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
EU criticizes Pakistan over jailing of rights lawyers, flags free speech concerns
- EU says the convictions of Imaan Mazari-Hazir, Hadi Ali Chattha violate freedom of expression
- Both lawyers were arrested last week over social media posts under Pakistan’s cybercrime laws
KARACHI: The European Union on Thursday criticized Pakistan over the conviction of two human rights lawyers for their social media activity, saying the ruling ran counter to freedom of expression and the independence of the legal profession, core democratic principles that Islamabad is committed to uphold under international law.
Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were arrested last Friday as they were on their way to a court appearance and were later remanded to two weeks in judicial custody.
Authorities accused them of violating the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) over posts on X that they said incited ethnic divisions and portrayed the military as being involved in “terrorism.” Both deny the allegations.
“The conviction of human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha over social media activity goes against freedom of expression and independence of lawyers,” Anouar El Anouni, the EU’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a post on X. “These are not only key democratic principles but also part of Pakistan’s international human rights commitments.”
Pakistan is one of the largest beneficiaries of the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which grants duty-free access to most European markets in return for implementing 27 international conventions covering human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and good governance.
Pakistan’s GSP+ status came under scrutiny in the past after, in April 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an immediate review, citing concerns over violence against religious minorities, curbs on media freedom and broader human rights issues.
Earlier this week, lawyers in Pakistan’s capital went on strike and announced plans to stage a protest against the court ruling, which handed Mazari-Hazir and Chattha a cumulative 17-year sentence.
The Pakistani government has not yet responded to the EU statement.
