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Arab Allies Back Trump Push for Gaza Peace Deal with Israel

Seven Arab and Muslim-majority nations backed Trump's Gaza peace plan while Israel rejected it, as envoys including Kushner prepare to meet Netanyahu after his dismissal of the proposal.

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe Staff Writer

AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 12:00 AM

According to Ronny Reyes writing in New York Post, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have engaged directly with Hamas officials and mediators in recent talks aimed at salvaging the deal, a Middle East diplomat confirmed to Reuters.

Kushner and Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, are set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in a bid to bring the Jewish state on board after Jerusalem dismissed the president’s proposal as unacceptable.

Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined with Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia on Sunday to denounce Israel’s opposition to Trump’s peace framework, cautioning that Netanyahu’s stance threatens to collapse the agreement and reignite hostilities in the war-ravaged enclave.

Netanyahu stated last week that Israel categorically rejects the 15-point peace proposal and insisted his forces will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas no longer represents a security threat to the nation.

Under Trump’s plan, the terror organization Hamas would surrender its weapons in return for an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have since resumed routine airstrikes targeting Hamas military installations throughout Gaza, with a recent operation striking an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp and wounding multiple individuals, medical personnel reported.

Hamas has countered that it will only disarm after Israel halts all strikes on the territory and pulls out its forces, which currently control more than half of the Gaza Strip.

The standoff has left Trump’s initial 20-point peace framework stalled since its announcement last year, prompting the president to introduce a revised 15-point plan last month in pursuit of a diplomatic breakthrough.

As Israeli operations continue in Gaza, Hamas representatives have urged Washington to pressure Netanyahu to implement Trump’s roadmap and bring an end to the conflict, which is now entering its fourth year.

At least 1,250 Palestinians have been killed since last year’s peace deal was announced, the majority of them civilians, according to human rights organizations and medical sources.

Four Israeli soldiers were also killed in combat with Gaza militants during the same timeframe, Israeli officials confirmed.

With information from New York Post

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe

She was born in 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Crete who settled in the Greek community of Johannesburg (one of the largest in Africa). She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and a master’s degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She began her career at English-language media outlets in Johannesburg, covering politics and economics, with a focus on issues related to migration and the diaspora. She moved to Athens in 2015 to “return to her roots,” initially to pursue graduate studies, and has remained there permanently. She is married to an Afrikaner; they have two children and live in the southern suburbs of Athens.