All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday reacted to the ongoing war between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel, saying India historically stood with Palestine. He claimed the shift in India’s policy (towards the Palestinian cause) came when the Congress came into power.

“A late BJP leader once said about Palestine that land worth billions has been acquired. We had released a post stamp for solidarity with Palestine. This shifted when Congress came into power,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Owaisi was ostensibly referring to a viral video of former prime minister and late BJP stalwart, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in which he speaks in favour of the Palestinian cause.

The AIMIM chief also referred to the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 between Israel and Palestine.

“The Oslo Agreement came into existence which said that in theWest Bank and Gaza, an independent Palestinian country would be made. It has been 30 years now… The world knows that there is the Al-Aqsa mosque there. The Gaza Strip has been blocked for the last 16 years… It is an open-air prison,” the AIMIM leader said.

Israel on Saturday witnessed an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants who fired rocket barrages and stormed Israeli cities.

Tel Aviv later announced a war against the militant group. It also initiated a massive airstrike operation in the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas.

So far, over 1100 people have been killed in the war and thousands have been injured and displaced. Over 130 Israeli and other nationals are also feared taken hostage by Hamas.

Israel-Palestine conflict

The Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Zionist Jews began immigrating to Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire, with the aim of establishing a Jewish homeland. This movement eventually led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, resulting in a war between Israel and its Arab neighbors and the displacement of Palestinian Arabs.