After being named the successor to the late Pope Francis in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV appealed for “no more war” in a message to world powers, calling for a lasting peace in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza. He made the appeal during his first Sunday address from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Now, the supreme pontiff has announced that he would work hard to save the lives of common citizens in war-torn Gaza. During his recent meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Vatican, the highest religious leader of Catholic Christians also made it clear that he would always back the Two-State Solution to resolve the Israel-Palestine crisis.

Even after striking a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian Hamas Movement on October 10, 2025, Israel has been repeatedly violating the truce in recent weeks. Gaza is still facing critical, as well as widespread, shortages of food, drinking water, medicine and medical supplies because of a long-standing blockade and restrictions on humanitarian aid.

In such a situation, the visiting Palestinian President discussed the “urgent need for assistance to the civilian population” in Hamas-controlled territory with Pope Leo XIV in the library of the Apostolic Palace on November 6, 2025. The Vatican mentioned in a statement: “During the cordial talks, it was recognised that there is an urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and to end the conflict by pursuing a Two-State Solution.“

Incidentally, the West Bank (of Jordan River) is primarily administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is controlled by the Fatah, the organisation founded by legendary leader of the Palestinian Independence Movement Yasser Arafat (August 4/24, 1929 – November 11, 2004), within the broader Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) alliance. However, the level of actual control is complex and shared with Israel. Abbas, the President of the Palestinian State recognised by several countries, has his office in Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank. Once, the followers of Arafat used to control the Gaza Strip. In the 2007 Battle of Gaza (often described as a civil war or a violent power struggle), the hardline Hamas forces defeated the rival Fatah faction and took control of Gaza.

Pakistani Soldiers Available On Rent In Gaza
Pakistan has decided to send its troops to Gaza for peacekeeping purposes. Reports suggest that Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed, the Army Chief of Pakistan, is bargaining hard with Israel and the US for renting his soldiers. Veteran Pakistani journalist Asma Shirazi has stirred a controversy by claiming that although Field Marshal Munir has demanded USD 10,000 a soldier per month from Israel for peacekeeping in Gaza, the Jewish Nation has agreed to pay just USD 100. Interestingly, neither side has officially provided the media with any information on this particular issue.

CNN reported that Field Marshal Munir recently discussed the issue with Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and decided to send the Pakistani soldiers to Gaza. Then, he started bargaining with Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Shirazi, on a social media post, claimed in the first week of November 2025 that Israel rejected the Pakistani Army Chief’s demand of USD 10,000 a soldier per month and agreed to pay only USD 100. However, it is still unclear whether Field Marshal Munir has accepted the Israeli offer.

According to sources, Pakistan plans to deploy 20,000 troops in order to ensure peace in Gaza and to earn USD 200 million. However, Israel is not ready to pay that amount. Significantly, Islamabad has never officially recognised Israel as it is a Jewish State. In spite of this, the Army Chief has agreed to send troops to fight Hamas as part of a post‑war stabilisation and reconstruction mission in Gaza only to earn money from Israel. Such a move is indeed historic and unprecedented as Pakistan has always been observed as one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the Islamic World.

Commenting on the issue, Khawaja Asif, the Defence Minister of Pakistan, stressed that the government would consult the Parliament and other relevant institutions before making a final decision in this regard. “If Pakistan has to participate in it, then I think it will be a matter of pride for us. We will be proud to do it,” he told Geo News.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das