Gaza | Pakistan

Israel said on Sunday it was terminating the humanitarian operations of the international charity Doctors Without Borders in Gaza after the organisation failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff. “The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said. The decision follows “MSF’s failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organisations operating in the region”, it added, stating that the group will cease its work and leave Gaza by February 28. In December, the ministry announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information about their Palestinian staff. It had alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the medical charity vehemently denies. On Sunday, the ministry said MSF had committed in early January ...

Pakistan, along with seven other Muslim-majority countries, condemned on Sunday the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza by Israel, asserting that these actions risked undermining efforts for restoring stability at a time when regional and international partners were working collectively to advance the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan. The eight countries — Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan , Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and United Arab Emirates — had worked with Trump’s administration on a plan last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza. Implementation of the plan began in October 2025, leading to a ceasefire in Gaza more than two years after the onslaught began. Israel, however, has repeatedly violated the the truce, carrying out strikes in the Strip. Meanwhile, work is ongoing on the second phase of Trump’s plan, shifting focus from ceasefire implementation to demilitarisation, technocratic governance and reconstruction. In a joint statement, the foreign mini...

• Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency says victims include children • Bloodshed comes after Tel Aviv announced it would reopen Rafah crossing today for ‘limited movement of people’ GAZA CITY: Israeli air strikes killed 32 people including children in Gaza on Saturday, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency. Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase earlier this month, violence in the Palestinian territory has continued, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the agreement. The latest bloodshed comes after Israel announced it would reopen the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday (today) for the “limited movement of people”. “The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women,” said the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28. “Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian ca...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it “looks like” Hamas would give up its weapons, a step the group has not confirmed, in what would be a major step forward in the fragile Gaza ceasefire with Israel. “A lot of people said they’ll never disarm. It looks like they’re going to disarm,” Trump told a cabinet meeting. Trump hailed cooperation with Hamas after Israeli forces brought back the remains of the last captive held in Gaza, Ran Gvili. “They did help us with those bodies, getting them back, and that family is so grateful,” Trump said. Trump had asked for an update on the Middle East from his roving special envoy Steve Witkoff, sitting in the side of the room as cabinet members and media listened. An upbeat Witkoff voiced high confidence in Hamas following through. “We’ve got the terrorists out of there and they’re going to demilitarise. They will because they have no choice,” Witkoff said. “They’re going to give it up. They’re going to give up the AK-47s,” he told Trump. Hamas has said that the...

Israel said on Monday it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as part of its “limited reopening” once it has recovered the remains of the last captive in the Palestinian territory. Reopening Rafah, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza, forms part of a truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed since Israeli forces took control of it during the conflict in the besieged Palestinian territory. Visiting US envoys had reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing during talks in Jerusalem over the weekend. World leaders and aid agencies have repeatedly pushed for more humanitarian convoys to be able to access Gaza, which has been left devastated by more than two years of bombardment and depends on the inflow of essential medical equipment, food and other supplies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that Israel had agreed to a reopening “for pedestrian passage only, ...

LAHORE: Iranian-American academic and political scientist Vali Nasr suggested on Friday that the war on Palestine had politically weakened Arab states and emboldened Israeli leaders, to the point that the latter had abandoned the two-state framework entirely. Speaking at a session titled ‘The Gaza War and the Remaking of the Middle East’, moderated by journalist Najam Sethi, Mr Nasr implied that the situation has proven detrimental to the Palestinian cause. He said Israel now believes it can pursue its objectives primarily through force. “With Arab states politically neutralised, Israeli leaders see little incentive to return to negotiations,” he added. According to him, Israeli leadership now views political compromise with the Palestinians as a security liability rather than a pathway to stability, effectively abandoning the two-state framework. Following the Gaza war, Israel moved against Hezbollah in Lebanon, significantly weakening the group’s operational capacity. The collapse of the Assad regime in Syr...

An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck “suspects” operating a drone. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. In a statement, the civil defence said “the bodies of the three journalists killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah”. It named the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim. Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike, he was not on assignment for the agency. In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip”. The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a “dr...

US President Donald Trump has invited countries to pay $1 billion in exchange for a permanent seat on a newly proposed initiative known as the “Board of Peace”. The body was initially envisioned as a mechanism to address Israel’s war on Gaza, though its charter does not restrict its mandate solely to the occupied Palestinian territory. Several states have been approached by the US to join the initiative. Pakistan also received an invitation on Sunday. Today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accepted the proposal to participate in the initiative with the aim of “achieving lasting peace in Gaza”, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO). What is the board meant to do? According to AFP, the Board of Peace will be led by Trump under the terms outlined in its founding charter. The document describes it as “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”. It further states t...

• Kazakh, Uzbek leaders ready to join; Moscow weighs ‘nuances’ • Starmer pledges UK support for Gaza reconstruction efforts • Israeli minister issues ‘us or them’ ultimatum to Netanyahu MOSCOW: The White House on Monday extended invitations to leaders from Russia, Poland and Israel to join a so-called “Board of Peace” which aims to address global conflicts and manage governance and reconstruction efforts in Gaza. While others weigh participation, Central Asian leaders moved quickly to accept. The press secretaries of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev confirmed their leaders’ readiness to join the board. Both leaders have been courted by Trump, who invited them to the G20 summit in Miami. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin received an invitation to join the board, which would be chaired by Trump. “President Putin also received an invitation to join this Board of Peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists...

