Field Marshal Asim Munir is off to the White House again on what will be his third visit, and while dates are still being worked on, this would not be something he would be comfortable with: the reason being the visit is tied to Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which involves Pakistan, among other Muslim nations, contributing troops!
Do note that the Gaza Stabilisation Force (that’s what it’s called) commanded by a US Army general, will comprise troops from as many as seven Muslim nations (Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, and of course, Pakistan), and it will be headquartered in Israel. Meaning after bombing Gaza to the stone age, the Israelis will have a hand in deciding the role of the Gaza force, how it operates, what it will do, and where it can go.
Munir is well aware of the pitfalls of what he is getting into: his deeply radicalised people have no love lost for Israel. They will have no love for him when they find out that the Pakistani Army is being used to hunt down the remnants of Hamas in Gaza. It is widely believed that this is what the Gaza force is being set up for.
Hamas has already signalled its reservations: Basem Naim, a senior official, was quoted by Al Jazeera as demanding clarifications from the US on “freezing or storing” of weapons during the ongoing truce. He also rejected any role for the Gaza force in the disarmament process.
But Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear about what he wants: at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, he said, ” We have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza.”
Hamas is reportedly okay with the idea of laying down arms, but only if that is part of the process leading to a Palestinian state. Netanyahu does not want one. So, back to Munir. There’s no doubt Pakistan will tout the visit as evidence of how close Washington and Islamabad are. But what Washington is demanding is something Munir can give only at the cost of seeing his radicalised nation turn on him.
