United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Washington could potentially end the conflict in Gaza "right now", during a meeting with Arab and Islamic leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

While he did not specify how this would be accomplished, Trump said he would "see the people in Israel", including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the conflict had "gone on too long". He also said they were going to see if they could get the hostages back and "get back to life in the Middle East".

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The meeting, convened at Trump's invitation, was attended by Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who spoke on behalf of the group, told Trump they would "count on you and your leadership as well to end this war and to help the people of Gaza".

"The situation is very, very, very bad there. We're here to meet and to do everything we can to stop this war, and to bring the hostages back," he said.

In his speech at the General Assembly, Al Thani said Israel "is not a democracy in a hostile environment" as its leaders claim, but a state "hostile to its environment, complicit in building an apartheid system, and waging a genocidal war".

Israel is surrounded by nations "that have either signed peace agreements or committed to the Arab Peace Initiative", he added.

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, said Trump's insistence that he can end the Gaza conflict right now sounds "dramatic", but the proposals remain vague, focusing on ceasefire optics rather than the deeper political questions of sovereignty and governance.

"By excluding Hamas, sidestepping Palestinian political agency and leaving reconstruction to outside actors, the plan risks reducing Gaza to a managed humanitarian zone rather than a functioning homeland," she said.

"This means Palestinians could emerge from this war alive, but still politically homeless and stateless, with Israel's occupation effectively entrenched under new international packaging. Same story, new packaging or branding."

Meanwhile, Trump praised the "great speech" by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the General Assembly, in which Prabowo offered to send at least 20,000 peacekeepers to postwar Gaza to safeguard any future peace deal.

"We must have an independent Palestine, but we must also recognize and guarantee the safety and security of Israel," he said.

Enhancing dialogue

In a separate meeting, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, praised France for its joint presidency with Saudi Arabia at a high-level UN conference on the two-state solution.

"Our meeting today is being held amid dangerous regional and international conditions, which highlight the urgent need to enhance dialogue, consultation and cooperation with our partners, foremost among them the French Republic," Albudaiwi told French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and other representatives from Gulf countries.

He lamented that the "continuous aggressions practiced by the Israeli occupation forces" have affected several countries in the region, including Qatar. He reiterated that the security of Gulf Cooperation Council states "is indivisible".

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Albudaiwi commended France's recognition of the State of Palestine as a "new beacon of hope for the Palestinian people in their journey toward freedom and independence".

In a statement issued by G7 foreign ministers on Wednesday, they "stressed the urgency of alleviating the immense suffering of civilians in Gaza through a flood of humanitarian aid and securing the release of all hostages".

"We reiterated our call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. We unequivocally condemned Hamas, including for its brutal and unjustified terror attacks on Oct 7, 2023 … We affirmed our readiness to engage with Arab partners on their proposals to chart a way forward on reconstruction in Gaza and build a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace," the ministers said.

Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com