‘Israel is not waging a war against Hamas but against people of Palestine’

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel is not waging a war against Hamas but against the people of Palestine and whatever is happening in Gaza is a genocide, and a war crime against humanity, said Mahmoud al-Habash, top Palestinian Sharia judge and religious affairs adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas.

Speaking at the European Summit for Palestine organized by the European Muslim Forum in Istanbul on Thursday, Al-Habash said: “Israel's war is not against Hamas. This is a lie. This is a war against the people of Palestine.”

Speakers at the event called Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide and demanded a permanent cease-fire and an end to the humanitarian disaster.

“Whatever is happening in Palestine is a genocide, a war crime against humanity,” said Habash, adding that apart from Gaza, Palestinians were also being killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

“Hitting mosques, schools, churches are full-fledged war crimes,” he said.

Lambasted the international community for being a silent spectator to the ‘massacre’ being committed, the judge said: “The international community is just sitting and watching.”

Calling the Israeli prime minister a murderer, he said that the US being Israel’s biggest supporter is responsible for the bloodshed.

He said that Israel was killing people in an organized and systematic way by targeting hospitals in Gaza and refugee camps. He ended his speech with chants of “Long live Palestine,” and “Long live the freedom of Palestine.”

Academics, politicians, clerics, and scholars of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths from various countries are taking part in the event.

The event started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. In the day-long event, speakers, some via Zoom, would be expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and demanding an end to the war.