Senate deplores Netanyahu’s plan to forge alliances with India, others against Muslim nations

Published February 24, 2026 Updated February 24, 2026 05:21pm
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they deliver joint statements during an exchange of cooperation agreements ceremony in Jerusalem on July 5, 2017. — Reuters/File
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they deliver joint statements during an exchange of cooperation agreements ceremony in Jerusalem on July 5, 2017. — Reuters/File

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks about a plan to ally with India and other countries to counter Muslim nations.

The resolution moved in the House by PPP’s Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan deplored the continued provocative steps and statements by the Israeli leadership that threatened the regional and international peace and stability, including the latest statement about forming “alliances” against Muslim nations.

Addressing a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will create an entire system — essentially a kind of hexagon of alliances — around or within the Middle East”, Times of Israel reported.

Netanyahu listed India, Greece, Cyprus, and “unnamed Arab, African and Asian countries”, the report added.

“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 was quoted as saying.

“Both the radical Shia axis, which we have hit very hard, and also the emerging axis — the radical Sunni axis,” Netanyahu added.

The Indian PM is also set to visit Israel this week.

In its resolution passed today, the Senate also condemned any attempts by Israel to undermine the “sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of brotherly Islamic countries and rejected” the announcement made by Israel recognising the independence of the so-called Somaliland region of Somalia.

On Dec 26, 2025, Israel became the first country to formally recognise Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state, sparking strong condemnation from Pakistan, 20 other nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The Senate also condemned in the strongest possible terms the Israeli occupying power’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as well as its blatant disregard of international law, the UN Charter, relevant UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The House took strong exception to the “vile proclivity of the leadership of the Israeli occupying power towards diminishing the unity and integrity of Muslim Ummah on political and ideological grounds”.

It rejected any attempt by Israel to change the legal or historical status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the status of the holy sites; enforce any new legal and administrative reality in the occupied territory, especially the Occupied West Bank; expand its illegal settlement activities in the occupied territory, and encourage settler violence; or forcibly displace Palestinians from their land.

The Senate 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”.

It demanded full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories; increased, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza, including through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); and an early start of the recovery and reconstruction process in Gaza.

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

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan strikes
Updated 24 Feb, 2026

Afghan strikes

IN the wake of the recent wave of terrorist attacks targeting Pakistan, with most of the atrocities linked to ...
Tug of war
24 Feb, 2026

Tug of war

THE timing may be questioned, but the issue is not new. The PPP and the MQM-P are once again engaging in their old...
Easier CNIC access
24 Feb, 2026

Easier CNIC access

NADRA’S decision to issue CNICs to first-time applicants without requiring them to produce a birth certificate is ...
Hollow applause
Updated 23 Feb, 2026

Hollow applause

The current account turnaround, though largely driven by import compression, rising remittances and bilateral debt rollovers, has eased external pressures.
Delayed appointment
23 Feb, 2026

Delayed appointment

THE recent appointment of a chief election commissioner for Azad Jammu & Kashmir has once again shone a ...
Fragile equilibrium
23 Feb, 2026

Fragile equilibrium

PAKISTAN is not short of food. It is short of resilience. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification...