Trump Vows to End Gaza War in Arab-Muslim Summit

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday met leaders from the Arab and Muslim world on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City to discuss ending the "Israeli” war on Gaza, repeatedly calling it his “most important meeting.”

“We want to end the war in Gaza. We’re going to end it. Maybe we can end it right now,” Trump told the press at the start of the meeting.

“This is my most important meeting,” he continued. “But this is the one that’s very important to me because we’re going to end something that should have probably never started.”

Leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan were in attendance. 

Trump said the sit-down included “all of the big players except for "Israel", but that’s going to be next,” in apparent reference to his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week.

Trump also complimented Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s speech to the General Assembly earlier, in which Subianto said peace requires guaranteeing "Israel’s" security.

Following the meeting, Trump simply waved to gathered news reporters without commenting on how things went, and there was no immediate comment from the White House. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff offered a thumbs-up when asked how the meeting had fared.

Both Trump and Witkoff had been expected to unveil the US plan for the post-war management of Gaza that former UK prime minister Tony Blair has been developing in recent months and that was revealed last week in The Times of "Israel".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the meeting with Trump as “very fruitful.”

Emirati state news agency WAM meanwhile reported that the meeting focused on ending the ongoing war in Gaza and reaching a permanent ceasefire. The news agency said releasing all captives and taking steps toward addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn enclave were also discussed as priorities.

While sitting alongside Macron, Trump also declared, “I’m on the side of 'Israel'. I’ve been on the side of 'Israel', really, my whole life, and we’re going to get a solution, and it’s going to be a solution that’s good for everybody.”