ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday spoke to his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and expressed concern about a proposal by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from Gaza, the foreign office in Islamabad said.
Trump has recently announced plans to resettle Gaza’s Palestinian residents and redevelop the enclave and said they should not have the right to return. Under Trump’s scheme, Gaza’s about 2.2 million Palestinians would be resettled and the United States would take control and ownership of the coastal territory, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Palestinians fear that Trump’s plan would enforce another Nakba, or Catastrophe, when they experienced mass expulsions in 1948 with the creation of Israel.
“The two leaders discussed the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza and expressed concerns at the proposal to displace or relocate the Palestinian people from their ancestral homeland,” the foreign office said after Dar’s call with his UAE counterpart.
The Pakistani deputy PM reiterated Pakistan’s “unwavering” support for Palestinian rights, and the foreign office said both leaders agreed to stay in close contact to achieve a “just, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue.”
Israel began its latest assault on Gaza after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people, while some 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air and ground operations since, Gaza health authorities say, and much of the enclave has been obliterated.
The Gaza war has been paused since Jan. 19 under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was brokered by Qatar and Egypt with support from the United States.
Palestinian territories – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – have been occupied by Israel since 1967.
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters.”
