The two Pakistan-backed terrorist outfits, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), are all set to form a grand alliance with Palestinian Hamas Movement! Top leaders of these three organisations recently shared the stage during an event in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The development has raised a serious concern in neighbouring India as the presence of Hamas leaders in PoK has exposed Islamabad’s bid to turn Kashmir into a Jihad theatre.

Every year, Pakistan observes February 5 as Kashmir Solidarity Day, considered as a propaganda exercise to push its anti-India agenda. In 2025, LeT and JeM militants organised an event, titled Kashmir Solidarity and Al Aqsa Flood Conference, at Shaheed Sabir Stadium in Rawalakote on this occasion and a top Hamas leader attended the event as chief guest, in a rare first. It may be noted that the title (of the event) is closely associated with the Israel-Hamas War that has been going on for the past year and a half.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a three-pronged attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 1,200 innocent people. The Palestinian group also kidnapped citizens of several countries, including Jews, and took them to Gaza. This bold military campaign is known as the Operation Al Aqsa Flood or Taufan as Hamas drew inspiration from the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a symbol of Islamic heritage currently under Israeli occupation. The operation was a dramatic effort (of Hamas) to break the ongoing siege on Gaza and challenge Israel’s military dominance. (Britannica, 2023) Within hours, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu declared a war on Hamas. According to political analysts, the use of this particular title at the Kashmir Solidarity Day event is quite significant.

Talha Saif, the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, Jaish commander Asghar Khan Kashmiri, Masood Ilyas and other leaders of the JeM attended the event at Shaheed Sabir Stadium. Several LeT leaders, too, were present on the occasion, along with a Hamas delegation led by Dr Khalid Al-Qadoumi, a senior representative of the outfit in Iran. Ahead of his arrival in Rawalakote, Dr Al-Qadoumi held a meeting with Fazal-ur-Rehman, a senior Pakistani politician who is also the President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F).

JeM and LeT have carried out multiple terrorist attacks in India, killing hundreds of innocent civilians. One can mention the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in the western Indian city of Mumbai in November 2008 and a suicide attack on the Indian security personnel in Pulwama (Kashmir) in 2019. After the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out airstrikes in Balakot (situated in the Pakistani Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to destroy JeM bases. An Indian intelligence report claimed that the Balakot airstrike significantly weakened the JeM. Hence, both JeM and LeT have decided to bolster ties with Hamas in an attempt to boost their strength.

Defence analysts have opined that the two Pakistani terrorist outfits could launch a major attack in India-controlled-Kashmir in the coming days, similar to Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. In that case, there would be a risk of a large number of rocket attacks simultaneously. According to analysts, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the primary intelligence agency of Pakistan, may have a plan to build tunnels for sending terrorists to Kashmir. In such a scenario, Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah held two important meetings on the security situation in Kashmir with his top officials on February 4-5, 2025. Later, Shah stressed that India would step up the fight against terrorism with the goal of zero infiltration. He also asked all security agencies to take “more stringent action on infiltration and acts of terror with a ruthless approach”. The minister stressed: “It should be our goal to uproot the existence of terrorists.”

Interestingly, Israel has long been pressuring India to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation. However, India is yet to accept the proposal. Analysts believe that the latest development may prompt New Delhi to change its stand on Hamas. While Pakistan has openly backed Palestine since the birth of Israel, India has emphasised the Two-State Theory to resolve the Palestinian issue. Since becoming the Prime Minister of India in 2014, Narendra Modi has made a serious attempt to strengthen ties with the Jewish Nation. New Delhi has also been sending humanitarian aid to Gaza for a long time. The Modi Administration did not stop sending aid even during the Israel-Hamas War.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the US to meet President Donald John Trump in the first week of February 2025. While speaking at a joint press conference at the White House, President Trump made an explosive declaration about Gaza, stating: “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the US by Israel at the conclusion of fighting.” He also advised the Gazans to move to neighbouring Jordan or Egypt for now. Trump reiterated that the idea would mean resettling Palestinians, stating that no US soldiers would be requited.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conduct continuous airstrikes in Gaza, destroying the entire region. A section of analysts believe that Israel and the US may seek India’s support in restructuring the Gaza Strip.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das