Israel-Hamas: Islamic Movement holds nationwide protest in solidarity with Palestine

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as Shiites, on Monday, staged a peaceful procession nationwide, urging an immediate ceasefire in the war-hit city of Gaza.

States where the protests took place were Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Adamawa and FCT.

In Abuja, the US and UK national flags were burnt by the protesters in front of the US embassy.

The protesters urged US President, Joe Biden to withdraw all his support for Israel in order to stop the extrajudicial killing of unarmed females and children in Gaza.

In a statement, Sheikh Sidi Munir Mainasara Sokoto, a member of the movement, demanded an immediate stop to the ongoing attack.

The statement, titled, “United States: Stop the Ongoing Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”, reads: “Since the 7th day of October, 2023, Israel has kept up with its inhuman military aggression against the oppressed people of Palestine, without sparing women, children, or the elderly.

“Today marks the 158th day of the Gaza bombardment. Within these days, Israel has dropped over 30,000 bombs, killing at least 31,000 Palestinians and leaving over 72,400 injured. Nearly 70 percent of homes in Gaza have been partially or completely wiped out. Places of worship, markets, hospitals, and schools have also been targeted and destroyed.

“According to the United Nations, half of Gaza is at risk of starvation. Further, the World Health Organization reports that Israeli attacks and the siege have resulted in the spread of diseases that may even kill more people than the detonated bombs have so far done.

“The over-22-week-old genocide has been made possible by the total support from the US and UK governments. They have even blocked a UN Security Council resolution calling for a total ceasefire; this exposes the fact that they are the sponsors and accessories to the Gaza carnage.

“In the context of the ongoing massacre, every reasonable and humane government would rise against the Israeli terror attacks on the ever-persecuted Palestinians in line with international law. But the US continues to fan the flames of insensate destruction and cold-blooded murders of innocent people, mainly women, children, and the elderly.

“We have seen video footage of young people crying out of gruesome torture, little children sitting in pools of blood and debris, and fathers carrying their emaciated and lifeless kids.

“This pains our hearts and fills us with an unbearable rage. The atrocities are yet ongoing: the siege and indiscriminate bombing. The cutting of all means of communication continues, as well as the destruction of buildings, including hospitals.

“Explosions still detonate, and the Zionist entity still massacres unarmed Palestinian men, women, and children with the full support of the US and UK governments. Without the US providing weapons to Netanyahu and voting against all efforts by the United Nations to bring about a total ceasefire, Israel would have no option but to withdraw from occupied Palestine and stop the cold-blooded killings.

“On the 11th January, 2024, US military forces led an attack on Yemen. The Yemeni government has been blocking ships only bound for Israel in order to force Netanyahu to stop the genocide and lift the siege, and the Yemeni Authority makes that clear to all and sundry. Therefore, attacking them for doing so amounts to trying to stop them from upholding international law. It clearly shows that those attacking them are parties to the ongoing massacre of women, children, and the elderly in Gaza.

“Moreover, the said attack on Yemen by US/UK-led forces further exposed America’s complicity in the 158-day-old nonstop genocide against unarmed Palestinians.

“We demand an immediate and absolute stop to the ongoing massacre of civilians in the strip of Gaza.”