Trump to present proposal for to Gaza war end to Arab, Muslim leaders at UN

US President Donald Trump is set to present a peace proposal and governance plan for post-war Gaza to Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday, according to reports, as Israel continues to pound the enclave.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Levitt told reporters that Trump would hold a "multilateral meeting" with leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Counterparts from Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt will also be present, according to Axios.

In the upcoming meeting, Trump and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to present US principles for ending the war in the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s military onslaught has raged for almost two years and has killed over 65,000 Palestinians.

Trump's principles include discussions on an Israeli military withdrawal from the enclave, the release of captives and a plan for a post-war Gaza which doesn’t involve Hamas. The plan may include aspects which Israel opposes, such as granting the Palestinian Authority a role in Gaza, Israeli media said.

The US also seeks Arab and Muslim-majority countries to agree to send their own military forces, enabling Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian territory, the report added. The US president also wants funding from said countries for Gaza’s transitional period and the rebuilding of the war-battered enclave.

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has already offered to send peacekeeping troops to Gaza during a UN General Assembly speech on Monday.

It is understood that the proposal is a US-drafted only and does not include any Israeli demands, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been made aware of the details.

"[Tuesday's] meeting could be fairly significant. We have a pretty good idea of the contours for ending the war. We want to present what we think is the only viable path forward, and we want regional buy-in and support to make it successful," one of the US officials familiar with the matter told Axios.

Meanwhile, one Arab official said they understand the matter as Trump "wanting their feedback and support" for the US plan to end the war, before "pushing it forward", Axios reported.

Trump's upcoming meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders comes as a host of Western nations have taken to the UN General Assembly to officially recognise Palestine as a state. The latest countries to do so include France, Monaco, Belgium, Andorra, Malta, and Luxembourg.

Israel's deadly war on the Gaza Strip began on 7 October 2023, and has killed over 65,300 Palestinians in actions labelled as genocidal by the UN and other leading rights groups.  

Meanwhile, Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, has reportedly drafted a personal letter to the US President requesting a guarantee for a 60-day ceasefire in the territory in exchange for the release of half of the Israeli captives, according to Fox News, citing a Trump administration official.

Hamas’ letter on Monday also asked for a guarantee that the ceasefire would remain ongoing as long as negotiations to end the onslaught and release the remaining captives continue.

The letter is currently under review with Qatari mediators and is expected to be delivered to Trump this week, the US network said.

Both Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will be addressing the UNGA on Tuesday.

Since resuming the presidency, Trump has repeatedly lashed out and issued threats to Hamas over the Gaza war, particularly over the fate of the Israeli captives. Around 48 remain in the Gaza Strip according to the Israeli military, with 20 still living.

Officials told Fox News that they hope the letter will help the resumption of ceasefire negotiations for Gaza, which have been at an impasse for months. Israel's recent attack targeting Hamas's leadership in the Qatari capital Doha further stalled the negotiations.