The Pakistani military’s alliance with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood is providing these radical groups with unchecked operational freedom. Consequently, outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are gaining momentum, soliciting aid from Islamic states to advance their agendas in Gaza and Kashmir.
According to a new analysis released Sunday, Islamabad’s strategic shift toward the Middle East is heightening risks of miscalculation, radical influence, and proxy warfare in South Asia and the Arab world.
Pakistan has a notorious track record of patronizing global terror entities such as LeT and JeM. International prohibitions notwithstanding, these organizations persist through covert networks and facades.
Combining Middle Eastern security expansions with overt jihadist support elevates the threat from national to regional proportions. Hamas enjoys enthusiastic backing from Pakistan’s political and clerical establishments, including a warm reception in parliament for Khaled Qaddoumi in January 2024 and his role in a PoK gathering in February 2025.
Hosting such figures allows Pakistan to knit together local and foreign militants in opposition to Western interests, Israel, and India. As a designated terror group by the US, EU, and others, Hamas’s honored status in Pakistan creates dual perils.
It magnetizes global terrorists to Pakistan’s Islamist underbelly and solidifies its reputation as a terror haven.
The report flags worries about sustenance provided by Hamas and the Brotherhood to resident terror cells, evidenced by on-ground presence of their envoys, which points to structured assistance for LeT and JeM. Regional stability hangs in the balance amid these escalating ties.