Just days after US president Donald Trump praised Pakistan’s leadership for backing his Gaza peace plan, Islamabad has denied supporting Washington’s ‘20-point’ plan to end the Israel-Hamas war. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Trump’s plan, announced this week, was not the same as the draft presented by a group of Muslim-majority countries in Washington.
“Changes were made in the plan,” Dar told lawmakers in parliament on Friday.
“I have made it clear that these 20 points, which Trump has made public, are not ours. These are not the same as ours. I say that some changes have been made in it, in the draft we had,” he said.
Trump’s Plan & Praise for Pak
Dar’s comments came after Pakistan faced criticism at home for openly supporting Trump’s peace plan. The US proposal required Hamas, the Palestinian group ruling Gaza, to disarm. It also proposed that Gaza be run by a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump himself.
The plan laid out terms for Israel’s withdrawals from Palestinian enclave in a phased manner, a hostage swap, and reconstruction of Gaza funded by Arab states. But it offered no clear path to Palestinian statehood in the near future.
Last week, Trump announced his plan and claimed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir supported it “100 per cent.” Soon after, Sharif welcomed the plan and repeated his call for a two-state solution.
"I am also convinced that durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel would be essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region," Shrif stated this in a post on X on Sunday night.
Outrage at Home
According to Dawn, a Karachi-based newspaper, Pakistani politicians, analysts, mediapersons, and activists sharply criticised Sharif’s endorsement, calling it a “surrender.”
Former diplomat Abdul Basit said, “This is a complete surrender by the Muslim world. They cannot even mention a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
He questioned why Sharif would support Trump’s plan, "knowing full well that it is literally ruling out any possibility of creating a state of Palestine."
Allama Raja Nasir, leader of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), also rejected Trump’s proposal. He called it “flawed and unjust proposal that disregards the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
"This secretive plan, crafted without open dialogue, excludes Palestinians and imposes a US-centric solution that prioritises Israeli interests over Palestinian justice," he said, adding that the plan was vague on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
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