Trump hosts Gaza meeting with Blair, Kushner – no details

UN says 1.9 million Gazans have been internally displaced since the war started in 2023 Image- Saeed M. M. T. Jaras-Anadolu-picture alliance via DW news.

A White House meeting hosted by US President Donald Trump to discuss plans for post-war Gaza ended late on Wednesday, but no precise details were forthcoming.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in Washington, D.C.

In Gaza, Israel continues to expand its offensive in Gaza City, warning that a population displacement of the enclave's largest city is "inevitable."

German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan, who is visiting Israel and the Middle East this week, was forced to take shelter after Yemen-based Houthi rebels fired a missile at Israel on Wednesday morning.

The missile launch comes amid an escalation in recent days between the Iran-backed militants and Israel.

The meeting was reportedly attended by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump's son-in-law and former Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, as well as high-ranking US officials.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had earlier promised it would be a "large meeting," telling Fox News: "It's a very comprehensive plan we're putting together."

A White House spokesman told the Reuters news agency that the meeting was a purely political discussion, the sort of which regularly takes place. On the agenda were all aspects of the situation in the Gaza Strip, including the expansion of food deliveries, the plight of Israeli hostages and plans for after the end of the war.

But no specific details emerged. Earlier this year, Trump stunned the world when he suggested the United States should take control of the Gaza Strip, clear out its inhabitants and redevelop it as ocean-front real estate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had praised the proposal, which sparked a global outcry.

As British prime minister from 1997-2007, Tony Blair oversaw the United Kingdom's entry into the War in Afghanistan in 2001 and the Iraq War in 2003, alongside the US. After resigning from office, he served as Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia. – DW News