken on Thursday which also included the observance of a day of mourning.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, and leaders of the ruling coalition as well as the opposition parties also offered the funeral prayer.

They prayed for the elevation of the rank of the martyr in paradise, peace in Palestine and the betterment of the Muslim world.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday strongly condemning the unabated bloodshed of Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation forces and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, warned that the lava of public anger would get out of control if the Zionist state was not held accountable.