'Diminishing unity of Muslim Ummah': Pakistan condemns Netanyahu’s 'hexagon of alliances' plan

The Pakistan Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to create a “hexagon of alliances,” calling it an attempt by Israeli leadership to diminish the unity and integrity of the “Muslim Ummah.”

Netanyahu said Israel plans to build a “hexagon” of alliances involving India, Arab nations, African countries and Mediterranean states. According to him, the aim is to strengthen coordination among like-minded countries and counter radical axes in the region.




Israel “will create an entire system — essentially a kind of hexagon of alliances — around or within the Middle East”, said Netanyahu, according to The Times of Israel. “The intention here is to create an axis of countries that see reality, the challenges, and the goals in the same way, in contrast to the radical axes,” he added.

“Both the radical Shiite axis, which we have hit very hard, and also the emerging axis — the radical Sunni axis. All these countries share a different outlook, and cooperation between us can yield very great fruits and, of course, also ensure our strength and our future,” said the Israeli PM.

PM Modi is on a visit to Israel, where he addressed a special plenary session of the Knesset, becoming the first Indian prime minister to address the Israeli parliament.

The resolution by the Pakistani senate, moved in the House by PPP’s Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, deplored what it described as continued provocative steps and statements by the Israeli leadership that threatened regional and international peace and stability, including the latest statement about creating alliances against Muslim nations.

The Senate resolution also condemned attempts by Israel to undermine the “sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of brotherly Islamic countries and rejected” the announcement recognising the independence of the Somaliland region of Somalia.

It further condemned Israel’s continued violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and disregard of international law, the UN Charter, UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

The House expressed strong concern over what it called “vile proclivity of the leadership of the Israeli occupying power towards diminishing the unity and integrity of Muslim Ummah on political and ideological grounds," as quoted by Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

It rejected attempts to change the legal or historical status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including holy sites, impose new administrative realities in the occupied territory, expand settlement activities, encourage settler violence, or forcibly displace Palestinians.

It urged the international community to “end Israeli impunity and to hold it accountable for its crimes against humanity, as well as its provocative actions that pose a threat to all regional countries.”

The Senate demanded full Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, including through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, as well as early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, reported Dawn.

The House reaffirmed Pakistan’s historic support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.