Gaza | Pakistan

Azerbaijan has no intention of sending a contingent of its troops to take part in peacekeeping operations outside its borders, including in Gaza, President Ilham Aliyev said late on Monday. Aliyev, interviewed by Azeri television channels, said Azerbaijan had been in contact with Donald Trump’s US administration with a list of questions about the operation of a peacekeeping force in Gaza, the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF). “We prepared a questionnaire of more than 20 questions and provided it to the American side. No participation in peacekeeping forces is envisaged,” Aliyev said. “I am not considering participation in hostilities outside Azerbaijan at all.” An Azeri government source had said last November that Azerbaijan would provide no troops for such an operation unless there was a complete halt to fighting between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, diplomats involved in the discussions told Dawn on Monday that despite deep reservations and fears of domestic backlash, most Muslim-majority co...

WASHINGTON: A fresh round of diplomatic talks on the formation of a proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza is expected to be held in a Middle Eastern capital in the coming days, diplomatic sources told Dawn as Muslim countries, including Pakistan, continue to press for clarity on the force’s mandate, operational scope, and political objectives. The ISF, a central element of a US-brokered Gaza peace plan, is envisioned to stabilise the territory following over two years of Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip, protect civilians and humanitarian corridors, and assist in establishing transitional governance through a proposed “Board of Peace”. However, several core issues remain unresolved, including the force’s legal authority, chain of command, funding, duration, and whether it would play a role in disarming Hamas or other Palestinian groups. Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other states have expressed willingness to participate in a stabilisation effort that genuinely restores order and facil...

Eight Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, on Friday expressed concern at the “deteriorating” humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip — exacerbated by severe weather conditions — and stressed the need to immediately initiate and scale up early recovery efforts. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), expressed their “deepest concern” at the humanitarian situation in Gaza. These countries had also worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza. A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October as a result of the effort, with Israel violating the truce multiple times by carrying out attacks in the Gaza Strip. Last month, the UN International Organisation for Migration had said that hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians were facing flooding of their tents and shelters due to heavy rains, and materials...

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, expects to be barred from operating in Gaza once it misses Wednesday’s deadline to comply with new registration rules for relief agencies that Israel claims are meant to prevent Hamas from exploiting international aid. The organisation, which provided care to nearly half a million people during a two-year Gaza Strip war, says deregistration would cut off life-saving medical assistance for hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said MSF had refused to provide Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry with a list of its employees as required. The Diaspora Affairs Ministry claims individuals affiliated with MSF have links to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. MSF rejects the accusations as unsubstantiated. When asked, MSF did not state if it had provided names. In May, aid agency Oxfam said the requirement to share staff details raised protection concerns, following attacks on ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Monday to hold crucial talks on Gaza and Iran. The US president will push the Israeli leader to move to the next stage of his fragile Gaza truce plan. Netanyahu is also expected to try to shift some focus onto Iran, amid reports he will call for more US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. The meeting, the fifth between the two leaders to be held in the United States this year, comes as some White House officials fear both Israel and Hamas are slow-walking the second phase of their ceasefire. Trump, who said Netanyahu had asked for the talks, is reportedly keen to announce as soon as January a Palestinian technocratic government for Gaza, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. Netanyahu’s office said he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Florida ahead of his talks with Trump, which are scheduled for 1pm (1800 GMT). Israeli governme...

Pope Leo decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon on Thursday, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus. Leo, the first US pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world. “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked. Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a more quiet, diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons. But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include a Palestinian state. Israel and Hamas agreed...

