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Will Israel accept Pakistan's role in Gaza stabilisation? What Israeli Ambassador said
Israeli ambassador to India said that several countries have made it clear that they are unwilling to send their troops since they don’t want to fight Hamas.
Rejecting a proposal on the involvement of Pakistani troops in a potential International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza for the next phase of Trump-led peace plan, Israel’s ambassador to India said that they are not on board with the idea of Pakistan’s participation in such force and would prefer working with the states that they trust.
Reuven Azar, the Israeli ambassador to India, while speaking to NDTV, expressed concerns over alleged links between Hamas and terror groups based in Pakistan, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, and said that for the next phase of the peace plan, dismantling of Hamas is crucial.
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‘Hamas must be dismantled’
Azar told NDTV that Israel is not comfortable with Pakistan’s participation in a stabilisation and reconstruction force for Gaza, as reportedly proposed by the United States for which it also approached several countries including Pakistan.
“There is an effort right now to try to create a situation in which we can move forward, but for that, Hamas must be dismantled. There is no way around it,” Azar said.
He also said that several countries have made it clear that they are unwilling to send their troops since they don’t want to fight Hamas, because of which, a stabilisation force would not work under present circumstances.
Azar replied with a “no” when asked if Israel would be okay with Pakistan Army’s role in Gaza due to their links with terrorist organizations.
Among Israel’s top priorities, Azar said are the retrieval of hostages and the bodies of the dead hostages, along with dismantling Hamas’ infrastructure, both military and political.
While talking about Hamas’ future, he said that if Hamas doesn’t succumb to the diplomatic pressure to keep up with Trump’s peace plan, Israel would be left with no option but to act on its own. “Either Hamas dismantles, or it will be impossible to implement the second phase of any plan,” he said.
Indicating that the diplomatic ties between Israel and Pakistan are not proper, Azar said that countries usually work with states whom they trust and have good diplomatic ties with, which “is not the situation right now”.
