Pakistan, long accused of providing sanctuary to extremist groups, has again drawn scrutiny after hosting a meeting between senior leaders of Hamas and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), signalling renewed engagement between the two US-designated terrorist organisations.
Senior Hamas commander Naji Zaheer recently met Rashid Ali Sandhu, a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, in Gujranwala, Pakistan, during an event organised by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML)—widely believed to be the political front of LeT.
Zaheer attended the gathering as the chief guest and was seen sharing the stage with Sandhu at what is reported to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba facility.
The interaction came to light after the emergence of an undated video showing both leaders together, once again raising concerns over the operational and ideological linkages between regional and transnational terror networks.
Zaheer’s engagement with Pakistan-based groups is not new. In February 2025, he visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) along with other Hamas officials, days before the Pahalgam terror attack.
During the visit, he addressed an anti-India rally alongside commanders from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
His earlier visits include a January 2024 trip to Karachi, where he addressed the media at the Karachi Press Club, and an April 2024 visit to Islamabad, where he was felicitated by the Islamabad High Court Bar Association.
On October 14, 2023, just a week after Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, Zaheer met Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, chief of the Islamist political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
Zaheer also appeared at multiple pro-Hamas events in 2023, including the “Al-Aqsa Storm” conference in Quetta on October 29 and the “Toofan-e-Aqsa” conference in Karachi in November, where he appeared alongside Mashal via video link.
These developments have surfaced amid reports that the US administration is considering Pakistan’s potential role in contributing troops to a future international stabilisation force in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point Gaza plan reportedly calls for an international force to oversee a transitional phase focused on reconstruction and economic recovery in the conflict-ravaged territory, which has endured more than two years of war.
Held amid rising tensions in South Asia, this public meeting has sparked alarm over potential alignment between Hamas and Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
