On the sidelines of the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations, Donald Trump brought together several Arab and Muslim leaders to present the main lines of an American plan on the future of the Gaza Strip. If no official announcement was made at the end of the exchanges, the American president judged the meeting “grandiose”, while Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke of an “extremely productive” interview.
An American plan discussed behind closed doors
Among the participants were high -level officials of Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Türkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan. Trump insisted on two priorities: put an end to the current war and obtain the release of the hostages. Washington claims the presentation of 20 Israelis detained alive and 38 bodies.
The Emir of Qatar, Cheikh Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani, underlined the severity of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and affirmed that the countries present would make “everything possible” to reach a cease-fire, counting on American leadership.
The project defended by Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff would not only aim to end hostilities and release prisoners, but also to negotiate an Israeli withdrawal from the territory and to clarify the terms of a future administration of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu would have already been informed and must discuss it directly with Trump in Washington next week.
The meeting comes when more than 65,000 people dead and nearly 167,000 injured have been identified in the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict, according to the UN, mostly women and children. The territory remains subject to a suffocating blockade, massive destruction and a humanitarian crisis qualified as “unbearable”.
