Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt, alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev [Source: X]
A photo circulating on social media claims that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a recent summit. The post sparked outrage, with users calling it a “betrayal” and questioning Pakistan’s stance on Israel.
However, this statement is false. The photo actually shows Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit in Egypt, alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Disinformation spread thanks to an AI-generated image in which the Armenian prime minister was replaced by Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Sharif traveled to Egypt to participate in the summit and attend the signing ceremony of a peace agreement aimed at ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. His participation, at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US President Donald Trump, reflects Pakistan’s historic support for Palestinian self-determination and regional stability.
Read: Shehbaz to attend signing of Gaza peace deal
The summit followed diplomatic efforts launched on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly and aimed to facilitate the Israeli withdrawal, protect Palestinian civilians, secure the release of prisoners, end displacement and begin the reconstruction of Gaza, while laying the foundations for a political process towards an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Videos of the summit confirm that the meeting was purely diplomatic in nature.
Shandana Gulzar Khan, who initially claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met with Netanyahu, later deleted her tweet.
I deleted my tweet about Sharif Shehnaz’s meeting with Netanyahu because the image is not 100% clear.
What is 200% clear and proof of which is available among the “concerned” people, a meeting was organized between Shehbaz Sharif and Netanyahu
I will request the journals of the Foreign Office of…
– ShandanaGulzarKhan (@ShandanaGulzar) October 15, 2025
Journalist Alina Shigri quickly corrected this assertion, tweeting: “He’s actually the Prime Minister of Armenia, not Netanyahu!”
The confusion was further addressed by Attaullah Tarar, who clarified that the photo showed Shehbaz Sharif with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Egypt, condemning attempts to distort the video and spread false narratives.
The day before yesterday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia in Egypt. Some local political elements are trying to distort the video of this meeting and give a completely false story.
اس تصویر کے حوالے سے جھوٹ پھیلانے والوں کو… pic.twitter.com/6lTbgB7yJc– Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) October 15, 2025
In the end, Shehbaz Sharif did not meet Netanyahu – the photo shows a meeting with the Armenian leader.
