Israeli | Pakistan

Pakistan rubbished claims published in an Amnesty International report on Thursday that a spyware, manufactured by an Israeli company, was actively being used in the country. According to a senior intelligence officer, who spoke to Dawn on condition of anonymity, the report was an “an attempt to malign Pakistan”. “There is not an iota of truth in it,” he stressed. The official was referring to a claim made in the Amnesty International investigation, titled “Intellexa Leaks”, which described the story of a human rights lawyer based in Pakistan. The lawyer, according to the report, had approached Amnesty International in the summer of 2025 after receiving a suspicious link on WhatsApp from an unknown number. Amnesty Security Lab investigated the link and identified it as a Predator attack attempt based on the technical behaviour of the infection server. Predator is a highly invasive spyware manufactured by the Israeli company Intellexa. According to Amnesty International, the investigation was based on a combin...

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Palestinian territory, with Pakistan, which voted in favour of the text, reiterating that Palestinians must be allowed to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. The resolution, titled ‘Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine’, was adopted with 151 countries voting in favour, 11 voting against and 11 abstaining, according to the summary posted by the UN. According to the summary, the UNGA, through the resolution, “stressed the need for urgent, collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process and called for the timely convening of an international conference in Moscow — as envisioned by Security Council resolution 1850 (2008) — to advance a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement”. “The Assembly also called on both parties to act responsibly, urgently reverse negative trends and create the co...

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...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday condemned in the strongest possible terms, the attacks by Israeli occupying forces across Gaza, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians, including women and children and left many more wounded.

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday strongly condemned the continued Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip as a “blatant violation of international law”. Despite a ceasefire signed by Israel and Hamas on October 9, Israeli forces have continued to regularly bombard Gaza with airstrikes, with the latest attack on Saturday leaving at least 21 dead in the territory. A statement issued by the FO today said, “Pakistan condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the attacks by Israeli occupying forces across Gaza.” It added that the attacks had reportedly resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians and left many more wounded. “Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the recently concluded peace agreement at Sharm el-Sheikh,” the FO said. It said that the attacks also undermined international efforts aimed at achieving “lasting peace and stability” in the region. “The Government of Pakistan reiterates its call upon the international community to take im...

Pakistan has strongly condemned attacks by Israeli occupying forces across Gaza, which have reportedly resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians and left many more wounded.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded in multiple Israeli air strikes on Saturday, as Hamas and Israel again traded allegations of violating the fragile ceasefire. Saturday was one of the deadliest days since the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, after two years of war. The Israeli military claimed an “armed terrorist” had crossed the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip, behind which Israeli forces have withdrawn, and fired at Israeli soldiers. In response to the incident in southern Gaza, which it said was on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries in the territory, the Israeli military said it “began striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip”. Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP there were “21 martyrs this evening in five separate Israeli air strikes, in a clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza”. They included seven killed and more than 16 injured ...

At least 25 Palestinians were killed in four Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday in Gaza since a shaky ceasefire took effect in October, health authorities said. Medics said 10 people were killed in the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun, two in the Shujaiya suburb to the east and the rest in two separate attacks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military claimed its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli forces were injured. Multiple air strikes have pointed to the fragility of the ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have traded blame for what both call violations of the US-brokered truce, the first stage of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a post-war Gaza. All three attacks were far beyond an agreed-upon imaginary “yellow line” separating the areas under Israeli and Palestinian control, according to medics, witnesses and Palestinian media. The Zeitoun attack was on a building...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said it had “no information” about the prime minister’s coordinator on tourism, Sardar Yasir Ilyas, interacting with an Israeli ministry official in London. The spokesperson was asked about the incident after a video of the interaction began circulating on social media. It was filmed during the World Travel Market event in London, which took place from November 4 to 6, 2025. In the clip, Ilyas could be seen shaking hands with and conversing with an individual later identified as the Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, Michael Izhar-Kov. A translation of Israeli journalist Rai Kais’ X post in Hebrew said: “As you may recall, Pakistan was recently mentioned as one of the countries that may join the international force in Gaza.” However, London-based journalist Murtaza Ali Shah claimed in a post on X that “a group of individuals from Israel visited the Pakistan Pavilion unannounced and met the Pakistani delegation without introducing themselves.” Asked during a wee...

Pakistan’s foreign office on Friday clarified that a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s special assistant on tourism, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, and an Israeli official at a global travel fair in London was not authorised by the government.

The Israeli parliament has advanced a bill that would mandate the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israeli citizens, with some lawmakers believing it would prevent future prisoner-release deals. In a vote held late on Monday — the first of four needed for the measure to become law — the bill passed with 39 in favour and 16 against, out of 120 lawmakers. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had called on all political factions to back the bill, which he has said was aimed at creating deterrence against “Arab terrorism”. “This is how we fight terror; this is how we create deterrence,” he said in a statement after the initial vote. “Once the law is finally passed — terrorists will be released only to hell.” Some parties boycotted Monday’s vote The bill will now move to a parliamentary committee for further debate before a second and third vote. It is not guaranteed that it will become law, with several key political parties having boycotted Monday’s initial vote. Opposition lea...