The United States (US) is facing a delicate balancing act in defining the mandate for a proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza. Any plan must address the concerns of potential troop-contributing countries while also satisfying Israel’s security demands — a combination that has so far proven elusive. As diplomats gathered this week in Doha and Miami, it became clear that clarity on legal authority, rules of engagement, and operational responsibilities is a prerequisite for any country, particularly Muslim-majority nations, to commit troops. Until these questions are resolved, phase two of the Gaza peace plan risks remaining largely a blueprint on paper rather than an actionable plan. Consultations in Doha and Miami Earlier this week, the United States and its partners convened a conference in Doha, Qatar, bringing together representatives from more than two dozen countries to discuss key aspects of the ISF, including leadership, rules of engagement, and operational structure. The meeting, how...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday disclosed that Pakistan had accepted inclusion in the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, while stopping short of confirming a firm troop commitment. Last Tuesday, Pakistan attended a conference in Qatar, which was hosted by US Central Command, to discuss the ISF’s command structure and other unresolved operational issues. Pakistan was among nearly 45 countries attending the meeting. Responding to a question on whether Washington had received Pakistan’s consent to deploy troops for peacebuilding in Gaza, Rubio said the United States was “very grateful to Pakistan for their offer to be a part of it, or at least their offer to consider being a part of it,” adding that further clarity was still required before any country could be asked to formally commit. “I feel very confident that we have a number of nation-states acceptable to all sides of this who are willing to step forward and be a part of that stabilisation force and certainly, Pakistan i...

More than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for urgent medical evacuation from war-ravaged Gaza in the last year and a half, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the UN agency and its partners had “evacuated over 10,600 patients from Gaza with severe health conditions, including over 5,600 children” since the start of the war more than two years ago. But he warned that “many more patients remain in Gaza awaiting evacuation to receive appropriate healthcare”. Citing numbers from the health ministry in Gaza, Tedros said that 1,092 patients were known to have died while awaiting medical evacuation just between July 2024 and November 28, 2025. “This figure is likely underreported,” he warned, calling on “more countries to open doors to patients from Gaza, and for medical evacuation to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored”. “Lives depend on it.” The WHO has previously estimated that more than 16,500 patients still need treat...

• FO says discussions ongoing; Islamabad has not been formally requested to deploy troops • Andrabi, White House say no Munir-Trump meeting planned ‘at this time’ ISLAMABAD: No decision has been taken yet on contributing troops to the planned International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, seeking to quell renewed speculation about Washington’s pressure on Islamabad for joining the mission. “About Pakistan’s participation in the ISF, we have not taken a decision to participate in ISF as yet,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at the weekly media briefing. ISF forms a key component of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict, a 20-point framework announced in September that facilitated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October. On Nov 17, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, with Russia and China abstaining, endorsing the plan and authorising the establishment of the ISF as a temporary multinational force to...

• International Stabilisation Force ‘won’t fight Hamas’; Indonesia says it is preparing to deploy 20,000 troops for health, construction-related tasks • Muslim bloc foreign ministers back UNRWA amid talk of ‘terror designation’ WASHINGTON: International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorised stabilisation force, two US officials told Reuters, but it remains unclear how Hamas will be disarmed. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) would not fight Hamas. They said lots of countries had expressed interest in contributing and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, composition, housing, training and rules of engagement. An American two-star general is being considered to lead the ISF but no decisions have been made, the officials said. Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in...

International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorized stabilisation force, two US officials told Reuters, but it remains unclear how Palestinian Hamas fighters will be disarmed. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) would not fight Hamas. They said lots of countries had expressed interest in contributing and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, composition, housing, training and rules of engagement. An American two-star general is being considered to lead the ISF but no decisions have been made, the officials said. A displaced Palestinian man clears muddy water in a flooded tent camp on a rainy day in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. —Reuters Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war began on October 10 and Hamas has released hostages and...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the second phase of a US plan to end Tel Aviv’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza was close, but cautioned several key issues still needed to be resolved, including whether a multinational security force would be deployed. Netanyahu, speaking to reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, said that he would hold important discussions with US President Donald Trump at the end of the month on how to ensure the plan’s second phase was achieved. The prime minister’s office in November said that Trump had invited Netanyahu to the White House “in the near future”, although a date for the visit has not yet been made public. Netanyahu said that he would discuss with Trump how to bring an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. Israel and Hamas entered a ceasefire two months ago, but Israel has continued its bombardment of Gaza, killing Palestinians, as the death toll in the besieged enclave reached over 72,300 as of November 19, 2o25. Gaza’s ...

