Israel lauds India's cricket World Cup win, takes a dig at Pakistan on X

The 'State of Israel' on Sunday congratulated India for beating Pakistan in Saturday's ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match in Ahmedabad. The official X (formerly Twitter) handle of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) went ahead to add that they were happy that "Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of Hamas."

The post, which garnered over 37.5K reactions so far, started by thanking "Indian friends" for their "solidarity" with Israel amidst an ongoing conflict with Hamas. "We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel We are happy that India🇮🇳emerged victorious in the #INDvsPAK match at #CWC23 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of #Hamas," the post from the handle with over 1.3 M followers read. 

"Shalom (yes, it's really us). Welcome to the State of Israel's official Twitter account managed by the @IsraelMFA's Digital Diplomacy team," the verified handle's description read. 

The Israeli MFA made the statement while reposting the Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon's post on the same line from Saturday. In a post in Hindi and English, the Ambassador expressed his happiness in the Indian victory, along with photos of one Harshal Purohit expressing solidarity to Israel from the stands of the Narendra Modi Stadium. "India stands with Israel in war against terrorism," the spectator with a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was seen displaying during the match. 

"We are happy that #India🇮🇳emerged victorious in the #INDvsPAK match at #CWC23 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of Hamas. We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel 🇮🇱 by displaying posters during the match," Naor Gilon's post read.

Earlier, Pakistan's Muhammad Rizwan had dedicated his team's victory over Sri Lanka "brothers and sisters in Gaza." The immense support to Israeli offensive against Hamas among Indian right-wing over the microblogging site had become a matter of discussion. 

on Saturday, Pakistan could not break their India jinx in the 50-overs World Cup on Saturday but more than their seven-wicket defeat by the arch-rivals. The Men In Blue, egged on by a 100,000-plus crowd, maintained their unbeaten record against Pakistan with a comprehensive victory, outperforming their rivals in all departments. 

Pakistan, cruising at 155-2 in the 29th over, suffered a spectacular meltdown to be all out for 191 with more than seven overs left in their innings. India then returned to lay bare Pakistan's bowling frailties and romped home with nearly 20 overs to spare in the lop-sided blockbuster.

MATCH REPORT: India extend ICC World Cup dominance over Pakistan, win by 7 wickets in Ahmedabad

Israel-Hamas war: Latest updates

Meanwhile, Israel has indicated that the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, in retaliation to last week's deadly Hamas attack, is imminent. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on Saturday announced that the troops were preparing for "a significant ground operation" as part of "an integrated and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land." 

The IDF statement, quoted by local media, claimed that the military was finalising the call-up of hundreds of thousands of reservists. The logistics directorate is working to provide troops with all the equipment needed for the ground offensive. "In recent days, the tools required for combat have been transferred to the assembly areas, and at this stage, the various units of the Technological and Logistics Directorate are working to complete the qualification of the tools and equipping [the soldiers] with advanced combat means, as needed," the IDF said. 

The IDF also announced a three-hour window for citizens of Gaza to evacuate from northern Gaza. They said close to 1.1 million people living in the region can use the evacuation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The IDF has said that no military activity will take place in the area, for the duration. This comes about a week after Israel announced a blockade around north Gaza, cutting off food, water, electricity, medical supplies and other essentials including electricity. UN chief Antonio Guterres has “been in constant contact with Israeli authorities urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” a spokesperson for Guterres, Stephen Dujarric told AP.