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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday praised US President Donald Trump for “delivering on his promise” to stop the military campaign in Gaza, after attending a landmark peace summit in Egypt that brought together regional and global leaders to formalize a ceasefire and chart a path toward reconstruction.

The Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, co-hosted by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and attended by heads of state and ministers from over 20 countries — including ��������, Turkiye, Qatar, France, the UK and the Palestinian Authority — endorsed a declaration aimed at ending hostilities, guaranteeing humanitarian access, and outlining a roadmap for Gaza’s governance and rebuilding. 

“Our gratitude to President Trump is anchored in him promising that he would make it stop, and delivering on that promise,” Sharif said in a post on X before boarding his flight home from Sharm El-Sheikh. “We will continue to express our admiration for President Trump’s unique contribution to peace.”

Sharif said Pakistan’s foremost priority at the summit was securing “an immediate cessation of the genocidal campaign imposed on Gaza,” adding that Islamabad had coordinated closely with other “brotherly nations” to push for an end to the conflict and relief for civilians trapped under blockade.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s long-standing position on the Palestinian issue, saying the “freedom, dignity and prosperity” of the Palestinian people remained central to the country’s foreign policy. 

“InshaAllah, the establishment of a strong and viable Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital remains the bedrock of Pakistan’s Middle East policy,” the prime minister said.

The Sharm El-Sheikh summit followed a deal under which Hamas released 20 Israeli hostages and Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The resulting “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity” calls on signatories to serve as guarantors of the ceasefire and support Gaza’s reconstruction through monitored aid and investment. Hamas and Israel, both absent from the gathering, are yet to agree on the next steps.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue engaging diplomatically to ensure the ceasefire’s implementation and a durable political settlement, describing the summit as a “potentially transformational” moment for peace in the Middle East.

KHOST, Afghanistan: Residents in Khost city in Afghanistan have rallied behind Taliban forces following a weekend of fierce border clashes with Pakistan, expressing both defiance and calls for negotiation amid a backdrop of escalating bilateral tensions.

Pakistan carried out an air strike on the Afghan capital of Kabul last week, which targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), militant group, according to Pakistani security officials. It is not clear if he survived. Late on Saturday, Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600 km (1,600 miles) border, with Pakistani forces later retaliating. Guns, artillery and drones exchanged fire into the early hours of Sunday. Some sporadic fighting continued on Sunday. 

The Pakistan military said it lost 23 soldiers and had “neutralized more than 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists.” The Taliban, however, said nine fighters died on their side and alleged that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed, figures that Islamabad denies. Border crossings including Torkham and Chaman were shut down, halting trade and movement.

“Several days ago, Pakistan, against international law, attacked and violated Afghanistan’s territory. Our security forces, to defend our land and country, were forced to carry out counterattacks against Pakistan,” said Rashidullah Hamdard, a Khost resident.

“I want other countries to stop attacking our security forces and borders again. If they do, we will give them a crushing response,” warned another resident, Wahidullah.

Pakistan welcomed the return to power of the Taliban in 2021, with then Prime Minister Imran Khan saying that Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery.”

But Islamabad soon found that the Taliban’s loyalties lay elsewhere. There has since been a sharp increase in attacks by the TTP in Pakistan.

Islamabad says that the TTP’s leadership and many of its fighters are based in Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban administration to rein in the group, but Kabul insists that the TTP does not have a presence in the country.

Islamabad has itself been accused of supporting the two-decade Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan against the US-backed government, which it denies, but any influence over the group has since collapsed. Now, Pakistani officials say their patience has run out.

Islamabad also accuses India, its longstanding adversary, of working with Afghanistan to support the TTP and other militants against Pakistan, a claim New Delhi denies. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is currently on a multi-day trip to India, during which New Delhi upgraded relations between the two nations, raising further concerns in Islamabad.

As regional rivalries sharpen, analysts warn that worsening Pakistan-Afghanistan ties could draw in other powers and destabilize trade, security, and counterterrorism efforts.

“We ask the people and governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan to solve problems by talking,” said Bilal Sabawoon, a Khost resident. “If anyone attacks another country, this goes against Islamic and international law.”