Days after Trump praise, Pak ditches him, claims it backed different version of Gaza Plan, changes made

Days after US President Donald Trump praised the Pakistani leadership for supporting the Gaza peace deal, Islamabad has denied backing his ‘20-point’ proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has now said that the 20-point Gaza plan that Trump announced this week was not in line with the draft proposed by a group of Muslim-majority countries in Washington. “Changes were made in the plan,” Dar told Pakistani lawmakers in parliament on Friday.

“I have made it clear that these 20 points, which Trump has made public, are not ours. These are not the same as ours. I say that some changes have been made in it, in the draft we had.”

Trump heaped praise on Pakistan in presser with Netanyahu

Pakistan's deputy PM Dar made the remarks after Pakistan’s support for Trump’s peace plan attracted massive outrage at home. Trump’s proposal mandated the Hamas group to disarm. It proposes that Gaza would be run by a “Board of Peace” chaired by the Trump himself.

It also lays out terms for Israel’s withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave in phases, the swapping of hostages, and the reconstruction of Gaza, the bill of which would be footed by Arab states.

Announcing his plan in a presser with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Trump claimed that both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir were behind it “100 per cent”.

After Trump announced the plan, PM Shehbaz Sharif welcomed it.

“I am also convinced that durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel would be essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region,” Sharif said in a post on X on Sunday night.

WATCH: Trump's Gaza Plan: Hamas Delays as Deadline Approaches for Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan

Trump plan backing sparked outrage in Pakistan

However, Pakistani politicians, analysts, journalists, and activists criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s endorsement of the Trump plan and termed it a “surrender”, said a report in Dawn newspaper.

Former diplomat Abdul Basit said, “This is a complete surrender by the Muslim world. They can’t even mention a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Allama Raja Nasir, leader of Pakistan’s Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) party, called Trump’s plan a “flawed and unjust proposal that disregards the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people”.

PM Sharif accused of ‘pleasing Washington’

Social media users accused the PM Shehbaz Sharif of “pleasing Washington”, “undermining Pakistan’s stance on Palestine”, and even “legitimising Israel in a single tweet”.

On September 30, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan issued a joint statement, endorsing Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

Hamas is yet to respond to the proposal, which now risks collapsing over the renewed demands over its content.

Intelligence sources said Pakistan is likely to send a message to the Hamas leadership, encouraging them to reject the plan.