ISRAEL’s establishment was an illegiti-mate colonial project built on Palestinian displacement during the Nakba in 1948, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes and hundreds of villages were destroyed, followed by the Six-Day War in 1967 that led to the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula, as well as the 1982 Lebanon War. These events are interpreted as steps towards the idea of the so-called Greater Israel, with recent Israeli military movements near Jabal alSheikh after instability in Syria seen as further evidence of expansionism. Turmoil across the Middle East, including conflict invol- ving Iran, is viewed as a consequence of this agenda and as a strategy that could extend Israeli influence towards Pakistan if Iran is weakened as a strategic buffer.

Pakistani leaders warn that such a shift could allow Israeli influence and intelli-gence activity to move eastward, while the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has warned that Israeli expansionism threatens not only Palestine, but also Central and South Asia. These concerns are connected to an anti-Pakistan nexus involving India, Israel and Afghan- istan aimed at encircling and weakening Pakistan. There is also India’s defence cooperation with Israel providing techno-

logical and diplomatic support and groups, such as the Afghan Taliban and the TehreekiTaliban Pakistan (TTP), which are used to create militant pressure along Pakistan’s western frontier.

Another dimension of the perceived conflict involves alleged information warfare targeting Pakistan internationally. After incidents that attract global atten- tion, such as the Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, coordinated propaganda efforts attempt to falsely implicate Pakistan without any evidence. Such narratives are spread through social media, international news outlets and diplomatic channels.

This campaign is believed to involve manipulation of online algorithms, place- ment of stories in influential media, and lobbying foreign governments to shape global perceptions and isolate Pakistan diplomatically.

There is a clear and sober understanding within the corridors of power in Islamabad that diplomacy alone, however skilfully conducted, may ultimately prove to be not nearly enough to guarantee the nation’s safety against such powerful and deter-

mined adversaries. Pakistan has also decisively demonstrated recently its iron will and its willingness to act unilaterally and with overwhelming force in self-defence, as was dramatically seen with the launch of Operation Ghazab Lil-Haq, a series of precision strikes against militant groups operating from Afghan soil.

This powerful operation also serves as a much broader and unmistakable strategic signal to the entire perceived nexus of Afghanistan, India and Israel that Pakistan is not a passive victim of history or a weak state to be pushed around, but a resolute, capable and sovereign nuclear power that is fully prepared and willing to defend its borders, its people, and its national honour with overwhelming and decisive force, no matter the cost.

Therefore, despite the many internal differences, inlcduing the and bitter ones, that exist within Pakistani society, be they political, ethnic or sectarian, there is, and should be, now, more than ever, a paramount and overriding national need to recognise the deep-seated and sophis- ticated nature of the conspiracy and the consistently hostile intentions of what are termed the eternal enemies of the state.

Abdul Basit Alvi
Muzaffarabad

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2026