Pakistan has categorically rejected the fake and misleading news of the Indian media outlets, claiming the deployment of 20,000 Pakistani troops for the Gaza peace force under an agreement between the US and Israeli intelligence agencies.
Indian publication, Firstpost, reported that a deal was signed by Pakistan to send thousands of soldiers as part of the international stabilisation force in the Palestinian enclave – a plan floated by US President Donald Trump.
However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting termed the report “completely fabricated”, saying that no such meetings, understandings, or “deals” ever took place between the Pakistani military, American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Israel’s Mossad.
Pakistan has never recognised Israel and always maintained a clear, principled stance in support of Palestinian self-determination, said the ministry.
It also clarified that neither the Foreign Office nor the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), ever supported or announced any Pakistani mission in Gaza.
Responding to the Indian media’s false claims, the state broadcaster reported that Firstpost quoted references from CNN-News 18, a media outlet that has published unverified information in the past.
The deployment of an international peace force in Gaza was part of the US president’s plan to help secure a fragile ceasefire, which began this month, halting two years of war between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
However, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that a decision on sending Pakistani troops for the Gaza peace force was still being finalised and “it is in process”.
Questioned whether any such move was in the offing or not in an interview, Asif said: “This thing has to be finalised [and] it is in process. The government will take a decision after passing through the process and I don’t want to preempt it.”
He said parliament would be taken onboard and all institutions would be informed about the move.
The defence minister said if Muslim countries took a decision to participate in the peace force and Pakistan also had to take part, then it would be a “moment of pride for the country to play a role in protecting Palestinians”.
“This is an opportunity that Pakistan should avail if it is available to us.” Meanwhile, Israel’s military has struck multiple site across Gaza City. One missile fell behind the al-Shifa Hospital near one of the main buildings that was renovated and put back into service.
The attack caused a state of mayhem and panic among patients and medical staff inside the hospital. Eyewitness described the strike as massive. We are in an area about 20 minutes away, and we could hear it from here.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he had ordered the army to immediately carry out “powerful strikes” in Gaza, and Hamas responded by saying it would delay handing over the body of a hostage, putting new pressure on the tenuous US-brokered ceasefire.
The order from Netanyahu follows heightened tensions, as Israel reported Hamas firing on its forces in southern Gaza and after Hamas returned a set of remains that Israel said belonged to a hostage recovered earlier in the war.
The ceasefire that began on Oct. 10 has largely held despite at least two previous flareups in violence.
A US official has told Al Jazeera the ceasefire is still holding despite Israeli threats to attack Gaza after alleging ceasefire violations. President Trump’s peace plan faces many challenges but the administration believes it will still come to fruition, the official says.
“The ceasefire agreement is still holding in Gaza, and we continue to work to implement President Trump’s peace plan,” said the US official on condition of anonymity. “Transition to permanent peace in Gaza is a difficult task after two years of conflict in the Strip.”
“Locating the bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza is difficult, challenging, and time-consuming. The Civilian-Military Coordination Center played a vital role in bringing Egyptian technical teams into Gaza to retrieve the bodies,” the official said.
“The peace plan for Gaza will face challenges, and the US government is making strenuous efforts to make progress. We will not be satisfied until stability is achieved in Gaza and a transition to civilian rule is achieved and tangible progress is made toward peace.”
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli authorities said they had killed three Palestinians during an operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli police said the three men were shot as they came out of a cave near Jenin, a town in the northern West Bank. An earlier statement said the Israeli military carried out an airstrike shortly afterward to destroy the cave. The army confirmed an airstrike in the area but gave no further details.
Hamas condemned the Jenin strike and later identified two of the three men as members of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The third man was referred to as a “comrade,” but no additional details about him were given.
Israel says its operations have cracked down on Hamas in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say scores of uninvolved civilians have also been among the dead, while tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.
Over 68,500 Palestinians have died in the two-year war in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.