Trump meets Arab-Muslim leaders on Gaza as Erdogan hails 'fruitful' talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Tuesday's talks between Donald Trump and Arab and Muslim leaders on ending Israel's war on Gaza as "very fruitful".

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York between the US president and leaders and diplomats from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia.

Reporting ahead of the event suggested that Trump would present a peace proposal to end the war and a roadmap for Gaza's future governance.

In comments to reporters, Erdogan said that a joint declaration will be published and that he was "pleased" with the outcome, without elaborating.

The discussions focused on brokering a ceasefire, releasing the captives and alleviating the humanitarian catastrophe, Emirati state media reported.

Trump described the meeting as "very important" and reiterated the need for a ceasefire.

"We want to end the war in Gaza. We're going to end it," he told reporters ahead of the talks. "We're here to see if we can get the hostages back and get the war over."

The principles laid out in the Trump peace plan reportedly include an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, the release of all captives and a post-war administration involving the Palestinian Authority.

It also calls for Arab and Muslim countries to contribute troops to an international peacekeeping force that would replace Israeli forces in the shattered territory.

The US president is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on 29 September.

'We want them all back'

The meeting followed Trump's meandering hour-long speech at the general assembly, where he rejected a Palestinian state and accused countries that recently recognised Palestine of "giving in to Hamas's ransom demands".

Ten countries formally recognised a Palestinian state in the hours leading up to the UN summit, including G7 states France, Britain, and Canada.

There are fears in European and Arab capitals that Netanyahu will seek to get the green light from Trump next week to annex swathes of the occupied West Bank in retaliation.

In a personal letter reportedly delivered to Trump this week, Hamas has said it will release half of the remaining 48 captives in exchange for a 60-day truce.

It's unclear how such an offer will be received by the US president, who has repeatedly insisted that all captives must be released in order for the fighting to stop.

"We want them all back," he told the UN.

Trump also pinned the blame for the continuation of the war on Hamas, claiming it had several "reasonable offers".

"I'm on the side of Israel. I've been on the side of Israel my whole life," he said during a sit-down with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

The Palestinian group rejected the president's statement, saying that Netanyahu is the only obstruction to a ceasefire.