LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed optimism that the world is now closer than ever to a ceasefire in Gaza since the genocide of the Palestinian people began.
In a message on ‘X’, the prime minister said that Pakistan had always stood by the Palestinian people and will continue to support them unwaveringly. He extended gratitude to US President Donald Trump and the leadership of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia for their efforts during the UNGA-80 session, where they met Trump to advance the cause of resolving the Palestine issue.
Highlighting recent developments, he said that the statement issued by Hamas offers a ray of hope for a ceasefire and provides a pathway to ensuring peace. He stressed that this opportunity must not be allowed to close again. “Pakistan, In-sha-Allah, will continue to work hand in hand with its friendly and brotherly nations for permanent peace in Palestine,” he reaffirmed.
Even as US President Donald Trump has made public his 20 point Gaza Peace Plan and Hamas has diplomatically accepted it, resulting in praise from Trump, foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries continue consultations to ensure that their ‘input’ is included in the Peace Plan.
In this regard Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar received telephone calls from his Saudi and Egyptian counterparts. “They discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts, including consultations held among Arab and Islamic countries in New York, aimed at securing an immediate and durable ceasefire, ensuring unhindered humanitarian assistance, and advancing collective initiatives to achieve lasting peace in Gaza,” said the Foreign Office. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Egyptian FM Dr Badr Abdelatty discussed regional developments, particularly the situation in Gaza and 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.
On Saturday, the Foreign Official did not reveal all the details of the two telephone calls that Dar held, but it was a clear indication that efforts are afoot to ensure after the Hamas acceptance of the plan that they would continue efforts for lasting peace in Gaza.
Most Islamic countries including Pakistan have welcomed the response from Hamas.
During Saturday’s phone calls the three foreign ministers discussed recent developments, including Hamas’ response to the proposal of President Trump.
“The ministers 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,” said the Foreign Office.
Views on key matters of bilateral relations and regional developments, particularly the grave situation in Gaza came under discussion. “They discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts, including consultations held among Arab and Islamic countries in New York, aimed at securing an immediate and durable ceasefire, ensuring unhindered humanitarian assistance, and advancing collective initiatives to achieve lasting peace in Gaza,” added the Foreign Office.
Pakistan told Saudi Arabia and Egypt that it supported these efforts and noted its welcoming of recent developments, including Hamas’s response to the proposed peace plan, which offer hope for an end to the bloodshed.
All three foreign ministers agreed to remain engaged and aligned in their efforts to help achieve a just and lasting peace in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, said: “Pakistan welcomes Hamas’ response to the plan announced by President Donald Trump. 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 statement said that Pakistan appreciated the efforts of President Trump for peace in Gaza, hoping that it 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 added.
The statement reaffirmed Pakistan’s 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.
International reactions have been pouring in following Hamas’s positive response on Friday to US President Donald Trump’s plan to free Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the nearly two-year conflict.
In his reaction, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”
The US leader also said in a brief video message that “everybody will be treated fairly” in talks on the future of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: “In light of Hamas’s response, Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages.
“We will continue to work in full cooperation with the president and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump’s vision,” the statement added.
Qatar “welcomes the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trump’s plan”, said foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari, also expressing support for Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire.
Egypt said it hoped “this positive development will lead all parties to rise to the level of responsibility by committing to implementing President Trump’s plan on the ground and end the war”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “welcomes” Hamas’s response and “urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end”, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said he hoped the plan would “pave the way for a permanent cessation of hostilities... in line with international human rights and humanitarian laws”.
It was, he said, a “vital opportunity for all parties and influential states to pursue in good faith and stop -- once and for all -- the carnage and the suffering in Gaza, to flood the strip with humanitarian aid, and to ensure the release of the hostages and numerous detained Palestinians”.
“The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, joining a chorus of hopeful European reactions to Hamas’s response.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the plan represented “the best chance for peace” in the conflict and that Germany “fully supports” Trump’s “call upon both sides”.
Britain’s Keir Starmer called Hamas’s acceptance “a significant step forwards” and urged all sides “to implement the agreement without delay”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he believed Hamas was showing “as it has done many times before, that it is ready for peace”.
The foreign ministry said the Palestinian group’s response “provides an opportunity for the immediate establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza”.
Jordan’s foreign ministry welcomed Hamas’s response. It “stressed the need to immediately halt the Israeli aggression on Gaza, open the border crossings to allow the immediate, adequate and sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of the strip, and launch a genuine effort to achieve a just peace”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Trump’s “leadership” in his peace efforts in Gaza that have made “decisive progress”. In a post on social media, Modi tagged the US President’s X accounts, saying: “Indications of the release of hostages mark a significant step forward. India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim offered a more cautionary tone: “The peace plan presented by the United States is not perfect, and we even disagree with much of it. However, our current priority is to save the lives of the Palestinian people,” he said, adding that the endorsement by Arab and Islamic countries “is not a sign of agreement with everything outlined in that plan, but a collective step to halt the bloodshed, reject expulsion and give the people of Gaza the opportunity to return to their homeland … The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!”
While he welcomed the latest developments, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Luis Albares warned that “there are still many obstacles”. “This fundamentalist organisation (Hamas) must be disarmed. We want the Israeli army to definitively cease all military actions against the group.
“What will bring peace to the Palestinian people, to the people of Israel, is the existence of a realistic and viable Palestinian state,” he told Spanish state broadcaster RTVE.
Ireland Foreign Minister Simon Harris said in a statement on X: “This moment to end the unconscionable human suffering must be grasped by all. Stop the bombing, silence the guns, end the famine and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Thanking Trump for his “essential leadership”, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X: “Canada welcomes commitments from Hamas to relinquish power and release all remaining hostages, living and deceased.”
“We stand ready to support the sustained, unimpeded, and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza.”
Canada was among several Western countries to recently recognise a Palestinian state.
The president of the EU Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, hailed Hamas’s response as “encouraging”.
“This moment must be seized. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages are within reach,” she said on x.
Meanwhile, residents of Gaza, which has been largely destroyed in the nearly two-year-old war and faces a serious humanitarian crisis, responded to the developments with optimism.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta told Reuters.
“We were waiting for this good news. We were waiting for Hamas to accept and for our lives to become as nice as it was before, or even better,” a displaced Palestinian speaking from Nuseirat in central Gaza told Al Jazeera.
“We hope for more good news to come, we hope to return to Gaza City,” he said, without sharing his name.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has warned Palestinians that Gaza’s north remains a “combat zone”, telling its residents to move south, after President Trump demanded Israel “stop bombing” the enclave when Hamas partially accepted his ceasefire plan.
In a statement on X, the Israeli army said on Saturday that the area north of Wadi Gaza, which includes decimated Gaza City, is “still considered a dangerous combat zone” and called on residents there to move south via Rashid Street, the coastal route. It added that Israeli forces continue to surround Gaza City and “attempts to return there pose a significant risk.”
In a statement in the early hours of Saturday, the Israeli army said the chief of staff had ordered to “advance readiness” for implementing the first phase of Trump’s plan for the release of all captives. While it was not clear what that meant in terms of military actions, Israeli media reported that Israeli troops had shifted to solely defensive operations.
Still, aerial attacks across Gaza continued earlier on Saturday. Since dawn, Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 46 people, including 37 in Gaza City, despite Trump’s call for Israel to cease its attacks, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.