The United States gathered intelligence last year that Israel’s military lawyers warned there was evidence that could support war crimes charges against Tel Aviv for its military operations in Gaza reliant on American-supplied weapons, five former US officials said. The previously unreported intelligence, described by the former officials as among the most startling shared with top US policymakers during the war, pointed to doubts within the Israeli military about the legality of its tactics that contrasted sharply with Israel’s public stance defending its actions. Two of the former US officials said the material was not broadly circulated within the government until late in the Biden administration, when it was disseminated more widely ahead of a congressional briefing in December 2024. The intelligence deepened concerns in Washington over Israel’s conduct in a war it said was necessary to eliminate Hamas fighters embedded in civilian infrastructure. There were concerns Israel was intentionally targeting civ...

Pakistan and other Muslim countries on Monday slammed Israeli violations of the fragile Gaza ceasefire and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territory, according to the Foreign Office (FO). Hamas and Israel signed a ceasefire agreement on October 9, agreeing to free the Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. Pakistan was one of the eight Arab and Muslim countries to work with Trump on the plan. Despite occasional flare-ups, the fragile truce has been holding in Gaza. The truce, which left thorny issues like the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza unresolved, has been tested by unilateral Israeli bombardment since coming into force. The foreign ministers of Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan — the same countries that met with Trump on Sept 23 on the sidelines of the...

Israel’s coordinator for hostages and missing persons said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports a bill that would authorise the execution of Palestinian prisoners. The far-right Jewish Power party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, submitted the bill, which will go to a first reading in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on Wednesday. The draft law states: “The death penalty shall be imposed on any person who intentionally, or through indifference, causes the death of an Israeli citizen out of racist motives, hatred, or intent to harm the State of Israel.” Bills in Israel must pass three readings in the Knesset to become law. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that Coordinator Gal Hirsch told the Knesset’s National Security Committee on Monday that Netanyahu had expressed support for the measure. Hirsch said he had previously opposed the bill “because of the risk it posed to the lives of the living hostages in Gaza”. “The hostages are now alive, and therefore my oppos...

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military’s chief legal officer resigned on Friday over a criminal inquiry into the leaking of a video that showed soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee arrested during the Gaza conflict. Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said that she was stepping down because she had approved the video’s leak in August last year. The abuse investigation led to criminal charges against five soldiers and stirred an uproar. The inquiry drew condemnation from right-wing politicians and prompted protesters to storm two military compounds after investigators sought troops for questioning in the case. A week after the break-in at the bases, a security camera video showing the moments of the alleged abuse was leaked to an Israeli television channel. It showed soldiers taking a prisoner aside and crowding around while holding a dog and blocking visibility of their actions with their riot gear. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said that there has been an ongoing criminal inquiry into the video ...

The Israeli military attacked the Gaza Strip for a fourth day on Friday, killing three people, Palestinian health authorities said, in another test of a fragile ceasefire agreement. Residents reported Israeli shelling and gunfire in northern Gaza on Friday, as Israel continued to bombard areas of the enclave despite saying that it remains committed to a ceasefire brokered by United States President Donald Trump. The Israeli military did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Another Palestinian died of wounds sustained from previous Israeli shelling, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported. The US-brokered ceasefire, which left thorny issues like the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip unresolved, has been tested by periodic outbreaks of violence since it came into place three weeks ago. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel retaliated for the death of an Israeli soldier with bombardments that Gaza health authorities said killed 104 people. More bo...

Hamas handed over the remains of two Israeli hostages to the Red Cross on Thursday evening under a ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army confirmed.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani blamed a “Palestinian party” for a ceasefire violation, referring to the reported killing of an Israeli soldier in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Tuesday. Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York yesterday, the PM told interviewer Ayman Mohyeldin that the attack on the Israeli soldiers was “basically a violation by the Palestinian party”, pointing out that while Hamas has put out a statement that they are not in communication with this group, there is no “verification if this is true or not”. View this post on Instagram It is important to note, however, that following the attack on the soldier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful” retaliatory strikes on Gaza. The attacks killed 104 people, mostly women and children, Al Jazeera reported, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel claimed its strikes targeted senior Hamas fighters, killing dozens, and then said it would start observing the ceasefire again mid...

Pakistan on Wednesday called for the immediate cessation of Gaza ceasefire violations by Israel after the latter’s strike on the Palestinian enclave killed more than 100 people. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 104 people were killed after Israel carried out air strikes on the Palestinian territory yesterday, accusing Hamas of violating the truce by killing a soldier, which the group denied. The renewed Israeli bombardment prompted strong condemnation from Pakistan, one of the eight Muslim countries that worked with the United States on President Donald Trump’s peace plan. “Pakistan strongly condemns the renewed attacks by the Israeli occupying forces in Gaza, which have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “These actions constitute a clear and flagrant violation of international law, as well as a breach of the recently concluded peace agreement,” the FO said, warning that such “aggressive measures by the Israeli occupation forces threaten to undermine the i...

United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel carried out air strikes on the Palestinian territory accusing Hamas of violating the truce, which the group denied. Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli attacks had killed at least 50 people, including 22 children, and wounded around 200. “At least 50 killed, including 22 children and a number of women and children, as a result of the ongoing Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since last night,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, told AFP. Around 200 people were wounded “in a clear and flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement”, he said, calling the situation in Gaza “catastrophic and terrifying”. Trump defended Israel’s actions on Wednesday, saying it “should hit back” if Israeli soldiers were killed, but added that “nothing’s going to jeopardise” to truce. “They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,” Trump told reporters on Air Force...