By Michelle Nichols and Gram Slattery
NEW YORK/GAZA (Reuters) -President Donald Trump told the United Nations on Tuesday that he condemned moves by Western powers to recognise a Palestinian state, as the United States appeared increasingly isolated in its staunch support of ally Israel.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Trump said world powers should focus instead on securing the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years after Hamas seized them in the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, which has caused major destruction and where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities. A global hunger monitor says part of the territory is suffering from famine.
France, Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal are among the countries that have recognised a Palestinian state in the last few days.
Their moves were borne out of frustration with Israel over its offensive and intended to promote a two-state solution, but have angered Israel and its close ally the United States.
“As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize the Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” Trump said in his speech at the U.N.
Trump later met leaders and officials from multiple Muslim-majority countries- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan- to discuss the situation in Gaza.
“It was a very successful meeting with all of the big players except for Israel but that’s going to be next,” he said.
On Monday, Axios reported that in addition to freeing hostages and ending the war, Trump was expected to discuss at the meeting U.S. plans around an Israeli withdrawal and post-war governance in Gaza, without Hamas involvement.
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.
After the meeting concluded on Tuesday, there was no immediate comment from the White House.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the meeting was very fruitful and that a joint declaration would be published.
In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has begun a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire.
But Washington remains Israel’s staunchest ally.
It and Israel boycotted a summit in New York on Monday convened by France and Saudi Arabia where dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations to embrace a Palestinian state.
No matter how many countries recognize Palestinian independence, full U.N. membership would require approval by the Security Council, where the United States has a veto that it frequently uses to oppose resolutions that are critical of Israel.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres backed the moves for recognition while speaking at the Security Council later on Tuesday.
“This is the clearest path to a two-State solution: Israel and an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine,” he said. “We must seize this momentum.”
France and Britain were due to host a meeting on Tuesday with Germany and Italy, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Canada and Australia to discuss a potential stabilization force for Gaza, which would only happen after a ceasefire and would need a U.N. mandate.
TWO-STATE SOLUTION IS ALL BUT DEAD
The two-state solution – the existence of both Israel and a Palestinian state – was the bedrock of the U.S.-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, but the process has all but died.
The most right-wing government in Israel’s history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against militant group Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
It wants Hamas to hand over the last hostages it seized in the 2023 attack on Israel.
Pressing on with its Gaza City offensive to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, Israel’s military pushed deeper towards the most populated areas of Gaza City on Tuesday.
Local health authorities said Israeli fire on Tuesday killed at least 22 people across the Gaza Strip, 18 of them in Gaza City, and the Gaza health ministry said hospitals in the enclave would run out of fuel in the coming few days, endangering lives.
A United Nations commission said in a report on Tuesday that the Israeli government had shown a clear intent to establish permanent control over Gaza and to ensure a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank.
The U.N. report details Israeli authorities’ extensive, systematic demolition of civilian infrastructure in Gaza’s corridors and buffer zone – resulting in Israel expanding control to 75% of the Gaza Strip by July this year.
The Israeli mission in Geneva dismissed the report’s findings.
(Additional reporting by John Irish, Alexander Cornwell, Andrea Shalal, May Angel, Humeyra Pamuk, Lewis Macdonald, Ismail Shakil and Gram Slattery, Writing by Michael Georgy, Timothy Heritage and Costas Pitas; Editing by Alison Williams, Alex Richardson and Lisa Shumaker)
