Afghan Taliban supreme leader urges Muslim world to support Palestinians

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The Afghan Taliban's supreme leader on Thursday strongly condemned the Israeli attacks and urged the Muslim world to support the Palestinian people against Israel.

During his traditional annual message ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada called the Israeli attacks and bombing on the Palestinian people a "great injustice and barbarity."

"We support the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people and urge the rest of the Islamic world to, as much as possible, support the Palestinians, so they can regain their usurped rights, be freed from the oppression and aggression of the Zionist regime, and put an end to the ongoing atrocities and injustice there," he said.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing over 800 people and injuring nearly 1,800 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

More than 50,100 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 113,700 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.