Trump lauds Pakistan leaders for backing Gaza peace plan

US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for supporting Washington’s proposed Gaza peace plan.

At a White House press briefing on Monday, Trump described the Pakistani leaders as “incredible” and said Islamabad had backed his 20-point proposal to end the war between Israel and Hamas from the start.

Trump said that the Prime Minister and Field Marshal of Pakistan had supported the pact from the beginning, calling them “incredible” and noting that they had issued a statement expressing full belief in the agreement and backing it completely.

He also expressed gratitude to leaders of several Muslim and Arab countries for what he described as their tremendous support of the initiative. He mentioned that his meetings and dialogue with Saudi Arabia, the Emir of Qatar, the UAE, the King of Jordan, President Erdogan of Turkey, and the President of Indonesia had contributed significantly to the proposal.

Trump unveiled the ‘Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict’ on Monday. The plan proposes that Gaza be turned into a deradicalised, terror-free zone and redeveloped.

The proposal stated that if both sides agreed to it, the war would end immediately, with Israeli forces withdrawing to an agreed line to prepare for a hostage release; during that period, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, would be suspended, and battle lines would remain frozen until conditions were met for a complete staged withdrawal.

The plan requires all hostages, whether alive or dead, to be returned within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the agreement. Once hostages are released, Israel will free 250 life sentence prisoners and 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7, 2023, including all women and children. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are returned, Israel will release the remains of 15 Gazans.

Following the announcement, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement welcoming Trump’s “leadership” and “sincere efforts” to end the war.

Trump’s praise for Pakistani leaders came after his Oval Office meeting with Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir last Thursday. The meeting followed a trade agreement between the US and Pakistan and a brief encounter between Trump and Sharif at the UN General Assembly in New York last week.

Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, relations between Washington and Islamabad have improved. Last month, the US signed a deal for Pakistan to supply critical minerals and rare earth elements, with a US firm investing $500 million in the sector. In July, Trump also pledged to work with Pakistan to develop its “massive oil reserves.”

The two countries have since reached a trade pact imposing a 19 per cent tariff on Pakistani imports while opening avenues for US involvement in Pakistan’s oil sector. Bilateral trade in goods and services reached USD 10.1 billion in 2024, a 6.3 per cent rise from 2023.