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Indians will be affected if the conflict spreads beyond Gaza: Omar

“If the conflict drags on, we will definitely get affected. No other country has more nationals working in that region than we have. If the conflict spreads beyond Gaza, our people will be affected by it. That is why we want the war to stop, the bombings should stop,” Abdullah told reporters at the party headquarters in Srinagar

Updated on: Oct 25, 2023, 05:08:02 IST
By , Srinagar
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National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said if the conflict in the Middle East spread beyond Gaza, a large number of Indians working in the region will be affected.

Omar Abdullah (HT File Photo)
Omar Abdullah (HT File Photo)

“If the conflict drags on, we will definitely get affected. No other country has more nationals working in that region than we have. If the conflict spreads beyond Gaza, our people will be affected by it. That is why we want the war to stop, the bombings should stop. The United Nations (UN) and other countries will have to do justice. They cannot have different rules for different countries,” Abdullah told reporters at the party headquarters in Srinagar.

Abdullah expressed pain over the loss of lives in the conflict. “From day one, we have been opposing whatever is happening in Gaza. It is beyond comprehension why the killing of innocents like this. Every day on TV or media, innocents are getting killed in Gaza bombardment. Children, women, young men – who have no concern with the attack on Israel are being targeted mercilessly,” Abdullah told media persons.

‘Laws different for Russia, Israel’

“The world has proved that there is one law for Israel and another for Russia,” he said

“When Russia stopped gas in Ukraine and tried to stop water or food, the European Union president said this is a war crime. This is recorded. If what Russia did to Ukraine was a war crime, then isn’t Israel’s action in Gaza a war crime? If that was wrong, how is this not wrong? Now the world has to decide what is right?,” he lamented.

“The war should stop. The UN and other nations should provide justice. Different laws for different countries won’t work, at-least the bombardment of innocent people should stop,” he added.

Hamas militants who stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 killed at least 1,400 people and took more than 220 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

More than 5,700 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip in retaliatory Israeli bombardments, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said.

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has said about 1.4 million of Gaza’s population were now internally displaced, with many seeking refuge in overcrowded UN emergency shelters. Israel has ordered Gaza residents to evacuate the north. But the OCHA said it believed hundreds and possibly thousands of people who had fled were now returning to the north due to increased bombardments in the south and lack of shelter.