Pakistan’s top leadership may send troops to Gaza as part of a Muslim nations’ peacekeeping force under a comprehensive peace deal announced by US President Donald Trump.The decision was announced by Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Dar was asked directly about Pakistan’s role in the initiative, which aims to end the bloodshed in Gaza. “The force [here] is a peacekeeping force. On the ground, there will be Palestinian law-enforcement agencies… there will be [separate] forces supporting them. Indonesia has offered 20,000 troops for that. I am sure Pakistan’s leadership will also be making a decision on this,” he said.Dar explained that the idea was to set up an independent Palestinian government of technocrats overseen by an international body. He said Pakistan had asked for the arrangements to be documented at the UN Security Council.He shared that a preparatory meeting of leaders from eight Muslim countries with US President Trump was held in New York last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “The objectives were to try for a ceasefire in Gaza, make arrangements for sending humanitarian aid, stop the forced displacement of Palestinians and make arrangements for the return of the displaced Gazans,” he said.Dar added that the plan also included Gaza’s reconstruction and halting Israel’s efforts to annex the West Bank. According to him, Trump proposed that his team work with the foreign ministers of the Muslim nations to create a “workable solution.”The foreign minister said Saudi Arabia had reached out to Pakistan with a draft joint statement on the plan, which was later revised after his input. He noted that the Palestinian Authority welcomed the statement.
Trump’s 20-point peace plan
On Monday, Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the Gaza war by demanding Hamas’s disarmament, the immediate release of all hostages within 72 hours, and a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces. Under the proposal, Hamas would be excluded from any future governance; militants willing to abandon arms would receive amnesty, while those wishing to leave Gaza would be allowed safe passage. The plan also involves a temporary technocratic Palestinian committee ruling Gaza under oversight by an international “Board of Peace” led by Trump and including Tony Blair, until the Palestinian Authority is reformed.The initiative calls for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza without interference from either Israel or Hamas, managed by UN agencies and the Red Crescent, with reconstruction under a “New Gaza” framework. Trump gave Hamas three to four days to accept the plan or face what he called “a very sad end.”
