Addressing participants in Karachi on the occasion of World Resistance Day, Hafiz Naeem said the October 7, 2023, Al-Aqsa Flood attack dealt a major blow to Israel and exposed weaknesses in its defence system, military preparedness and advanced technology.
He said Hamas had planned the attack in secrecy and maintained strict confidentiality during its preparations. According to Hafiz Naeem, the group organised itself as a disciplined resistance movement, catching Israel off guard.
He claimed that Israel’s Iron Dome system, military and advanced defence technology, along with US support, failed to prevent the October 7 attack.
Hafiz Naeem said Palestinian fighters with limited resources exposed Israel before the world, after which Israel took revenge on Palestinian civilians. He alleged that women and children were among the main victims of Israeli operations in Gaza.
He also accused Israel of using lethal weapons, including white phosphorus, in Gaza and said Israeli bombardment had caused widespread destruction.
According to Hafiz Naeem, almost the entire population of Gaza has been affected by the war, while Israeli attacks have destroyed buildings and infrastructure on a massive scale.
He said Gaza had a population of around 2.2 to 2.3 million even before October 7, 2023, living in a densely populated and blockaded territory. The situation, he said, became more devastating after the war, with large parts of Gaza reduced to ruins and thousands of Palestinians killed.
Hafiz Naeem claimed that a large number of bodies and human remains were still buried under the rubble and that bodies and mass graves continued to be discovered during clearance operations.
Referring to international reports, he said the Palestinian death toll in Gaza had crossed 74,000 since October 7, while the United Nations had repeatedly highlighted the humanitarian crisis and widespread destruction in the territory.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader said the international community should have risen against Israel after October 7, but the indifference of Muslim rulers and silence of global powers allowed Israel to continue its actions against Palestinians.
He called on Muslim countries to play a stronger role in support of Palestinians and take practical measures to stop Israeli military operations.
Hafiz Naeem said young people, students and human rights activists around the world had launched large public movements in support of Palestine, with protests against Israeli actions held from the East to the West.
He also criticised the role of the United Nations, saying several resolutions had been passed on Palestine but effective measures had not been taken to protect Palestinians.
He questioned the international organisation’s ability to prevent Israeli actions against Palestinians and said the issue had raised questions about whether powerful and weaker states were being treated according to different standards.
Hafiz Naeem also criticised Western countries over their claims regarding human rights, democracy and freedom of expression. He said effective pressure on Israel had not been seen despite the deaths of Palestinian women and children.
He accused the United States of providing political, diplomatic and military support to Israel and said Palestine had exposed contradictions in the policies of Western powers and the role of power in international politics.
The Jamaat-e-Islami emir also referred to international criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza situation. He cited walkouts by several delegations and empty seats during Netanyahu’s address at the United Nations as signs of growing international opposition to Israeli policies.
He said the Palestine issue had raised a fundamental question about whether human rights and international law were applied equally to all countries.
Hafiz Naeem said global powers continued to speak about democracy, human rights and international law, while the failure to apply these principles consistently in the case of Palestinians had raised serious questions about the international system.
