Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt, along with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. [Source: X]
A photograph circulating on social media claims that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a recent summit. The post sparked outrage, with users calling it a “betrayal” and questioning Pakistan’s stance on Israel.
However, the claim 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.
Misinformation was spread through an AI-generated image in which the Armenian Prime Minister was replaced by Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Sharif visited Egypt to participate in the summit and attended the signing ceremony of a peace agreement aimed at ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Their participation, at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US President Donald Trump, reflected Pakistan’s historic support for Palestinian self-determination and regional stability.
Read: Shehbaz will witness the signing of the peace agreement in Gaza
The summit followed diplomatic efforts launched on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly and sought to facilitate an Israeli withdrawal, protect Palestinian civilians, secure the release of prisoners, end displacement and begin the reconstruction of Gaza, while laying the groundwork 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 met Netanyahu, later deleted her tweet.
I have deleted my tweet about Shehnaz Sharif’s meeting with Netanyahu because the picture is not 100% clear.
What is 200% clear and there is evidence available with “concerned” people is that a meeting was arranged between Shehbaz Sharif and Netanyahu.
I will demand records from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of…
— ShandanaGulzarKhan (@ShandanaGulzar) October 15, 2025
Journalist Alina Shigri quickly corrected the claim, tweeting: “That’s actually the Armenian prime minister, not Netanyahu!”
Attaullah Tarar further addressed the confusion and clarified that the photo showed Shehbaz Sharif with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Egypt, condemning attempts to distort the video and spread false narratives.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia the day before yesterday 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
The bottom line is that Shehbaz Sharif did not meet with Netanyahu; The photo shows a meeting with the leader of Armenia.
