KARACHI: Hundreds of people gathered in Karachi on Saturday for the funeral prayer of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader killed on the battlefield two days ago, criticizing the United States and European countries for backing Israel’s war and asserting that the loss of leadership would not stop Palestinian resistance.
Sinwar was widely regarded as the architect of last year’s attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to the taking of nearly 250 hostages. Hamas described the cross-border raid as a response to the deteriorating conditions of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
The incident ignited a full-scale Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip, which has lasted for over a year, killing about 43,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and destroying hospitals, residential neighborhoods and refugee camps while uprooting millions in the region.
Sinwar survived the Israeli airstrikes, fighting against heavily armed soldiers until the end. Israeli forces tried to pinpoint his location inside a badly damaged building in Gaza using a drone. In his final act of defiance, however, he threw a stick at the drone before his death.
“The mountain of resilience, Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas, has laid down his life while resisting Israeli terrorism in Palestine and has now returned to his Lord,” Muneem Zafar Khan, the top leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) religio-political party in Karachi, which arranged the symbolic funeral, told the people.
“The United States, Britain, Germany and France are all aligned against the oppressed,” he added.
Khan said despite more than a year of resistance, Palestinian children and mothers remain steadfast.
The JI leader said the US, Britain and Israel must understand they cannot defeat the Palestinian resistance despite all their efforts.
A Hamas spokesman, Khaled Qadumi, also addressed the gathering over the phone, describing “the stories of martyrs” as a beacon of hope for peace and the beginning of the journey to freedom.
“The battle between faith and disbelief continues, and the criminals are celebrating Yahya Sinwar’s martyrdom,” he said. “The forces of falsehood believe they have won, but the blood of Yahya Sinwar and all martyrs will bear fruit.”
Hundreds attend Yahya Sinwar’s funeral in Karachi, condemn western support for Israel’s war
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Hundreds attend Yahya Sinwar’s funeral in Karachi, condemn western support for Israel’s war
- Reportedly the architect of last year’s Hamas attack in Israel, Sinwar was killed on battlefield on Thursday
- People attending the symbolic funeral say Palestinians remain steadfast even after one year of Israel’s war
Top Pakistani clerics warn government against sending troops to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Pakistani clerics raise alarm over reports of pressure on Muslim nations to provide troops for Gaza stabilization force under Trump peace plan
- Islamabad has previously said that it is willing to join the international stabilization force but ‘not ready’ to play any role in disarming Hamas
ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistan’s top religious and political leaders on Monday warned the government against sending Pakistani troops to Gaza to disarm Palestinian group Hamas, amid discussions over a proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) for the Palestinian territory.
The representative gathering, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, brought together leaders from Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought, alongside leaders of the country’s main religio-political parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
The international stabilization force, which is to be composed of troops from Muslim countries, is the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza announced in Sept. Islamabad has previously said it is willing to join the ISF but “not ready” to play any role in disarming Hamas. Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said this month the group had a “legitimate right” to hold weapons, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that Hamas be disarmed.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting in the port city of Karachi on Monday, Pakistani clerics raised alarm over reports that international pressure is mounting on Muslim-majority nations to provide troops for the transitional security force in Gaza, following Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
“In such circumstances, demands are being made to Muslim countries that they send their forces there to disarm Hamas,” the statement said. “Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan.”
Last month, the United Nations Security Council approved Washington’s plan, which called for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Trump would head, and the stabilization force, which would be empowered to oversee borders, provide security and demilitarize the territory.
The gathering of Pakistani clerics urged Islamabad to resist any diplomatic overtures from Washington regarding troop deployment.
“This gathering, with full emphasis, demands the Government of Pakistan refrain from sending its forces to disarm Hamas and that it should not yield to any pressure in this regard,” the statement said.
The assembly expressed complete support for the liberation of Palestine and described the effort as a “duty of every Muslim.”
It said that Pakistan’s armed forces are “imbued with the spirit of jihad” and that the “notion of placing them against any sacred struggle for the liberation of Baitul Muqaddas or Palestine is impossible for the nation to accept.”
The religious leaders characterized the proposal as a “conspiracy” from which the government must “protect the country.”
Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi and the prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, did not respond to Arab News requests for comment on the statement.
Washington reportedly views Pakistan as a prime candidate for the ISF, given its experience in high-intensity border conflicts and internal counter-insurgency operations.
Last week, Pakistan’s foreign office said that Islamabad had not taken any decision on joining the proposed stabilization force for Gaza and had received no formal request from the US or any other country in this regard.
“I am not aware of any specific request made to Pakistan. We will inform you about any development if it takes place,” Andrabi told reporters.
He also sought to distance the government from rumors of a pending visit by Pakistan’s defense forces chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to the US to meet President Trump.
