New Delhi: US President Donald Trump Tuesday will hold a multilateral meeting with leaders from the Muslim world on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City, as cracks deepen within his Western allies over the situation in Gaza.
The US, which long maintained a primacy over West Asian affairs, has seen its allies, including the UK, France and Canada all recognise the State of Palestine in the last 48 hours. This recognition of the Palestinian state has infuriated Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to respond after meeting with Trump.
The first-of-its-kind meeting, announced by White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt Monday, will see Trump meet with the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Türkiye, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Trump, according to reports, is likely to unveil his plan for a post-war Gaza that excludes Hamas, which could involve military forces from the West Asian countries being part of a force in Gaza—a suggestion that has long been looked at negatively by governments in the region.
Kabir Taneja, Deputy Director and Middle East Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) too said that a key reason for the meeting is to unveil how the US sees a post-war Gaza function without Hamas.
“The Israelis have not launched a parallel political track to the military one in Gaza. There is no clarity on that, and because Israel does not have a political construct of a post-Hamas Gaza, I think the Americans are willing to offer some sort of ideas [during the meeting],” Taneja told ThePrint.
He added: “The US is trying to assuage the concerns [of the Arab countries] of a post-Hamas Gaza. The core concern is that there is no political track active, especially if Hamas is eliminated from Gaza, a position that the US supports.”
Any failure to protect the two-state solution could further lead to domestic issues for the governments in the region, all of which raises the significance of this meeting. The meeting with the leaders of the Muslim world also comes weeks after Tel Aviv struck Doha, Qatar, in an attempt to kill Hamas negotiators in the city. Qatar, which has remained a strong regional partner for the US, has been reassured by President Trump that such a strike would not occur a second time.
Netanyahu is set to meet with Trump on 29 September, following which he will be announcing Tel Aviv’s plans for Palestine, the Israeli PM announced in a video Sunday evening. Netanyahu has categorically rejected the existence of a Palestinian state, while indicating the potential expansion of Israeli settlements across the West Bank, which is considered illegal under international law and disputed by Tel Aviv.
Taneja pointed out that there is “much confusion” within the US itself over its position on a post-Hamas Gaza, but there has been a consistency that it would take no action to “undermine” Israeli security, which is consistent with former President Joe Biden’s position.
Europe steps in
The Israel-Palestine war, which began on 7 October 2023, following attacks by Hamas that killed 1,150 Israelis and saw at least 250 people taken hostage, has seen large swathes of the Gaza Strip reduced to rubble. The health authorities within the enclave have said that over 65,000 Palestinians have lost their lives since then.
In recent weeks, Israel has moved its troops into Gaza City, promising an end to Hamas. Several Israeli captives remain in Hamas’ custody. However, the ongoing conflict, in particular the growing worries of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, has seen long-standing American and Israeli allies search for ways to pressure Netanyahu and Hamas to agree to an end to the conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron took the lead on the issue, along with Saudi support earlier this year, promising to recognise the state of Palestine under certain conditions, while also co-chairing a conference at the United Nations with Riyadh. Earlier this month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution reaffirming the two-state solution, while condemning Hamas.
Macron announced the French recognition of Palestine at the UNGA Monday, as the Europeans continue to look to “fill in the gap” left by the US during the current conflict. The recognition may not change the ground realities, but it gives France and other European countries some leverage in the situation, Taneja pointed out.
The push by Europe to take a role in the conflict comes as Saudi Arabia has taken more interest in finding a solution to the Palestinian question.
“There is a fear that Israel will use the incoming recognition of Palestinians [by the Europeans] as a reason to annex more of the West Bank. I think that this is more central to the issue,” Sidharth Raimedhi, a fellow at the Council for Strategic and Defence Research (CSDR), told ThePrint.
Raimedhi added: “There may be a new spring of domestic pressure and criticism against these countries for being unable to stop Israel’s change of the ground realities for a two-state solution. There is anxiety in the Arab countries that there could be historical changes for the two-state solution.”
Trump to reassure West Asian allies
However, a much simpler reason for the meeting also exists, pointed out Raimedhi, reassuring America’s allies in the region following Israel’s strikes on Qatar. “There seems to be a difference between Trump’s assurance of no future strikes on partners of the US in the region and a lack of reflection in Netanyahu’s pronouncements and stance on the same.”
The US has long projected its power in West Asia, from sales of weaponry to stationing its troops in bases throughout the various countries. Washington has long been the major global player in the region.
Despite Trump’s public pronouncements of no future strikes, there remains the question of whether his promise can be believed.
The Europeans are having a similar dilemma as the West Asians, vis-à-vis Trump and the war in Ukraine.
“Trump, in both cases, has toyed with the idea of taking stronger measures against Israel and Russia in the respective conflicts. He appears that he could be won over by either the Europeans or the West Asians [to take stronger measures],” said Raimedhi.
He added: “However, despite fueling the hope that there could be stronger measures from the US. Their actual actions are contrary to it, like barring Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the UN.”
For Trump, the question of how to end the war with Gaza remains a major foreign policy goal, given that he has promised to bring peace to the conflicts around the world. Whereas Israel, in the last year, has aimed at Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, as well as striking at Iran’s nuclear installations, all before the strikes on Doha.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)
Also Read: Dismantling Iran proxies is a legacy issue for Netanyahu. And Iraq is his last battleground