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Bloomberg
The White House hosted 19 nations, including Israel and Arab Gulf states, to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but the Palestinian Authority boycotted the meeting, angered by the Trump administration’s policies on Jerusalem.
US President Donald Trump reversed decades of US policy in December, when he decided to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. This incensed Palestinians and other US allies.
The administration is also putting the final touches on a Middle East peace plan, and US officials said the conference was integral to future negotiations.
“Fixing Gaza is necessary to achieve a peace agreement,†one of the senior administration officials said. The officials stressed that the multi-nation humanitarian and reconstruction effort remains in beginning stages.
Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump who is overseeing the Israeli-Palestinian peace-process for the White House, gave a two-hour presentation to the attending countries, officials said, but the potential US peace plan was not addressed.
Attendees included representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as several European nations. The format did not allow for direct discussions between Israel and the Arab states, officials said.