Fazl rejects Trump's Gaza peace plan

JUI-F chief says US is sidelining Hamas in negotiations

LAHORE:

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has rejected US President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan, contending that no peace plan is acceptable, if it is proposed without consulting Palestinians and Hamas.

"The US is sidelining Hamas in negotiations. Hamas is a primary party to the dispute. The Palestinian issue cannot be resolved without it," Fazl said on Tuesday while addressing the media in Lahore. "Removing Hamas from talks makes a durable solution impossible," he said.

President Trump on Monday secured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing for a US-sponsored peace proposal to end a nearly two-year-old genocidal war in Gaza.

Talking with reference to the plan, Fazl said a two-state solution that effectively amounts to recognising Israel would be unacceptable unless Palestinians and Hamas are included in the arrangement.

He stressed that until Palestinians themselves decide the future of Palestine, no solution should be imposed on them; a two-state solution cannot be forced upon the Palestinian people.

He said the US—and Trump in particular—has been pushing its will around the world with force, which is neither moral nor politically right. Commenting on the idea that Trump could receive a Nobel Peace Prize, he said that was possible only if there was a category of "Nobel War Prize."

Referring to the Core Commanders' Conference chaired by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Oct 17, he told listeners to compare what was said there with PM Shahbaz's statements in New York.

He also criticised differences between Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's address to the UN General Assembly and his subsequent tweet, saying such weak positions would leave the Arab world defeated. He said no one in Pakistan could even consider recognising Israel.

He said the recent Pakistan–Saudi defence cooperation alone could not solve the Palestinian problem. He also suggested that India's interests influence some governments, implying a fear that the US might tilt toward India.

The JUI-F chief said the incumbent government's ability to complete its term depended on the establishment. "If their relations remain good, the term will be completed, otherwise it will not," he said, adding that former prime minister Imran Khan must be released.

Fazl said Israel is an illegitimate state and will never be accepted.