Gaza | Pakistan

Pakistan and several other countries on Thursday condemned Israel’s “dastardly attack” on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) after its forces intercepted the flotilla heading to break Israel’s siege of Gaza and deliver aid. Hours after Tel Aviv’s move drew global condemnation, the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X that all on board the flotilla were safe would be “deported to Europe”. The statement said: “The Hamas-Sumud provocation is over. None of the Hamas-Sumud provocation yachts has succeeded in its attempt to enter an active combat zone or breach the lawful naval blockade. “All the passengers are safe and in good health. They are making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe.” It added that one last vessel of “this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented”. Earlier, the flotilla said that Israeli forces began intercepting the flotilla’s latest bid to reach Gaza late last ...

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Thursday strongly condemned the Israeli military’s assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for Gaza, terming it “another blatant act of terrorism.

• Plan announced by White House differs from terms agreed between Trump and heads of Muslim countries • Distrust remains over proposed International Stabilisation Force • Hamas seeks changes to ‘disarmament’ clause DESPITE their misgivings with the ‘pro-Israel’ draft of US President Donald Trump’s plan to bring peace to war-ravaged Gaza, countries from the eight-member Muslim bloc may yet push for it to be accepted. Officials from Qatar and Pakis­tan have already implied — albeit diplomatically — that the plan announced by the White House was quite different from the one they signed up to in New York. But some countries — especially those in Gaza’s immediate neighbourhood — also believe they have secured key concessions, such as Trump’s refusal to recognise Israeli annexation of the West Bank and a US commitment that Palestinians will be allowed to remain in Gaza. Israel has also agreed, under the plan, not to permanently occupy the Gaza Strip. “Gaza’s reconstruction represents a major economic opportunity fo...

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday unveiled a 20-point plan for Gaza. Subsequently, eight Arab or Muslim-majority nations — Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt — “welcomed the role of the American president and his sincere efforts aimed at ending the war in Gaza”. In Pakistan, the government’s so-called approval of the plan had drawn flak from politicians, journalists and activists alike, who termed the deal a “two-state surrender’’ with the scales weighing heavily in Israel’s favour. Subsequently, signs began appearing that not everyone was happy with the draft made public by the White House. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar seemingly distanced Pakistani decision-makers from the plan. He also made it clear in so many words that the US peace plan for Gaza would not be acceptable if the am­e­ndments — jointly pro­posed by eight Muslim co­u­n­tries — were not included. This came after Trump had previously...

• ‘This is not our document’, says Dar about White House plan; sticks to joint statement from Muslim bloc • Reveals Indonesia has committed 20,000 troops; Islamabad expected to make a decision soon • Axios claims Netanyahu negotiated changes to draft agreed between Trump, Muslim leaders • US president gives Hamas ‘three to four days’ to agree to deal; insiders say group will ‘likely reject’ proposal ISLAMABAD / WASHI­N­GTON: A day after US President Donald Trump unveiled his ambitious plan to end the war in Ga­za, signs have began to emerge that not everyone is happy with the draft made public by White House. This was evident from Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s presser on Tuesday, where he made it clear in so many words that the US peace plan for Gaza would not be acceptable if the am­e­ndments — jointly pro­posed by eight Muslim co­u­n­tries — were not included. The “document has been issued by the US”, he said, seemingly distancing Pakistani decision-makers from the plan, even though Trump has previously clai...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that the Gaza peace agreement is being opposed for political motives, questioning whether critics wish for the killing of innocent civilians to persist.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed on Sunday the hope for “encouraging” outcomes of US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Muslim leaders in Washington earlier this week where the American head of the state presented his plan to end Israel’s invasion of Gaza. “We fully participated in the meeting on Gaza, and God willing, its encouraging results will come out soon,” he said, flanked by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar while addressing overseas Pakistanis at the High Commission in London. According to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, he also said that Pakistan was also part of Trump-led efforts to bring peace to Palestine and end oppression against the people of Gaza. The premier also expressed distress over the situation in Gaza, which has been subjected to Israeli onslaught since October 2023, and prayed that the cruelty and barbarity being witnessed there ends soon. Trump’s meeting with Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York had brought together leaders fro...

