ISLAMABAD/GAZA CITY: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday called on US President Donald Trump to help broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, as the death toll from Israeli strikes in Gaza continues to climb amid deepening starvation.
In a post on X on Saturday, Asif praised Trump for mediating a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and expressed hope that he would “play a similar historic role in achieving peace and a two-state solution for Palestine”.
He said Palestinians “targeted in Gaza” were looking to Trump for “lasting peace” and an end to “Zionist atrocities and Palestinian genocide”.
Asif noted that a ceasefire between Pakistan and India had previously been made possible “through President Trump’s efforts”. He said Trump’s peace initiatives had “historical significance” and served “humanity”.
"President Trump's role in brokering a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is commendable. There are indications that President Trump may facilitate peace between Russia and Ukraine. Earlier, a ceasefire between Pakistan and India was also made possible through…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) August 9, 2025
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 39 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the territory on Saturday, including 21 people seeking food aid.
Two people died at a Global Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in southern Gaza, while an Israeli strike in Khan Younis killed a woman and injured another.
In northern Gaza, 11 more were killed, six of them while waiting for food near the Netzarim Corridor.
The health ministry said the ongoing blockade has created a worsening starvation crisis, compounded by repeated strikes on food distribution points.
The United Nations estimates that since late May, at least 859 people have been killed in or around GHF-operated aid sites.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) criticised the GHF-run distribution scheme, describing it as “militarised food distribution” and accusing Israel of “institutionalised starvation and dehumanisation”.
The group said the sites had become “synonymous with stampedes, suffocating crowd surges, violent looting and lethal ‘crowd control’ measures”.
International condemnation is growing over Israel’s plan to seize Gaza City. The foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have warned that the move risks violating international humanitarian law.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the plan as “illegal and illegitimate”, calling it a “dangerous escalation” in the war.
Nearly one million people, many displaced multiple times, are currently in Gaza City.
US Senator Bernie Sanders has renewed his criticism of Washington’s military aid to Israel, accusing it of enabling “war crimes” and funding starvation in Gaza.
Writing on X, Sanders claimed “18,500 children have been killed by the Israeli military” and said “our taxpayer dollars are being used to starve children, bomb schools & gun down hungry people as they wait for aid”.
18,500 children have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Despite these war crimes, the US has provided more than $22 BILLION for the war.
Our taxpayer dollars are being used to starve children, bomb schools & gun down hungry people as they wait for aid. pic.twitter.com/bKh9Tvb0LG
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 7, 2025
Israel’s military campaign, launched in October 2023, has killed at least 61,337 Palestinians, including 17,400 children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
More than 139,974 have been injured, and over 14,222 are missing and presumed dead.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
