 "How Pakistan fooled Trump over Gaza by inviting a Hamas commander")
Pakistan seems to have wriggled out of a tough spot.
US President Donald Trump had demanded that a number of countries contribute a peacekeeping force to Gaza. However, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir was worried about his domestic audience as well as a reaction from other nations in the Islamic world.
Now, Israel has rejected the involvement of the Pakistan Army in the peacekeeping force.
But what happened? What caused Tel Aviv to make such a statement?
Let’s take a closer look.
What Pakistan did
The United States wanted an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza to oversee reconstruction and economic recovery from Israel’s war. The United States had approached several Muslim nations, including Pakistan, to establish such an outfit.
That put Munir in the difficult position of having to choose whether to cater to Trump, whose family is increasingly entangled in Pakistan, against domestic public opinion – which is dead set against the United States.
Pakistan invited Naji Zaheer – a special representative of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal – to Pakistan, to a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror camp in Gujranwala. Zaheer was chief guest at the LeT event and even held meetings with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives. Videos show Zaheer being introduced by a moderator while supporters chant “Naara-e-Takbeer!” and “Allahu Akbar!" Zaheer also reportedly met LeT commander Rashid Ali Sandhu during the event organised by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of LeT.
This visit could not have happened without the connivance of the Pakistan authorities. Zaheer previously met JeM leaders, according to a September 2025 report from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). He was also a guest of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association in April 2024. Zaheer also made a visit to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in 2025.
Zaheer spoke at a pro-Palestine rally in Peshawar a week after the 7 October 2023 attacks. Mashal virtually attended the meet and thanked Pakistan for supporting the Palestinian cause. As per The Print, Pakistan’s Islamist party Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazal ur Rehman was seen giving Zaheer an Arabic traditional coat during the meet. He also vowed full support for Hamas.
In November 2023, Zaheer virtually attended the Toofan-e-Aqsa Conference in Karachi. The 12-day event was also attended virtually by the now-slain Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who said, “This war is not just for Palestine; it is for the entire Ummah.”
There are reports that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is training Hamas operatives. “It is a clear message to the world that Pakistan will host every global jihadist actor," sources told News18. “This was an institutional push and not accidental presence. It is an example of how Pakistan-based groups provide logistical, ideological, and political support to international extremist groups.”
Israel rejects role for Pakistan Army in Gaza
The developments have resulted in Israel now rejecting a role for the Pakistan Army in Gaza.
Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, told NDTV his country is uncomfortable with the Pakistan Army having a presence in Gaza. He cited the growing relationship between Hamas and Pakistan-based terror groups, including LeT. Azar said countries cooperate only with those they trust and with whom they have proper diplomatic relations. “This is not the situation right now,” Azar added.
This has helped Pakistan wriggle out of sending a force to Gaza. Munir is slated to travel to the United States in the coming weeks, where he will meet Trump. New Delhi will be watching the interaction between Trump and Munir, their third in six months, closely.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in November said Pakistan could consider sending troops for peacekeeping duties, but added that “disarming Hamas is not our responsibility" . Pakistan remains the only Islamic nation to possess a nuclear weapon.
What do experts say?
India Today quoted Lt General DP Pandey (Retd) as saying, “What can Hamas teach Pakistan and its proxies? How to get its own people destroyed and killed? Pakistan has already mastered the art, as stated by Pakistan DG ISPR a few days back.”
Senior Supreme Court advocate Mahesh Jethmalani added, “So much for grand talks of ‘Pakistan Army boots on the ground’ in Gaza. Turns out the boots didn’t go anywhere – the terrorists came to Pakistan instead. Hamas terrorist Naji Zaheer turns up as chief guest at a Lashkar-e-Taiba terror camp in Gujranwala! The question answers itself: why deploy boots abroad when Pakistan has long been the hospitality lounge for jihad? Hope @IDF is watching, because India surely is.”
But not everyone agrees. As per The Print, political scientist and military expert Ayesha Siddiqa called last year’s meetings “largely symbolic” and aimed at bolstering the Pakistani military’s domestic image.
“After Gaza, the Pakistan Army became deeply unpopular,” she said. “Inviting Hamas was meant to signal solidarity with Gaza and project moral legitimacy.”
“Allowing Hamas to participate was a symbolic gesture, more an image-building exercise rather than a meaningful strategic shift,” she added.
What we know about ISF
Under Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), comprising military personnel from Muslim nations, will enforce stability on the ground.
Trump is slated to pick a two-star US general to head the Gaza Stabilisation Force. The US has also established headquarters in Israel to coordinate the rebuilding effort. While Trump is heading the Board of Peace, senior figures from the organisation such as Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will also comprise part of the group.
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is no longer expected to serve on the Board of Peace. White House officials have insisted that though the US is taking the lead, there will be no US military presence on the ground.
Dozens of countries previously attended a conference in Qatar to discuss how the ISF will be set up in Gaza. Among the countries invited were Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, Italy, France, the UK and Azerbaijan, as per The Times of Israel. However, Turkey, a backer of Hamas and an Israeli rival, was not invited to the gathering. Many of these Muslim countries are concerned about being dragged into a possible confrontation with Hamas over demilitarisation.
With inputs from agencies
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