Trump told Arab leaders he would block the annexation of Gaza

Donald Trump privately assured Arab leaders he would not allow Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank, according to reports.

The US president, in conversations with Arab and Muslim leaders at the United Nations, said he would not permit Israel to take over the territory off the River Jordan, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority.

Senior Israeli ministers, angered by Britain and other countries moving to recognise a Palestinian state, have called for the immediate annexation of the West Bank.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump presented a white paper to the leaders of eight Arab and Muslim countries outlining his administration’s plans to end the war in Gaza, sources told Politico.

This is said to have included a pledge to block any annexation attempt of the West Bank, along with other details on its governance and post-war security.

Arab leaders, angered by Mr Trump’s continued support of Mr Netanyahu almost two years into Israel’s military operation in Gaza, warned him the Israeli prime minister was endangering one of the president’s signature diplomatic wins.

An Israeli incursion into the West Bank would likely lead to the collapse of the Abraham Accords, the agreement from Mr Trump’s first term which normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Those relations have been strained by claims of Israel committing genocideand sparking a famine in Gaza, which its leadership has consistently denied.

Mr Trump told reporters that his meeting with the Arab and Muslim leaders was his “most important” of the day, but left without divulging details of the discussion to reporters.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, said he was “pleased” with the results of the sit-down, which he described as “fruitful”, and said a joint declaration would later be published on their agreements.

In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan accused Mr Netanyahu of killing “tens of thousands with this genocide”.

“Israel is using this power without mercy, from age seven to 70, children, women, the elderly – they have no mercy,” he told American viewers, while insisting that Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, was a “resistance movement”.

The decision by Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries to recognise a Palestinian state has revived calls in Israel by nationalists to annex the West Bank.

Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, called for the territory to be immediately taken over, saying: “The days when the UK and other countries determined our future are over. The British mandate [over Palestine] has ended.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, another Right-wing politician, called for the “complete dismantling” of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]