Four influential Arab countries and three other Muslim-majority powers are aligning with President Trump behind a US-backed proposal to end the Gaza war, even as Israel has dismissed the plan and continued carrying out airstrikes across the Palestinian enclave.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held talks with Hamas officials and mediators as part of the latest effort to keep the proposal alive, a Middle East diplomat told Reuters.
Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, are expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as Washington tries to persuade Israel to reconsider after it branded the president’s plan “unacceptable.”
Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia on Sunday in criticizing Israel’s rejection of Trump’s peace initiative, warning that opposition from Jerusalem could derail the agreement and fuel renewed fighting in devastated Gaza.
Netanyahu said last week that Israel rejects the 15-point proposal outright, insisting Israeli forces will not pull out of Gaza until Hamas no longer represents a danger to the country.
Trump has described the framework as a deal under which Hamas would give up its weapons in return for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has since resumed regular strikes in Gaza aimed at Hamas military targets, including a recent attack on an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp that wounded several people, according to medics.
Hamas has said it would disarm only after Israel halts all attacks on the enclave and withdraws its troops, which currently control more than half of the Gaza Strip.
The disagreement left Trump’s initial 20-point peace plan in limbo since it was announced last year, with the president putting forth a 15-point plan last month to try and secure a breakthrough.
As Israel continues its attacks in Gaza, Hamas officials have called on the US to pressure Netanyahu to follow Trump’s roadmap and end the war, which is approaching its fourth year.
At least 1,250 Palestinians have been killed since last year’s peace deal was announced, most of them civilians, according to human rights groups and medics.
Four Israeli soldiers were also killed in skirmishes with Gaza militants in the same period, according to Israeli officials.
With Post Wires
