ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s authorities have detained at least five citizens who lived and worked in Israel for years while three other individuals are still on the run.
Federal Investigation Agency detained all people who hailed from Sindh’s Mirpurkhas in violation of the Passport Act 1974 and the Emigration Ordinance 1979 law as Islamabad does not recognize the Jewish state.
As per the rules, people from Asian nation cannot travel to Israel, live there, or start any employment as the country’s passport clearly mentioned that it is valid for all nations, except Israel.
Local officials revealed that the arrests were made last month when the government traced the remittance trail and found that these individuals worked in the Jewish state for several years.
Initial probe revealed that these suspects were employed as helpers and car washers in the Israeli capital where some of them lived for nearly seven years.
The group of people entered Israel state with the help of a travel agent. They paid nearly Rs4lacs per person through the Jordan airport. Before entering the Jewish state, the suspects reached Jordan via Turkiye, Kenya, and Sri Lanka as well, while they return to their homeland from Jordan while having a stopover in UAE.
For the unversed, Islamabad and Tel Aviv do not have formal diplomatic relations as two sides have historically strained relations due to violence against Palestinians. Pakistan traditionally supported the Palestinian cause and has not recognized Israel as a state.
