New Delhi: The Palestinian ambassador to India, Adnan Abu Al Haija, has called on New Delhi to look at the current conflict between Hamas and Israel from both sides.
“I hope India will look at the conflict from the same point of view [both sides]. India, by history, knew what the Palestinian cause was and they used to lead the world to support the Palestinian people to get their independence [sic],” Al Haija said in an interview with ThePrint Monday.
Answering a question regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong support for Israel, Al Haija said he did not know what had changed between India and Palestine, adding that the “Palestinian people have not changed”.
Modi issued two statements on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), terming the 7 October onslaught by Hamas on Israel as “terrorist attacks”, promising New Delhi’s unequivocal support for Tel Aviv in the current crisis. He made no mention of Palestine or the two-state solution in his statements.
Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 7, 2023
I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 10, 2023
During the early hours of Saturday morning, about 1,000 Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza strip under the cover of artillery fire as part of an unprecedented attack on Israel codenamed “Al-Aqsa Flood”. The terrorists reportedly took over parts of southern Israeli towns, and attacked civilians.
In response, Israel launched a large-scale counter-offensive — ‘Iron Swords’ — with the Israeli air force targeting multiple locations linked to the Palestinian militant outfit, while its ground forces worked to secure its southern towns.
Over 1,000 Israelis have been killed and 2,800 injured since Saturday, according to the latest update from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). At least 50 people are confirmed as hostages or missing.
#WaronHamas—4 days in. pic.twitter.com/evOgdRvMuo
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 10, 2023
Over 900 people have been killed in Gaza as well, according to officials in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian exclave.
Also read: ‘In solidarity with Israel’ — India stands apart from Global South, joins West in condemning Hamas
‘Israel does not implement international law’
Under international law, Al Haija said, Palestinians have the right to use all means necessary to defend themselves against occupation — this includes the use of arms. He added that Israel has ignored over “800 resolutions” passed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the Israel-Palestine situation.
“The Palestinian people are living under occupation. The problem is not Hamas, the problem is not armed Palestinian people. Because international [law] gives the Palestinian or any people under occupation [the right] to use all means available in their struggle against the occupation,” Al Haija said.
“I have heard from many leaders that Israel has the right to defend itself according to international law. It has never adhered to any international law… we have more than 800 resolutions in the UNSC and UNGA, Israel has never implemented even one of them,” he added.
Al Haija sought to highlight the rights that international law has given the Palestinians but are ignored by Israel — including the right to return, the right of independence in their own lands, free from settlers — and said Israel is not allowed to confiscate land to build settlements in areas demarcated as Palestinian territory.
He hoped India, as a friend of both Palestine and Israel, would intervene in the situation, “make a pressure” against the occupation of Palestinian lands by Israel, and see that the two-state solution is implemented “…or even a one-state solution. We are ready to live in a democratic state with the Israelis if they accept that”.
“But they are refusing everything — they are refusing the one-state solution or the two-state solution… for how long will the Palestinian people live under occupation?”
Al Haija said it is the Israelis who are refusing peace and not Palestinians — highlighting initiatives by Arab nations that reached out to Tel Aviv promising to maintain ties with Israel in exchange for peace and resolution to the Palestinian situation. However, even these efforts have been ignored by Tel Aviv, Al Haija said.
‘Condemn killing of civilians’
Al Haija made it clear that he condemned the killing of civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli. However, he said that the Israeli justice system has separate laws for the Israelis and military law for the Palestinian people — making it easy to sentence Palestinians to life imprisonment.
“The settler (Israeli settler), when he kills a Palestinian is rarely caught, but they (Israeli security) catch a Palestinian within a few hours…it is one system, an apartheid system from the high court till the settlers…they are one system against the Palestinian people,” Al Haija said.
He also said he hopes External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travels to Palestine to understand the situation on the ground.
“I hope Mr Jaishankar will visit Palestine. We want him to see the situation in the land. We want him to see what are the military checkpoints in the West Bank, what are the settlements in the West Bank, what is the killing in the West Bank. We want him to visit Palestine,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: ‘Long & difficult war’ — Israel strikes Hamas intel HQ, Palestine leader stresses ‘right to defend’