The nearly two-month-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will not be complete until Israeli troops withdraw from the Palestinian territory under a peace plan backed by Washington and the United Nations, mediator Qatar’s prime minister said on Saturday. “Now we are at the critical moment … A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, [and] there is stability back in Gaza,” Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference in the Gulf state’s capital. Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, helped secure the long-elusive truce in Gaza, which came into effect on October 10 and has mostly halted two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Under a second phase of the deal, which has yet to begin, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to take over governance, and an international stabilisation force (ISF) is to be deployed. Arab and Muslim nations have been hesita...

Muslim and Arab countries, in a joint statement released on Friday, underscored their “absolute rejection” of any attempts to displace Palestinians from their land. Israel announced on Wednesday it would unilaterally open the Rafah crossing to allow residents to flee the Gaza Strip, a move swiftly rejected by Egypt as Cairo insisted on lifting the blockade in both directions to relieve the besieged Palestinian territory. Egypt refused to facilitate what critics fear is the forced displacement of Palestinians, insisting on adherence to the terms of the United States-brokered peace plan, which mandates full humanitarian access. The Rafah crossing, the only vital artery to the outside world for the residents of Gaza not controlled directly by Israel, has been shuttered for months, strangling the flow of life-saving aid. The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar expressed concern over the use of the Rafah crossing to expel Palestinians....

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan, along with seven other Muslim countries, has strongly rejected Israeli statements suggesting the transfer of Gaza residents into Egypt, emphasizing that Palestinians must remain on their land, according to a joint statement released on Friday.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday expressed concerns about Israel’s commitment to peace in Gaza, saying that Muslim countries that had supported the peace treaty may need to “reassess their stance” in the face of continued violations of the fragile ceasefire in the region. Despite the declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 9, Israel has continued to bombard the territory while a long-term plan for peace is discussed. The defence minister posted today on social media platform X that the ceasefire agreement had been criticised for being one-sided and that Israeli forces “continue to violate the truce, killing Palestinians including children”. “The agreement, signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, was meant to bring stability to the region, but Israel’s actions have raised concerns about its commitment to the deal,” Asif said. The defence minister added, “Muslim countries that supported the treaty, including Turkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, may need to reassess their stance given the ongoing vio...

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday criticized the Gaza ceasefire agreement as ‘one-sided,’ citing continued violations by Israeli forces that have resulted in the deaths of Palestinians.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday emphasised that the mandate of the planned International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza should be focused on monitoring the ceasefire and securing the territory’s borders, as he suggested a broader Pakistani role in the reconstruction and recovery of the conflict-battered territory. “Our position on the stabilisation force is clear that its main mandate must be monitoring the ceasefire on the ground to ensure that both sides abide by their commitments, and securing the borders of Gaza,” he said while talking to Dawn shortly after landing in Islamabad for a two-day visit during which he would discuss with Pakistani leaders a wide agenda — from consultations on conflicts, including Gaza and Sudan, and the dispute over the Iranian nuclear programme, to ways of intensifying economic cooperation. His comments came after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar disclosed publicly for the first time that Islamabad had conveyed to international part...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said Pakistan was ready to commit its troops to the Gaza peace force, but distanced the country from any role in disarming the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. A cornerstone of the United States-brokered Gaza Peace Agreement is the establishment of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), composed mainly of troops from Muslim-majority countries. According to officials close to the discussions, an announcement is expected soon from the federal government regarding the decision. Officials familiar with the deliberations, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said discussions within the government and military establishment were at an “advanced stage”. According to them, the tone of internal consultations suggests that Islamabad is inclined to take part in the mission. Last week, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza. The ...