Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif appeared to threaten Israel with "nuclear retaliation," apparently responding to a story by a news site known to publish fake news.
Israel's Defense Ministry clarified that the statement in AWD News attributed to the former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon was "never said."
The AWD News story claimed to quote Ya'alon as saying that, if Pakistan sent ground forces into Syria "we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack."
Asif was quick to respond through his official Twitter account, tweeting on December 23: "Israeli defense minister threatens nuclear retaliation presuming Pakistan's role in Syria against Daesh [a known synonym for the extremist Islamic State group]. Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too."
In response, Israel's Defense Ministry took to Twitter on December 24 to clarify that the report was "entirely false."
Based on reporting by Dawn and The New York Times