U.S. President Donald Trump met on Tuesday with Arab and Muslim leaders in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, including representatives from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Trump was expected to outline his vision for peace and present guiding principles for Gaza’s future once the Israel-Hamas war ends.
“We want to end the war in Gaza. These leaders are held in great respect by me and by the White House. We want to bring the hostages home and return to normal life,” Trump said ahead of the talks.
“The families of the hostages want them back, and this is the group capable of making that happen. No one else in the world can do it,” he added.
Following the meeting, Trump said it had been “the most important” one he has had in New York. He stressed that they were on the verge of ending something “that probably should never have started in the first place.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the leaders of several regional states delivered fierce speeches against Israel at the U.N. General Assembly.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s strike on senior Hamas leaders in Doha, calling it “a terrorist act.” He said it was a “direct violation of our sovereignty and a breach of international law.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened his address by lamenting the absence of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, who was barred from attending due to a U.S. visa ban.
“I call on all states that have not yet done so to recognize the State of Palestine,” Erdoğan said.
He accused Israel of carrying out a “continuing genocide” in Gaza for more than 700 days. He charged that Israel was expanding its “aggression” to Judea and Samaria, Syria, Iran and Yemen.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II invoked the post-Holocaust vow of “Never again,” applying it to Hamas-ruled Gaza. “The world swore: ‘Never again.’ And yet, almost throughout this time, Palestinians have lived in a cruel cycle of ‘again and again,’” he said.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who in June said that Jakarta would recognize Israel if it recognized a Palestinian state, offered a more nuanced approach.
“Palestine and Israel must both be free and independent, safe and secure from threats and terrorism,” he said. “But we must also recognize, respect and guarantee the security of Israel. Only then can we achieve real peace. Real peace. No more hatred and suspicion. The only solution is this one: the two-state solution.”
Subianto offered to contribute “20,000 or more of our sons and daughters” to serve in a multinational force to help provide security under a two-state arrangement. He closed his speech with greetings in numerous languages, including “shalom” in Hebrew.
A version of this article was originally published in Israel Hayom.
