President Donald Trump promised Arab leaders during a meeting on Tuesday that he would not allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank, according to six sources familiar with the discussions.
Two of the sources said Trump was firm on the issue and that the president had promised that Israel would not be allowed to absorb the West Bank, which is run by the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas.
Another person familiar with the talks noted that despite Trump's assurance, a ceasefire in Israel's nearly two-year war with Hamas has yet to be reached. Two others familiar with the matter said Trump and his team had presented a white paper outlining the administration's plan to end the war, including the promise of annexation and other details such as governance and postwar security.
Trump told reporters before his meeting with eight Arab countries at the United Nations headquarters that it was the "most important" meeting of the day, but he left without speaking to reporters, and the participants have not yet issued a formal statement about the content of their conversation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the meeting "productive" in an interview with Fox News Channel on Tuesday night, but did not provide details. Erdogan and Trump plan to meet again at the White House on Thursday.
Arab leaders are frustrated by Trump’s opposition to recognizing a Palestinian state and his continued support for Netanyahu’s crackdown on Hamas, which expanded beyond Gaza earlier this month when Israel tried to eliminate Hamas officials while they were in Qatar for peace talks. Before Tuesday’s meeting, they aimed to impress on the U.S. president that any Israeli incursion into the West Bank would likely lead to the collapse of the Abraham Accords, two sources familiar with the conversation said.