The BNP on Sunday opined for the first time on the conflict that has been raging in the Middle East with Israel’s assault on Gaza following Hamas’s retaliation campaign against Israel on October 7.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, in his first public statement since returning from a medical trip to Singapore, said Bangladesh is facing a deep-rooted political and economic crisis, before speaking out on the conflict in Gaza.

Fakhrul was speaking at an iftar organized by the BNP for foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka.

“We assemble here for iftar at the time when the country is under the curse of the ongoing fascist regime,” the BNP leader said, adding that the world on January 7 saw not an election in Bangladesh but a disgrace for a nation’s aspirations.

“We are all deeply concerned about Israeli forces’ offensive. We call on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate measures to stop this genocide. We believe in a two-state solution as the only answer to the crisis.”

Fakhrul said they value the international community’s support for the BNP’s struggle for the restoration of rights and freedom of the people of Bangladesh, which he said can be ensured through an election under a neutral and non-party government.

“Unless and until we achieve that, perhaps our peaceful and non-violent movement has to continue,” he said.