Pakistan’s role in Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
The formation of the International Peacekeeping Force in Gaza and the ifs and buts about Pakistan joining it have become hot news in the political and media circles of this neighboring country these days.
Last week, Reuters news agency claimed that the Pakistani army chief was preparing to travel to Washington and meet with US President Donald Trump, and wrote that how Islamabad will participate in Trump’s plan for Gaza will be the main focus of the visit.
However, in his weekly press conference, the spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry expressed his ignorance of any trip to the United States by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the army chief and head of the country’s defense forces, and said: “We are in contact with regional and international players on the Palestine issue, although Islamabad has not made an independent decision to join the International Peacekeeping Force, known as the ISF.”
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed in his latest press conference that Washington appreciates Islamabad’s offer to consider joining the International Peacekeeping Force, but all its issues and technical measures are under review.
Rubio’s comments came a day after Pakistan made its official position known. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi said that Islamabad has not yet decided on sending troops to Gaza. This shows that the talks are still in the preliminary stage and do not reflect a final commitment.
But in early October this year, after the leaders of eight Islamic-Arab countries, including the Pakistani prime minister, met with the US president on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Pakistani foreign minister said in a speech in the country’s parliament that Trump’s plan for Gaza has nothing to do with us.
Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar revealed that changes were made to the draft proposals that Arab-Islamic leaders presented to the American side for the Gaza peace plan, and the Pakistani prime minister was not aware of them.
Political observers in Pakistan say that Islamabad should weigh the results and consequences many times before sending troops to Gaza, because Pakistan has already clearly stated that Islamabad’s goal will be to promote peace and that any action to disarm the Hamas resistance movement will have nothing to do with Pakistan.
According to these experts, Pakistan is extremely concerned about domestic reactions to any plan that is contrary to peace in Palestine and ignores the aspirations of the Palestinians or the demands of the original residents of Gaza. The Pakistani people are supporters of Palestinian fighters, including Hamas, and the country’s political and military leadership has also repeatedly stated in its position on Palestine that Pakistanis support the legitimate struggle of the Palestinians against the Israeli occupation.
According to Hamid Mir, a famous Pakistani journalist and host of the Geo News network, there is a possibility that Donald Trump will hold Pakistan hostage if it opposes joining the international peacekeeping force. Islamabad may face Trump’s leverage over the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and even the US’s turn on issues related to the Indian subcontinent.
He added: “Pakistan should act cautiously. Its forces have gained good experience from foreign missions such as participating in UN peacekeeping in various countries, including on the African continent, and we should note that any military participation in Gaza should be carried out in accordance with the demands of the people of Gaza and to prevent any blow to Palestinian militants such as Hamas, which enjoys majority support in the Gaza Strip.”
In early December this year, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister reiterated his country’s position of opposing any joining of the international force in Gaza to disarm the Hamas resistance movement.
He said that his country is not seeking to impose peace or disarmament, but Pakistan’s goal is to establish peace.
After rumors were heard that the Pakistani Prime Minister had agreed in principle to join the international peacekeeping force, many of the country’s political forces and Islamist parties warned that Pakistanis were steadfast in their support for the Palestinians and their refusal to compromise with Israel, and that Pakistani leaders should not fall into the American-Zionist trap under the pretext of participating in peace.
Experts believe that the country’s political and military leadership will not engage in controversial actions, namely, confronting Palestinian fighters supported by the people of Gaza. Although the Pakistani newspaper Dawn today, citing some diplomatic sources, claimed that Pakistan is considering sending 3,500 troops to participate in the international peacekeeping force in Gaza, Islamabad is still considering its possible consequences.
According to Hamid Mir, Israel, which has imposed brutal attacks on the people of Gaza with the full complicity of the United States for more than two and a half years, destroyed all the potential infrastructure of the strip, and killed thousands of people, has still not been able to weaken the fighting capacity of Hamas forces.
He warned that Netanyahu is trying to exploit the countries that join the international peacekeeping force so that he can use their military presence to suppress Hamas. For this reason, the command center of the international force, called the “Civil-Military Coordination Center,” has been established in occupied Palestine itself, and the commander of CENTCOM has also taken charge of it.
The regional affairs researcher addressed the Pakistani government and said, “We cannot face the main residents of Gaza, who are the main supporters of Hamas. So we must understand that Israel and the United States are trying to trap Islamic countries to lead them towards fratricidal violence.”
According to the report, Pakistan hosted a conference in Qatar last Tuesday, hosted by the United States Central Command