By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed Hamas’s response to President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan as a critical opening for ending the war, urging all sides not to let the opportunity slip away as world leaders scrambled to build on the momentum late on Friday.
“Alhamdolillah, we are closer to a ceasefire than we have been since this genocide was launched on the Palestinian people,” Sharif said in a post on X on Saturday. “Pakistan has always stood by the Palestinian people and shall always do so.”
The comments came a day after Trump told Israel to immediately stop bombing Gaza, following Hamas’s agreement to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the nearly two-year conflict. But vexing issues like disarmament appeared unresolved, with senior Hamas officials suggesting major disagreements remained that required further negotiations.
Sharif’s statement reflected a broader international welcome for the development, including from Pakistan, which has positioned itself as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause amid the war that has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians since Israel’s offensive began after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“The statement issued by Hamas creates a window for a ceasefire and ensuring peace that we must not allow to close again,” Sharif said, adding that Pakistan would continue to “work with all its partners and brotherly nations to [ensure] everlasting peace in Palestine.”
He also expressed gratitude to Trump and the leaderships of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia for their efforts during meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Those eight countries, including Pakistan, and the United States had convened last month to discuss the Gaza conflict.
Trump, eager to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the conflict’s second anniversary, welcomed Hamas’s statement. “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” he said. “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” Trump wrote on social media.
Under the plan, which Trump unveiled earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, within three days. It would also give up power and disarm. In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction. Plans to relocate much of Gaza’s population to other countries would be shelved.
Hamas said it was willing to hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Netanyahu’s office said Israel was preparing for an “immediate implementation” of the first stage of Trump’s Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas’s response.
In Pakistan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called Hamas’s response a “welcome step.” “This must now result in an immediate ceasefire, end to Palestinian suffering, ensure hostages release, and allow free flow of humanitarian aid. Israel MUST immediately stop its attacks,” Dar said. “We reaffirm Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and a sovereign, viable State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
Later on Saturday, Dar held a telephone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to discuss regional developments, particularly the situation in Gaza. They reviewed ongoing diplomatic efforts, including engagements and consultations among the eight Arab-Islamic countries and the United States in New York, aimed at “achieving an immediate and durable ceasefire, ensuring unhindered humanitarian assistance, and to secure lasting peace in Gaza,” according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office.
Dar appreciated the Saudi foreign minister’s continued engagement and constructive role in these efforts. The two ministers also discussed Hamas’s response to Trump’s proposal and “reaffirmed their firm commitment to the Palestinian cause and agreed to remain closely engaged with Arab and Islamic partners, as well as the international community, to advance a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace based on the two-state solution”.
Separately, the Foreign Office issued its own statement welcoming Hamas’s response. “This offers an important opportunity to secure an immediate ceasefire, end the bloodshed of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, ensure unhindered humanitarian assistance, and pave the way for a credible political process toward lasting peace. Israel must immediately cease attacks.”
The office appreciated Trump’s efforts for peace in Gaza and hoped they would result in a durable ceasefire and a just, comprehensive and lasting peace. “Pakistan will continue to contribute constructively and meaningfully to this process,” it said. “Pakistan reaffirms its principled support for the Palestinian cause and stands in complete solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, leading to the establishment of a sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy and relevant UN resolutions,” the Foreign Office added.
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