KABUL: In an act of solidarity and to honor the victims of Israel’s war on Gaza, residents of the Afghan capital have named their newest mosque after the Palestinian enclave.

Opened on Jan. 11, the Gaza Mosque is located in the Qua-ye-Markaz area of Kabul, close to business plazas and the city’s famous carpet market.

A two-story building, which can accommodate some 500 worshippers, it was funded from public donations on land provided by the Kabul municipality.

“The mosque was named Gaza Mosque to acknowledge the struggle and sacrifices of the men, women, children, youth and elders in Gaza in defending their land,” Hajji Habibudin Rezayi, a businessman who led the fundraising, told Arab News.

“There were a few name suggestions before the completion of the mosque’s construction, including Palestine, Aqsa and Gaza. Most of the campaign participants voted for Gaza as a symbol of solidarity.”

There is widespread support for Palestine among Afghans — many of whom know what it means to live under foreign occupation as they endured it during the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War and the 20 years of war following the US invasion in 2001.

Afghanistan was the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestinian National Council’s declaration of independence in 1948. Every successive Afghan government has stood by Palestine in the wake of Israel’s wars against it and the occupation of Palestinian land.

Since the beginning of Israel’s latest deadly assault on Gaza in October 2023, which has destroyed most of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure and killed tens of thousands of civilians, imams at Afghan mosques have regularly held special prayers for Palestinian freedom.

When a ceasefire was announced last week, celebrations were organized both in Afghan households and in public spaces.

“Afghans have been trying to help as much as they can to send support to Palestinians in terms of donations, prayers and other acts of solidarity,” said Abduraqib Hakimi, the imam of the Gaza Mosque.

“Every Muslim and human must have some solidarity with the people of Palestine and Gaza for what they have gone through during the past year and a half.”

Worshipers at the mosque told Arab News that they hoped that their country could do more.

“Israel’s actions in Palestine are nothing but genocide,” one of them, Asadullah Dayi, said.

“Innocent women and children were killed, and houses were destroyed. There has never been so much oppression in the history of Islam like the Zionist oppression of the Palestinians.”