ISLAMABAD: The foreign office of Pakistan on Thursday dismissed media reports that said a delegation of the country was visiting Israel, as it pointed out the tour was arranged by an international organization which was not based in Pakistan.
Media reports emerged earlier this week that a Pakistani delegation, including a former government minister, had arrived in Jerusalem to meet Israeli officials after the organizers of the trip shared the news on Twitter.
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has always spoken in favor of a viable Palestinian state.
However, a US-based non-government organization, Sharaka, has organized visits involving dual Pakistani nationals to the Jewish state in recent months.
“The reported visit in question was organized by a foreign NGO which is not based in Pakistan,” foreign office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in a statement issued in response to media queries. “Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue is clear and unambiguous. There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is complete national consensus.”
He continued Pakistan had always “supported the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination.”
“The establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions, is imperative for just and lasting peace in the region,” Ahmed added.
Sharaka, which was founded in the wake of the Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump administration to help normalize relations between Israel and other Middle Eastern states, previously took journalist Ahmed Quraishi to Jerusalem.
This time the organization has taken Nasim Ashraf, a Pakistani-American, who remained the country’s development minister and chairman of its cricket board.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Anila Ali, a Pakistani-born US citizen, who organized the visit, confirmed of Ashraf’s presence in Jerusalem “to promote interfaith harmony.”
She also urged Pakistan to revisit its Israel policy by establishing diplomatic relations with it.
“If Turkey can do it, then why cannot we do it,” she asked while speaking to the international news agency.
Foreign office rejects reports Pakistani delegation visited Israel, says trip arranged by foreign NGO
https://arab.news/jkuv4
Foreign office rejects reports Pakistani delegation visited Israel, says trip arranged by foreign NGO
- The foreign office points out the said trip is arranged by a foreign organization which is not based in Pakistan
- The ministry reiterates it has always ‘supported the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination’
Pakistan’s deputy PM says country will not send forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Ishaq Dar says Pakistan open to peacekeeping but Gaza’s internal security is Palestinian responsibility
- Pakistan’s top religious clerics from different schools have warned against sending forces to Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday Pakistan was willing to contribute to an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it would not deploy troops to disarm or de-weaponize Hamas.
The statement follows media reports saying Washington views Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor given its battle-hardened military and wants it to be part of International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is part of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point framework for a Gaza peace plan.
The plan announced by Trump at the White House on September 29 was formally adopted at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October. Co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the summit brought together leaders from 27 countries to sign the “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.”
Deployment of troops from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase is a key part of the plan before the war-ravaged Palestinian territory moves toward reconstruction and a longer-term political settlement.
“If they say that we should go and start fighting, disarm Hamas, de-weaponize them, and go and destroy the tunnels that Hamas has built until now, that is not our job,” Dar, who is also the country’s foreign minister, told reporters during a year-end briefing in Islamabad.
He emphasized there was clarity between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership over the matter.
“We have a very complete understanding on this matter that we cannot do that kind of work,” he added.
The deputy prime minister said Pakistan had been using the term “peacekeeping” and had never used the phrase “peace enforcement” while discussing the force.
“I have been very clear: Pakistan will be happy to join if the mandate is not peace enforcement and disarming and de-weaponizing Hamas.”
The government’s stance comes amid growing domestic pressure over the issue.
On Monday, a group of Pakistan’s top religious leaders, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, warned the government against yielding to what they described as international pressure to send forces to Gaza.
In a joint statement from Karachi, the clerics — representing Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought — said that Washington wanted Muslim countries to send their forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas.
“Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan,” it added.
Addressing such concerns, Dar said Pakistan would not land its forces in Palestine to “fight Muslims.”
Israel has repeatedly called for the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition for any long-term settlement, and the United Nations Security Council has also endorsed the ISF framework in November.
However, Dar maintained during the media briefing the internal security of Gaza was the Palestinian responsibility.
“The Palestinian Authority, their government, it is their job, it is the job of their law enforcement agency,” he said
The deputy prime minister also highlighted Pakistan’s involvement in the “Arab Islamic Group of Eight,” including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkiye and Indonesia, which has been coordinating on the crisis.
He said the efforts of these countries had brought some peace to Palestine and reduced bloodshed.
“Our declared policy is that there should be an independent two-state solution,” he continued while calling for pre-1967 borders.
