A Gaza ceasefire deal has been agreed between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing hope of an end to the two-year war. The breakthrough came after a sidelines meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York chaired by Trump, which he described as his most important meeting at the UN. The encounter was organised by the United Arab Emirates and involved Arab and Muslim states that could form a stabilisation force in Gaza.
Trump, with help from his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, changed his stance on two critical issues: he dropped earlier rhetoric about displacing Palestinians and developing a 'Gaza Riviera', and accepted that a 'day after' plan for Gaza's future was a precondition for a ceasefire. This paved the way for Arab states to pressure Hamas into negotiating, as they could point to a route towards Palestinian statehood.
The US president also applied pressure on Israel, warning there would be no further annexations in the West Bank and issuing an executive order stating any attack on Qatar—host of the main US airbase in the Middle East—would be treated as an attack on the US. This followed a unilateral Israeli bombing of Doha on 9 September, after which Netanyahu was ordered to apologise and respect Qatar's sovereignty. The collective effort involved multiple parties, but Trump's decisive involvement was seen as a key factor in securing the deal.
