After Trump's Big Praise, Pak Says It Backed Different Version Of Gaza Plan

Days after US President Donald Trump showed Pakistani leadership for supporting the Gaza peace deal, Islamabad has denied backing Washington's '20-point' proposal to end the war between Israel and Hamas. According to Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the 20-point Gaza plan that Trump announced this week was not in line with the draft proposed by a group of Muslim-majority countries in Washington.

"Changes were made in the plan," Dar told Pakistani lawmakers in parliament on Friday. 

"I have made it clear that these 20 points, which Trump has made public, are not ours. These are not the same as ours. I say that some changes have been made in it, in the draft we had."

Trump's Plan And Big Praise For Pakistan

Dhar's remarks came after Pakistan's open support for Trump's peace plan attracted massive outrage at home. Washington's proposal mandated Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, to disarm. The plan proposes that Gaza would be run by a "Board of Peace" chaired by the American President himself.

It also lays out terms for Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave in phases, the swapping of hostages, and the reconstruction of Gaza, the bill of which would be footed by Arab states. The problem? An unclear pathway to Palestinian statehood in the near future.

Announcing his plan last week, Trump claimed that both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir were behind it "100 per cent". 

After Trump announced the plan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed it and called for implementation of the two-state solution.

"I am also convinced that durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel would be essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region," Shrif said in a post on X on Sunday night.

Outrage At Home

According to a report by the Karachi-based Dawn newspaper, Pakistani politicians, analysts, journalists, and activists criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's endorsement of the Trump plan and termed it a "surrender".

Talking to the publication, author and former diplomat Abdul Basit said. "This is a complete surrender by the Muslim world. They can't even mention a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

He questioned why Sharif was supporting Trump's plan, "knowing full well that it is literally ruling out any possibility of creating a state of Palestine."

Allama Raja Nasir, leader of Pakistan's Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) party, called Trump's plan a "flawed and unjust proposal that disregards the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people".

"This secretive plan, crafted without open dialogue, excludes Palestinians and imposes a US-centric solution that prioritises Israeli interests over Palestinian justice," he said, adding that the plan was vague on the issue of Palestinian statehood.