KARACHI – A group of leading Pakistani clerics has urged the government to refrain from sending its troops to Gaza as part of an international effort to disarm Hamas.
The demand was made in a recent meeting of the “Majlis Ittehad-e-Ummat Pakistan” in Karachi. The meeting saw prominent figures like Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman, Mufti Taqi Usmani, and Maulana Fazlur Rehman among the attendees.
The call comes after a Reuters report last week claimed that Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, is expected to visit Washington in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of a multinational force in Gaza to address security and humanitarian concerns.
However, on December 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that no such trip has been finalized and that Pakistan had yet to make any decisions regarding participation in an International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza.
In their statement, the scholars stressed that Muslim countries, including Pakistan, should not send military forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas, and rejected any growing pressure to do so.
The statement further emphasized that Pakistan’s armed forces, known for their passion for the struggle of “Jihad” and the liberation of Jerusalem, should never be positioned against the cause of Palestinian freedom.
The clerics called on the government to safeguard Pakistan from this alleged conspiracy and urged it to remain firm in rejecting foreign interventions.
The ISF, part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, envisions a deployment of military forces from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase.
The force would assist in maintaining order and rebuilding Gaza while moving toward a long-term political resolution.
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