FO says no official contact with Pakistan for hosting Palestinians freed by Israel

Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan has said no official contact has been made with Pakistan for hosting Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel.

Arab News quoted Hamas spokesperson Dr Khaled Qaddoumi as saying on Feb 3 that Pakistan had agreed to host 15 Palestinian prisoners released under the truce reached between Israel and Hamas on Jan 15 to end the 15-month-long Gaza war.

“This issue has not come up to the foreign ministry at the official level so any comment at this point would be purely speculative,” Khan said in response to a reporter’s question at a weekly press briefing this week.

Earlier this week, 15 Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel arrived in Turkiye after being deported first to Egypt.

Read more: Israel directs army to plan strategy for Palestinians to voluntarily leave Gaza

Among key components of the Israel-Hamas truce deal is that Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50 in the first phase, while Israel in exchange will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli female soldier Hamas releases.

The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza has led to Hamas’ release of 18 hostages and Israel’s release of 583 jailed Palestinians, of whom at least 79 were sent to Egypt.

Talks are now ongoing on phase two of the armistice, which will see the release of remaining Israeli hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.