Islamabad: Pakistan has expressed readiness to contribute troops to the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza, but will not participate in efforts to disarm Palestinian resistance groups, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar emphasised that Pakistan’s role would be limited to peacekeeping, not peace enforcement.

“The matter of Hamas’ disarmament first came up during a meeting in Riyadh on the two-state solution. We are not ready for that. This is not our job, but of the Palestinian law enforcement agencies. Our job is peacekeeping, not peace enforcement. We are definitely ready to contribute to the force, the prime minister has in principle already announced after consultation with the field marshal that we will contribute, but this decision cannot be taken until it is decided what its [ISF] mandate and TOR (terms of reference) will be,” he said.

Dar added, “As per my information, if it will include disarming Hamas, then even my Indonesian counterpart has informally expressed his reservation.”

The ISF is part of a US-brokered Gaza peace plan, which was recently endorsed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) through a US-drafted resolution. The force has been authorised to operate in the Palestinian enclave, but Pakistan clarified that its participation would not involve disarming Hamas.

Pakistan cancelled military action against Afghanistan at Qatar’s request

In a separate briefing, Dar addressed Pakistan’s recent tensions with Afghanistan, revealing that a potential military operation against Kabul was cancelled at Qatar’s request last month.

“The Qatari Foreign Ministry came to know that we were moving towards taking action (against Afghanistan). Then Qatar requested for a solution to the problem and mediation, after which the operation that was going to be carried out that night was stopped,” he said.

Dar noted that the mediation was unsuccessful. “It is not appropriate to talk about a friendly country, but they (Qatar) are now upset that they got mediation done and no result could be achieved.”

He also urged the Afghan Taliban to reconsider their policies, stressing the human cost of militancy. “The Afghan Taliban will have to reconsider their policy since they are in power. We don't want anything from them; we are ready to do anything, but since their government came to power, our 4,000 officers and soldiers have been killed, and over 20,000 injured. So how can I say that 'let us close our eyes (towards Afghanistan)'?”

Dar concluded with a warning, asserting that Pakistan has the power and capability to fix the issues of militancy emanating from Afghanistan.