Muslim groups in Hong Kong register strong protest with Israeli consulate over Gaza conflict as envoy condemns Hamas militants

Muslim groups in Hong Kong have registered a strong protest with the city’s Israeli consulate, expressing their “collective pain and frustration caused by the current series of inhumane events” unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

In a letter addressed to Israeli Consul General Amir Lati on Thursday, Muslim Council of Hong Kong chairman Adeel Malik said the “indiscriminate violence and aggression shown by the Israeli government and military on the innocent people of Palestine” could never be justified.

Lati, meanwhile, condemned the “bloodthirsty terrorists” who launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 during a Jewish holiday, indiscriminately killing civilians and taking hostages back to Gaza, saying they had “one directive only, to spread death and murder”.

“Israel, like any other country, has the sacred duty to defend its citizens. Our war is with the terrorist organisation Hamas,” he told the Post on Thursday evening.

“We expect every moral person to condemn these acts of brutality.”

In his letter dated October 12, Malik wrote: “On behalf of the diverse Muslim community of Hong Kong and all those who sympathise with the Palestinian long-standing struggle, we are writing to register our deep anguish over the innocent lives being affected due to the current conflict.”

He said the suspension of food, electricity and fuel supplies to more than 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, now facing a massive Israeli military crackdown, was a “grievous and inhumane act, affecting children, women, and the elderly”.

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More than 1,300 Palestinians had been killed and over 338,000 displaced in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, Malik noted.

Malik told the Post he did not expect a response from the consul general.

“Still, we feel helpless. We know nothing will come out of it but it’s better than doing nothing,” he said, adding that he expected mosques and madrasas across the city to include the conflict in their prayers on Friday.

The Israeli consul general said Hamas militants had taken more than 150 hostages to Gaza and they were not contactable, while more than 1,200 civilians, including babies and the elderly, have been killed in Israel.

“We are not in a fight with the innocent people who live in the Gaza Strip. We are there to make sure the terrorist infrastructure will be completely destroyed so this will not happen again,” he said.

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The Immigration Department said it had received 40 requests for help from Hongkongers in Israel. Of those, 21 had safely arrived in Hong Kong while nine had left Israel as of 5pm on Thursday.

The department said it was also in touch with a travel group in Israel and was told most of its members had already left the country or arrived in Hong Kong.