Pakistan mulls sending troops to Gaza under Trump peace plan

Pakistan is considering sending troops to Gaza as part of a proposed peacekeeping force under a truce brokered earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, Pakistan’s defence minister said.

“The government will take a decision after going through the process, and I don’t want to pre-empt anything,” Khawaja Asif said in an interview with Geo News on Tuesday. “If Pakistan has to participate in it, then I think it will be a matter of pride for us. We will be proud to do it.”

The minister said the government will consult parliament and other relevant institutions before moving ahead, according to the report.

The Trump-brokered peace deal reached between Israel and Gaza earlier this month called for Hamas to disarm and also called for a so-called international stabilisation force to maintain security after two years of war in Gaza. However, no country has yet committed troops to the force, and some countries have said they want more clarity on its mandate before committing soldiers.

Pakistan’s openness to sending troops comes as the US and Pakistan have drawn closer in recent months. Trump has heaped praise on Pakistani leaders for nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize, while Pakistan is getting among the lowest US tariff rates in Asia under a proposed trade deal.

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was in Egypt to attend Trump’s peace summit where the ceasefire agreement was signed.

Trump on Wednesday said he expects the truce to hold despite strikes by Israel against members of Hamas. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the “forceful strikes” against Hamas in response to attacks on Israeli soldiers in Gaza, testing an agreement whose core points included both Hamas and Israeli forces stopping their attacks.

The bombing killed at least 100 people late Tuesday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said, citing medical sources.