S Jaishankar’s big statement amid Israel-Hamas war : ‘Palestinians have been denied their homeland’
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has expressed concern over the death of civilians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war stating that Palestinians have been denied their homeland.
He also urged Israel to cater to international humanitarian law in its ongoing retaliation after the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas. However, S Jaishankar acknowledged that the October 7 attack was “terrorism”.
S Jaishankar made the statement during an interaction with the Indian community at an event in Malaysia.
“How different pulls and pressures can be. On one hand, what happened on October 7 was terrorism. On the other hand, nobody would countenance the death of innocent civilians. Countries may be justified in their own minds in responding, but you cannot have a response that…every response must take into account something called international humanitarian law,” S Jaishankar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
“The fact is whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, there is underlying issue of the rights of the Palestinians and the fact that they have been denied their homeland,” he added.
India has continued to support the ‘two-state solution’ to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.
Meanwhile, the external affairs minister held a round-table meeting with CEOs of various companies in Malaysia and appreciated their growing interest in partnering with Indian industries.
What was the October 7 attack?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a deadly attack in the southern part of Israel. In the attack, Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds of civilians, including, women and children. The terrorists also took hostage more than 200 Israelis, many of whom continue to be in their custody in Gaza. The horrific attack came to be known as “the October 7 attack”.
Israel retaliated by launching a major military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, leading to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the military offensive aimed to free all hostages under Hamas custody and “completely dismantle” the terrorist network in Gaza.
In the ongoing war, there was a brief ceasefire in November during which nearly a hundred hostages under Hamas custody were freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners lodged in Israeli jails. However, since then, efforts and negotiations to ensure the release of remaining Israeli hostages and stop the war, have failed. The war has resulted in the death of more than 32,000 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza ministry.