Erdogan says Trump meeting with Arab, Muslim leaders on Gaza was ‘fruitful’

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, expressed his satisfaction with the outcomes of a “fruitful” meeting between Arab and Muslim leaders regarding the end of Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

Trump, who claimed Tuesday’s meeting with “all of the big players except Israel” on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, had been “successful,” citing Israel’s continued to bombard Gaza City, kill dozens of Palestinians daily, and forcefully displaced tens of thousands to an unknown fate.

No further information was provided about the meeting, which was attended by leaders from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and the United Arab Emirates, who Trump referred to as “the group that could do it.”

According to US-based media outlet Axios, Trump, who was expected to announce a strategy to end the war, wants Arab and Muslim nations to agree to send military forces to Gaza to facilitate Israel’s withdrawal and secure funding for transition and reconstruction projects.

The meeting was reportedly centered on bringing an end to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and achieving a permanent ceasefire, while mentioning the importance of releasing prisoners and addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed of the details, but Israel reportedly had no say in the plan being discussed. The Palestinian Authority’s involvement is thought to be possible in the future, something Israel has repeatedly said it will not tolerate.

Hamas, which the US and Israel have demanded must be disarmed and eliminated, is not included in the plan’s definition of a role.

The “one man who can alter things”

Leaders demanded that the two-year conflict that has claimed at least 65, 382 lives be ended right away at the end of a summit that was dominated by the global outcry against Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

The US, Israel’s top arms supplier, has traditionally served as its diplomatic shield at the UN and beyond, appeared to be getting more and less vocal about its opposition to the support of Palestinian statehood, with little to suggest that it might press Tel Aviv to put pressure on Tel Aviv.

Trump had stated in his marathon address to the assembly that the support from France, Britain, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and other countries “encouraged continued conflict,” indemnifying Hamas for these heinous atrocities and calling for an “immediate” end to the war without acknowledging the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

His statement contrasted with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ assertion that Palestinians’ right to a statehood is “a right, not a reward” at a meeting on the two-state solution on Sunday.

According to James Bays, a diplomat at the UN who was reporting from New York, “President Trump sometimes only receives one side of the story.”

Israel has one supporter in the UN Security Council, one who provides the funds and one who provides the weapons. The United States is one of those who back. And so, according to Bays, Donald Trump is the one person who can alter things.

Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the leader of Qatar, said at the start of the meeting, “We rely on you and your leadership to put an end to this war and help the people of Gaza,” describing the situation there as “very bad”.

Sheikh Tamim, who has spearheaded efforts to end a comprehensive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and watched as Israel hosted Hamas leaders to discuss the most recent US ceasefire proposal, underscored the urgency of the situation earlier. He claimed that Israel’s true goal was “to destroy Gaza, to make it impossible to get housing, livelihoods, education, and get medical care, and to destroy it all together, destroying the very foundations of human life.”

Source: Aljazeera