Posts shared to X claim that Pakistan threatened to launch a nuclear attack against Israel if the country attacked Pakistani territory.

🚨BREAKING NEWS:-

🇵🇰 Pakistan says that if 🇮🇱 Israel attacks its territory, ☢️ nuclear weapons will be used against them. pic.twitter.com/H3Nq3wKfnJ

— Asad Nasir (@asadnasir2000) October 5, 2024

Verdict: False

Pakistan has not threatened nuclear retaliation against Israel in any capacity.

Fact Check:

On Tuesday Oct. 1, Iran launched a missile strike against Israel. The attack was in response to an Israeli-led strike earlier this year, which killed top leaders in Hamas and Hezbollah, per Al Jazeera. (RELATED: FACT CHECK: Video Shows Explosion In Yemen, Not Attack In Israel)

Though Israel has not launched a strike in Pakistan, claims on social media state that Pakistan has threatened a nuclear attack if Israel initiated an offensive within its territory. The post on X reads, “🇵🇰 Pakistan says that if 🇮🇱 Israel attacks its territory, ☢️ nuclear weapons will be used against them.”

However, no credible outlets have reported on any statements from Pakistani leaders, nor are there any reports from inside sources to indicate that there is any truth to this claim. The country did threaten nuclear war against Israel back in 2016, but the warning was based on fake news.

Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon reportedly said that the Jewish nation would “destroy” Pakistan “with a nuclear attack” should that country deploy soldiers to Syria, according to CNN. His Pakistani counterpart, Khawaja Asif, responded to the fake news article on X as if it were real, reminding Israel that Pakistan “is a nuclear state too.” There was never any evidence that Yaalon made the nuclear threat in the first place and the Israeli Ministry of Defense denied the claim.

The statement attributed to fmr Def Min Yaalon re Pakistan was never said

— Ministry of Defense (@Israel_MOD) December 24, 2016

Pakistan has not shown animosity towards Israel during its current war with Hamas. Reuters reported in August 2024 that Pakistan said it would support all efforts to maintain peace in the Middle East. This came amid growing concerns across the globe that the conflict would escalate to a regional war and remains consistent with Pakistan’s original response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. I

The Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune reported in October 2023 that the country was standing firm in its backing of a two-state solution and restraining from armed conflict. The foreign office of Pakistan reiterated calls last week for the United Nations Security Council to reach a peace deal with Israel and Hamas and put an end to the war, per The Nation.