Fact-check: PM Shehbaz Sharif did not meet Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during Egypt summit

Opposition politician Shandana Gulzar Khan claimed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a peace summit in Egypt on October 13.

The claim is false. The image actually shows Sharif meeting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, not Israel’s Netanyahu.

Claim

On October 15, Shandana Gulzar shared on her official X (formerly Twitter) account a picture purportedly showing Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Egypt earlier this week.

She captioned the post: “Article 6! Treason! Pakistan does not recognise Israel let alone a genocidal murderer like Netanyahu.”

The post has been viewed over 140,000 times, reposted over 1,100 times, and liked more than 2,700 times.

Another user also posted the same image on X with the caption: “Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are good friends and they shake hands.”

Fact

The picture does not show Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It actually shows Sharif meeting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Egypt on October 13 during the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit.

Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic ties.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Prime Minister Sharif met various world leaders, including Pashinyan. The meeting was broadcast on PTV News, Pakistan’s state broadcaster, and shared on the prime minister’s official X account.

The footage can be viewed here.

Additionally, Armenpress, the state news agency of Armenia, posted the footage of Sharif’s meeting with Pashinyan on its official YouTube channel as well.

The viral image circulating online is a still taken from this footage as both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are seen wearing the same clothes in front of the same background as that in the online picture.

Moreover, BBC News reported that neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Hamas representatives attended the peace summit in Egypt.

Verdict: The image shared online does not show Shehbaz Sharif meeting Benjamin Netanyahu. It was taken from footage of Sharif’s meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit.

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