ISLAMABAD - The United States has formally invited Pakistan to join President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace on Gaza” as Washington advances the next phase of its diplomatic initiative aimed at stabilising the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been invited to be a part of the Gaza “Board of Peace” that is being formed by United States President Donald Trump, the Foreign Office has said. “The prime minister of Pakistan has received the invitation from the president of the United States to join the Board of Peace on Gaza,” said FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in response to media queries. “Pakistan will remain engaged with international efforts for peace and security in Gaza, leading to a lasting solution to the Palestine issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions,” he added. The so-called “Board of Peace” has begun to take shape as the US moves on to the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which stands decimated after two years of Israel’s bombardment. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory. The United States has invited the heads of around 60 states to join the Board of Peace, including those...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his ruling coalition partners on Sunday after objecting to the composition of a Gaza advisory panel formed by the White House, according to an official and media reports. The White House announced this week the setting up of a “Gaza Executive Board,” which would operate under a broader so-called “Board of Peace” to be chaired by US President Donald Trump as part of his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. The executive board, described as having an advisory role, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, alongside other regional and international officials. Late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office objected to the composition of the executive board. “The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” the office of Netanyahu said. “The prime minister has instructed the foreign affair...

MORE than three months since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect, the second phase of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the occupied Palestinian territory has been launched. Among the features of this phase is the announcement of the so-called Gaza ‘Board of Peace’, which the American leader will head. Other luminaries serving on this body include his son-in-law Jared Kushner, administration staffers Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff and former British prime minister Tony Blair, among others. In Mr Trump’s own words, this “is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled”. Meanwhile, a serving American general has been named to head the International Stabilisation Force, which is supposed to oversee security and disarmament in Gaza, while Ali Shaath, an ex-Palestinian Authority official, is to head the Gaza governance committee. All the hyperbole notwithstanding, it remains to be seen whether these interim governing structures will succeed in addressing the still dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, ...

US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for post-war Gaza began to take shape on Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkiye, Argentina and Canada asked to join. The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel. Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment. The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue. In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkiye, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had bee...

The question of whether Pakistan should contribute troops to an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza cannot be answered through sentiment, symbolism or geopolitical realignments.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was backing the newly appointed “Palestinian Technocratic Government” in Gaza, where Washington has announced the launch of a second phase in a ceasefire that went into effect in October but remains fragile. “I am backing a newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Government, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, supported by the Board’s High Representative, to govern Gaza during its transition,” Trump said on social media. Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas signed off in October on Trump’s plan, which says the Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by an international so-called “Board of Peace” that is meant to supervise Gaza’s governance for a transitional period. In another post, Trump said the “Board of Peace,” of which Trump himself is the chair, was formed, and its members would be announced shortly. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations in Gaza, where, since the start of the truce in October, over 440 ...

United States President Donald Trump’s envoy said on Wednesday that a ceasefire plan for Gaza was now entering its second phase with the goal of disarming Hamas, despite several Israeli strikes in the Palestinian territory during the truce that became effective in October last year. “We are announcing the launch of phase two of the president’s 20-Point plan to End the Gaza conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarisation, technocratic governance, and reconstruction,” envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X. The second phase will also include the setup of a 15-person Palestinian technocratic committee to administer postwar Gaza. Its formation was announced earlier on Wednesday by Egypt, a close US ally and mediator. Phase two “begins the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorised personnel”. “The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Wi...

Azerbaijan has no intention of sending a contingent of its troops to take part in peacekeeping operations outside its borders, including in Gaza, President Ilham Aliyev said late on Monday. Aliyev, interviewed by Azeri television channels, said Azerbaijan had been in contact with Donald Trump’s US administration with a list of questions about the operation of a peacekeeping force in Gaza, the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF). “We prepared a questionnaire of more than 20 questions and provided it to the American side. No participation in peacekeeping forces is envisaged,” Aliyev said. “I am not considering participation in hostilities outside Azerbaijan at all.” An Azeri government source had said last November that Azerbaijan would provide no troops for such an operation unless there was a complete halt to fighting between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, diplomats involved in the discussions told Dawn on Monday that despite deep reservations and fears of domestic backlash, most Muslim-majority co...

WASHINGTON: A fresh round of diplomatic talks on the formation of a proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza is expected to be held in a Middle Eastern capital in the coming days, diplomatic sources told Dawn as Muslim countries, including Pakistan, continue to press for clarity on the force’s mandate, operational scope, and political objectives. The ISF, a central element of a US-brokered Gaza peace plan, is envisioned to stabilise the territory following over two years of Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip, protect civilians and humanitarian corridors, and assist in establishing transitional governance through a proposed “Board of Peace”. However, several core issues remain unresolved, including the force’s legal authority, chain of command, funding, duration, and whether it would play a role in disarming Hamas or other Palestinian groups. Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other states have expressed willingness to participate in a stabilisation effort that genuinely restores order and facil...

Eight Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, on Friday expressed concern at the “deteriorating” humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip — exacerbated by severe weather conditions — and stressed the need to immediately initiate and scale up early recovery efforts. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), expressed their “deepest concern” at the humanitarian situation in Gaza. These countries had also worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza. A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October as a result of the effort, with Israel violating the truce multiple times by carrying out attacks in the Gaza Strip. Last month, the UN International Organisation for Migration had said that hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians were facing flooding of their tents and shelters due to heavy rains, and materials...