Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace for Gaza, a spokesperson for the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement Sunday, in a move that adds another nation hostile to Israel to the Gaza oversight committee.

“Pakistan will remain engaged with international efforts for peace and security in Gaza, leading to a lasting solution to the Palestine issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions,” the statement said.

Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, and has been vocally opposed to Israel’s military operations inside Gaza, going as far to describe it as a “genocide,” a charge Israel has vehemently rejected.

If Islamabad accepts Trump’s invite, it would join a largely symbolic board that would include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a staunch critic of Israel, as well as several other European and Middle Eastern leaders.

A representative from Turkey, as well as from fellow hostile state Qatar, will sit on the more consequential Gaza Executive Board. The inclusion of both was met with staunch objections from Jerusalem, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying Saturday that the board’s makeup “was not coordinated with Israel and contradicts its policy.”

After Netanyahu’s statement, an unnamed senior American official was quoted by the Axios news outlet saying “This is our show, not his show,” and “If he wants us to deal with Gaza, it will have to be our........

© The Times of Israel