A secret meeting between the U.S., Israel and the United Arab Emirates has been held to discuss a potential strategy on how the Gaza Strip will be governed once there is an end to the months-long war, Fox News confirmed Tuesday.
The meeting, held in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be looking to establish a plan for Gaza once the war is over, following repeated calls for a cease-fire.
But details on the Thursday meeting – first reported by Axios – remain scarce, and it is unclear if options for ending the war were also discussed.
Smoke and flames rise in the wake of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Nov. 2, 2023. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu)
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The assault by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, was met with swift retaliation by Jerusalem in the Gaza Strip and eventually drew international condemnation amid high levels of civilian casualties.
Despite international pressure for a cease-fire, Netanyahu has previously vowed not to end the offensive until Hamas is eradicated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Biden and Congress during his trip to Washington this week. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool, File)
In December, Netanyahu had suggested that Israel must take full control of Gaza in order to ensure “demilitarization” of Hamas – a move that would reverse Israel’s 2005 agreement to withdraw from Gaza.
The Abu Dhabi meeting was reportedly hosted by the UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed and attended by Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, and Tom Sullivan, the State Department’s senior policy adviser to the secretary of state.
A Palestinian man holds his children as he walks in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on June 30, 2024. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem/File Photo)
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Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and two senior Israeli defense officials also attended the meeting.
The meeting was held one day after UAE special envoy Lana Nusseibeh laid out a “day-after” proposal in an op-ed for the Financial Times.
Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Biden and Congress during his trip to Washington this week, where the war in Gaza is expected to be a chief topic of discussion.
Fox News’ Bret Baier contributed to this report.