Pakistan Announces August 2 as National Mourning Day for Ismail Haniyeh

Islamabad, The Gulf Observer: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday vehemently denounced the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, describing it as a “barbaric act” that flagrantly violated international laws.

In a statement, Prime Minister Sharif asserted that the extraterritorial assassination had provoked widespread condemnation from Pakistan and other nations, including Turkiye, Russia, Iran, China, and Malaysia, all of which have expressed strong disapproval of the attack.

Chairing a high-level meeting on the Palestine situation in Islamabad, the prime minister revealed that Ismail Haniyeh’s children and grandchildren had also been brutally killed in the attack. The meeting was attended by parliamentarians from allied political parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), and the National Party.

Prime Minister Sharif underscored the ongoing bloodshed in Palestine, which has persisted for nine months and resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 innocent Palestinians, including thousands of children. He emphasized that the violence continues unabated, with numerous Palestinians being killed daily.

“The world is silent over this barbarism,” Sharif remarked, condemning the terrorism and extremism. He criticized Israel for disregarding verdicts from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and United Nations resolutions, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to obliterate Palestine.

Sharif also expressed gratitude to Western countries like Ireland and Spain for their support of the Palestinian cause and the two-state solution.

The attendees collectively expressed their outrage and sorrow over the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians, unanimously condemning the brutality and demonstrating full solidarity with their Palestinian brothers and sisters.

The meeting called for immediate humanitarian aid access to the defenseless Palestinians and decided that Pakistan will continue to supply relief materials and provide medical assistance to injured Palestinians, including facilitating their treatment in Pakistan. Additionally, Palestinian medical students will be offered admission to Pakistani medical colleges on humanitarian grounds.

As a gesture of solidarity and condemnation of Israeli actions, the meeting declared August 2 as a national day of mourning in Pakistan. Participants also decided to hold a funeral prayer in absentia for Ismail Haniyeh after Friday prayers across the country and to present a special resolution in Parliament expressing complete solidarity with Palestine.

“Israel is violating UN resolutions, International Court of Justice rulings, and international laws through its ongoing genocide and state brutality in Palestine, while the international community remains a silent spectator,” said the participants.

The meeting urged the international community to abandon its neutral stance and take a decisive position to halt these atrocities. They warned that failure to do so would undermine the relevance of international laws and institutions for future generations.

The participants called on the global community, including the United Nations, to break their silence, stop the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by Zionist forces, and bring Israel to justice for its war crimes and oppression.