Carrying the Palestinian flag, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday led an anti-Israel protest in Srinagar.
The protesters raised slogans against Israel and chanted slogans of “Israel go back” and “Leave Palestine”.
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Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel on October 7. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed, more than 2,000 injured, and many taken hostage.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza. In the first day of reprisals, close to 400 Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
About 500 Palestinians were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital recently that Palestinian health authorities said was caused by an Israeli air strike but that the Israeli military blamed on a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian militant group.
“Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered while the world looks the other way,” Mehbooba said.
Led by Mehbooba, the PDP activists took out the protest rally outside the party headquarters here. Police stopped Mehbooba and her supporters from proceeding towards the city centre of Lal Chowk.
Mehbooba highlighted the high civilian casualties in Palestine, emphasising that about 1,500 children and numerous innocent civilians have lost their lives. “When 500 children were killed in two years in Ukraine, the whole world cried, but today no one is speaking up,” she rued.
She expressed concern that the world has largely remained silent in the face of this conflict, contrasting it with global reactions to other tragedies.
Mehbooba warned that the situation in Palestine could escalate global terrorism, as the oppressive conditions, including the denial of food, water and medicine, may lead more people to take up arms.
She drew parallels between the current events and the historical holocaust, stressing the potentially grave consequences for the world.