India Prime Minister Modi reiterates support for Israel

This picture taken on July 28, 2019 shows two giant Israeli Likud Party election banners hanging from a building showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a caption above reading in Hebrew "Netanyahu, in another league", in the coastal Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the war with Hamas and thanked him for "providing an update on the ongoing situation." 

“People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour,” Modi wrote on X, the social media platform, and said India strongly condemns terrorism in all forms.

During the Cold War, India didn’t have open relations with Israel and leaned heavily in favor of the Palestinians. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992. Ties between the two countries have grown under Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017.

Earlier, Modi had posted on X, "deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” 

The Council on Foreign Relations said Modi's support for Israel "shows how far the India-Israel relationship has come."