Trump meets Muslim leaders, including PM Shehbaz

KARACHI: US President Donald Trump meets leaders of Muslim-majority nations, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Participants include Turkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, the UAE and Jordan.

Calling it an honour to meet the heads of Islamic countries, Trump acknowledged their collective efforts during the talks, saying, “You all have done an excellent job, which is commendable.”

Trump hits Russia, backs Israel in combative UN speech

In addition to freeing hostages and ending the war, Trump discussed US plans around an Israeli withdrawal and post-war governance in Gaza, without Hamas involvement, according to US media.

Washington wants Arab and Muslim countries to agree to send military forces to Gaza to enable Israel’s withdrawal and to secure funding for transition and rebuilding programs, Axios reported.

Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities.

Reuters adds: Washington wants Arab and Muslim countries to agree to send military forces to Gaza to enable Israel’s withdrawal and to secure funding for transition and rebuilding programs, Axios reported.

The nations said a two-state solution was the only way to achieve peace, but Israel said the recognition of a Palestinian state was a reward to extremism.

Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed tens of thousands, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population, and set off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry assessed it amounts to genocide.

Israel calls its actions self-defence after an October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and in which more than 250 were taken hostage. Israel has also bombed Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Qatar during the course of its war in Gaza.

Trump had promised a quick end to the war in Gaza, but a resolution remains elusive eight months into his term.

Trump’s term began with a two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which ended when Israeli strikes killed 400 Palestinians on March 18. More recently, images of starving Palestinians, including children, have sparked global outrage against Israel’s assault on Gaza. In February, Trump proposed a US takeover of Gaza and a permanent displacement of Palestinians from there. It was labeled as an “ethnic cleansing” proposal by rights experts and the United Nations. Forcible displacement is illegal under international law. Trump cast the plan as a re-development idea.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025