Calling Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "devil", AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show solidarity with the people of Gaza. Owaisi's statement comes amid Isreal's military's order for hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive
Addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad, Owaisi said that he continued to stand in solidarity with Palestine and called Netanyahu a "tyrant".
"A Baba Chief Minister in our country said that cases will be booked against those who take the name of Palestine, so listen Baba Chief Minister, I am proudly wearing the flag of Palestine and our Tricolour too. I stand with Palestine,” he further added, according to a report by India Today.
He reiterated that Palestine did not represent the plight of Muslims alone, but it represented a larger humanitarian crisis that required solidarity.
On October 7, following a wave of attacks by Hamas on Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was “deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel…our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” On Tuesday, Modi said that India strongly and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, however, reiterated India's long-standing support for the establishment of a "sovereign, independent and viable" state of Palestine. "India always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel. I think that position remains the same," Bagchi stated.
