India’s silence on Gaza cannot be explained rationally or morally, says Sonia Gandhi

The Narendra Modi government’s continued silence about Israeli “genocidal actions” in Palestine “cannot be explained rationally or morally”, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said in a column in The Indian Express on Saturday.

Gandhi said that two and a half years after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an “absolutely unacceptable” attack on Israel, it has become clear that Tel Aviv’s retaliation has been “characterised by wanton cruelty and barbarity”.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began in October 2023 after Hamas killed 1,200 persons during its incursion into southern Israel and took hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then, leaving more than 73,000 persons dead.

On Saturday, Gandhi wrote in The Indian Express that senior Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “called for the ‘complete siege’” of Gaza and described Palestinians as “‘animals’ who have ‘no right to exist’”.

‘India remains a lone voice of silence’

While the Donald Trump administration in the United States had enabled Tel Aviv to “continue its brutal campaign” against Palestinians, the rest of the world “has felt the pricking of its conscience”, the Congress leader said.

Gandhi said that amid the conflict several countries in the West, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, had recognised Palestinian statehood “after decades of indifference to the Palestinian cause”.

She noted that...

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