• PM Shehbaz, FM Dar join leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye and Indonesia for multilateral meeting • US president calls for immediate end to war, tells Muslim leaders ‘this is the group that can do it’ • Opposes recognition of Palestine statehood in UNGA speech; Rubio says permanent solution only possible through ‘negotiated settlement’ NEW YORK: After an antagonistic speech at the UN General Assembly, where he opposed a growing global push towards the recognition of a Palestinian state, US President Donald Trump met Muslim leaders, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to present his plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the 80th UNGA at United Nations Headquarters, brought together leaders from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye and Indonesia. Ahead of the meeting, in a televised interaction with Muslim leaders, Trump said: “We have to get the hostages back… This is the group that can do it, more than any other grou...

US president commends leaders’ collective efforts, calling their work on Gaza “excellent and commendable"

The 23rd relief consignment, comprising 100 tons of humanitarian aid, was dispatched to Gaza via a special flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport, with support from the Alkhidmat Foundation and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan visited Lahore Airport on Sunday to oversee the dispatch of a humanitarian aid consignment for the people of Gaza and Palestine, organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly condemned the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a draft resolution on the worsening hu­manitarian situation in Gaza, calling it a “dark moment” that risks en­abling further atrocities against the besieged Palestinian population.

Pakistan has dispatched another consignment of humanitarian aid for Gaza under the supervision of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with Al-Khidmat Foundation.

Despite almost two years of what has now been dubbed a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to bomb, starve and torture more than a million Palestinians in the besieged enclave. After blocking aid from entering Gaza, Israel established the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in collaboration with the United States, which set up food distribution sites, luring starving civilians and then allowing them to be shot by Israeli forces. The GHF sites have been slammed by humanitarian organisations as ‘killing fields’. Attempting to break the blockade and put pressure on Israel to end its onslaught is a fleet of boats with participants from over 44 countries, including Pakistan. The movement, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), will embark on its journey to Gaza in the early morning hours of Sunday, September 7. The GSF is made up of four coalitions: the Sumud Nausantara, Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Global March to Gaza. A five-member Pakistan delegation led by former Jamaat-...

The world’s biggest academic association of genocide scholars has passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday. Eighty-six per cent of those who voted among the 500-member International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) backed the resolution declaring Israel’s “policies and actions in Gaza” had met the legal definition set out in Article II of the 1948 UN Convention on genocide. Israel launched its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, after fighters from Hamas attacked Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages. Since then, Israel’s military action has killed 63,000 people, damaged or destroyed most buildings in the territory and forced nearly all its residents to flee their homes at least once. A global hunger monitor relied on by the United Nations says parts of the territory are now suffering a man-made famine, which Israel also denies. The three-p...

Former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan will lead the Pakistani delegation aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, according to posts from his social media account on Friday. Earlier this month, it was announced that Pakistan would be joining the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the Israeli siege of Gaza, according to a post on Instagram by the Pak-Palestine Forum, a platform aiming to advance support for the Palestinian cause. According to its website, the flotilla is a “coordinated, nonviolent fleet of mostly small vessels sailing from ports across the Mediterranean to break the Israeli occupation’s illegal siege on Gaza”. Reuters reports that dozens of boats carrying aid will depart Spain and Tunisia and set sail for the Gaza Strip. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Portuguese left-wing politician Mariana Mortagua are among hundreds of people from 44 countries participating in the flotilla. Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic. Among the participants is a five-member deleg...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to end its silence over Gaza and to hold Israel accountable for what it described as “mass carnage” of Palestinians, urging those shielding the occupying power to reassess their policies that have enabled atrocities in the be-sieged.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly condemned the latest Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and Syria, terming them blatant violations of international law and urging the international community to hold Israel accountable.

Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned the deadly Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, which left at least 21 people dead, including four journalists and a rescue worker.

JEDDAH: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has reaffirmed Pakistan’s position on Gaza, calling for an immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. He made these remarks during the 21st Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah. Ishaq Dar also urged the full implementation of the […]