ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the acceptance of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan by Hamas has created a window for a ceasefire, promising Islamabad’s continuous support to everlasting peace in Palestine.
The statement came a day after Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Hamas said it was willing to hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Senior Hamas officials suggested there were still major disagreements that required further negotiations.
In a post on X, the Pakistan prime minister said they were closer to a ceasefire in Gaza than they have been since Israel launched the war on Gaza that has killed more than 65,000 Palestinian.
“The statement issued by Hamas creates a window for a ceasefire and ensuring peace that we must not allow to close again,” he said. “Pakistan will continue to work with all its partners and brotherly nations to everlasting peace in Palestine.”
Under the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Netanyahu, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive — within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.
In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate much of Gaza’s population to other countries would be shelved.
Trump earlier presented the roadmap in a meeting with leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Indonesia, Turkiye, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan last month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.
The US president appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the war on Tuesday. He welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.”
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” Trump wrote on social media.
Sharif, who has gained favor with Trump since publicly endorsing him for a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a ceasefire in a four-day Pakistan-India military standoff in May, the US president and Muslim leaders who last month came together to resolve the crisis.
“Gratitude is due to President Trump, as well as to leaderships of Qatar, Saudia Arabia, UAE, Turkiye, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia who, met with President Trump on the sidelines of #UNGA80 for the resolution of the Palestinian issue,” he added.
