ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government and its allies announced that the nation would observe a ‘Day of Mourning’ today, Friday, to stand in solidarity with Palestine and condemn Israel’s “state-sponsored terrorism,” state-run media said.
The decision was taken after a consultative meeting of the government and its allies in Islamabad on Thursday chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The development takes place in response to Wednesday’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas. Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in Tehran in a rocket strike while he was in the country to attend the new Iranian president’s swearing-in ceremony.
“The government-allied parties on Thursday decided that the nation would observe a day of mourning across the country on August 2 (Friday) in solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters and to condemn the Israeli state-sponsored terrorism in Palestine,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
In a joint declaration issued after the meeting, the party also said funeral prayers in absentia would also be offered for Haniyeh by the nation after Friday prayers.
“The meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, also decided to present a resolution in the Parliament to express full solidarity with the people of Palestine,” APP said.
Participants of the meeting said Pakistan will continue to provide relief goods and take effective measures to provide medical assistance to Palestinians.
“It was further decided that the injured Palestinians would be brought to Pakistan for treatment,” APP reported.
The meeting was attended by leaders and senior representatives of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Pakistan Muslim League Zia and National Party.
Haniyeh’s assassination took place just hours after Israel targeted and killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a retaliatory strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut, sending fears of a wider regional war soaring in fallout from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
While Israel has refrained from commenting on the Tehran strike, Iran has vowed retaliation against the Jewish state for carrying out an assassination on its soil.