Pakistan observes mourning day in solidarity with Palestine

The nation observed mourning day across the country on Friday to express solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and to condemn the ongoing Israeli brutalities against them, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In its meeting held in Islamabad under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, the federal cabinet condemned in strongest terms the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was martyred in Tehran the other day.

The cabinet also appealed to the entire nation to offer "Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza " of Shaheed Ismail Haniyeh after Juma prayers.

The National Assembly also on Friday passed a resolution condemning the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Earlier, the National Assembly offered Fateha for the departed soul of Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated on Wednesday in Iran.

Lawmaker Misbah Uddin led the Fateha on the request of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

Shehbaz says Israel should be held accountable

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.

“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.

The prime minister, who earlier also highlighted the issue in the cabinet meeting chaired by him a while ago and coalition parties meeting on Thursday, said the whole Muslim world including the Pakistani nation was grieved over Ismail Haniyeh’s killing.

Thanking the members from both sides of the aisle for evolving a consensus on the resolution, he said the parliament’s voice would resonate the world over to shock the enemies of Pakistan and strengthen its friends.

He highlighted that the Palestinian people were suffering the worst bloodshed by the zionist state for the last nine months which killed around 40,000 people including thousands of women and children.

“The cities have turned into cemeteries. The cries have taken over the joys and smiles of the playing children. Palestine is giving a deserted look,” the prime minister said and questioned the inaction and helplessness of the world to end the Israeli oppression.

He said not only the Muslims rather every peace-loving human being, regardless of faith or creed, was questioning the non-implementation of the international laws and human rights charters for which the world bodies including the United Nations were created.

“This is a question by an infant who was killed moments after his birth. This is a question by a mother, now in paradise, whose baby was aborted after she was killed. This is a question by a child awaiting his mother in the hospital… Finally, the answer has to be given,” he remarked.

He told the House that all including the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council, decisions of the International Court of Justice, human rights declarations, protests and appeals for peace from the world went unread.

Terming the killing of Ismail Haniyeh as a blow to peace efforts, he called for holding the killers to account and reiterated Pakistan’s condemnation of extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings.

The prime minister also recalled the recent killing of Ismail Haniyeh’s three sons and four grandchildren and said the nation having rendered such huge sacrifices could not be defeated.

He also apprised the House of the government’s decisions to observe a day of mourning on Friday, offering Haniyeh’s funeral prayers in absentia, continued dispatch of humanitarian aid and medical aid for the Palestinians, and the enrolment of Palestinian medical students in Pakistan’s medical colleges.

PM, MPs offer Ismail Haniyeh’s funeral prayer

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, members of the federal cabinet and the parliamentarians on Friday offered the funeral prayers in absentia of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas killed in Tehran.

The funeral prayer was held across the country as part of the government’s decisions made 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.

NA unanimous resolution condemns Israeli oppression

The National Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution, strongly condemning the Israeli ongoing state oppression and brutality in Palestine.

The House expressed complete solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters and extended condolences to the family of Ismail Haniyeh and the people of Palestine. The resolution was moved by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar in the House on behalf of all political parties.

The House also called on the international community to take effective action to halt Israel’s oppression and brutalities and deliver justice to the Palestinian people. The house called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire the provision of sustainable and unhindered humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Palestinians, and immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2735 (2024).

“This house decides that Pakistan will 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,” the resolution said.

The house resolved that Palestine medical students would be given admission in Pakistan’s medical colleges on gratis basis to complete their education.

“The House also decides to observe a day of mourning across Pakistan on 2nd August as a mark of solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters and to unequivocally condemn Israeli brutality,” the resolution further said.

It was also decided to hold funeral prayers in absentia for martyr Ismail Haniyeh across the country after Friday prayers today. “The House calls on the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures to impose its call for a ceasefire in Gaza to stop the genocidal war being waged against Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity inflicted upon the Palestinians.

It also called for the immediate admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.

The resolution said, “Whereas the atrocities by Israel on Palestinians have escalated causing immense suffering and loss of over 40,000 innocent lives so far, including women and children”.

Whereas all parliamentary parties in the National Assembly expressed their unified grief and anger over the ongoing Israeli oppression and brutality against the people of Palestine for the past nine months, the resolution said.

The resolution further said, “Whereas the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran has 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”.

“Whereas the Israeli leadership is intent on expelling the population of Palestine from their homeland and despite clear verdicts of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Security Council, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and calls by the UN Secretary-General, Israel has not stopped the indiscriminate violence and attacks against innocent Palestinians,” it further said.

The House said that 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.

PTI leader Barrister Gohar said that they stand with the government of Pakistan on the issue of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

Erdogan also declares day of mourning

Turkey is also observe a national day of mourning for the burial in Qatar of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was martyed in Tehran, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"A national day of mourning will be declared tomorrow (Friday) in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters," Erdogan said on X, calling Haniyeh a "martyr".

Erdogan on Wednesday condemned the "perfidious assassination" of his close ally and "brother" Haniyeh, the political leader of Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas.

"May God have mercy on my brother Ismail Haniyeh, fallen in martyrdom," Erdogan wrote on the X social media platform, denouncing "Zionist barbarity".

Haniyeh, who spent much time in Turkey before the unprecedented October 7 attacks launched by Hamas on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, last paid a visit to Erdogan in Istanbul in April.

Hamas is viewed by the United States, the European Union and Israel as a terrorist organisation but Erdogan calls it "a liberation movement".

Thousands of people marched in Istanbul on Wednesday to denounce the death of Haniyeh, killed with his bodyguard in a pre-dawn strike on their accommodation in Tehran early Wednesday, in an attack that has been blamed on Israel.

A plane carrying his body landed in Doha Thursday after a public funeral in Iran attended by crowds of mourners who paid their respects, Qatar-based network Al Jazeera reported.

Qatar, which has hosted Hamas's political bureau with the blessing of the United States, including Haniyeh, has been involved in months of back-and-forth talks to mediate an end to the war in Gaza, alongside Egypt with US support.

Reporters Awais Kiyani and Rozina Ali/Agencies