Trump talks Gaza policy with Blair, Kushner

The US president has promised a quick end to the war in Gaza

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FE Team | Published: August 28, 2025 22:12:02

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NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters/BBC/AFP): President Donald Trump was presiding over a policy meeting on the Gaza war on Wednesday with input from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Trump Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, a senior White House official said.
Trump, top White House officials, Blair and Kushner were discussing all aspects of the Gaza issue, including escalating food aid deliveries, the hostage crisis, post-war plans and more, the official told Reuters.
The official described the session as "simply a policy meeting," the type frequently held by Trump and his team.
Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, was a key White House advisor in Trump's first term on Middle East issues. Blair, who was prime minister during the 2003 Iraq war, has also been active on Middle East issues.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff previewed the meeting in an appearance on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" on Tuesday.
"It is a very comprehensive plan we are putting together on the next day (in Gaza) and many people are going to see how robust it is and how well meaning it is and it reflects President Trump's humanitarian motives here," Witkoff said.
Israel must take hostage deal,
its military chief says
Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff has said there is a "deal on the table" for the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
Lt Gen Eyal Zamir reportedly said the Israeli military had brought about the conditions for a deal, and it is now in Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu's hands," Channel 13 News reports.
On Tuesday, Israel's security cabinet is expected to discuss the latest proposal advanced by regional mediators, which Hamas accepted a week ago.
It follows mass demonstrations in Israel earlier this month as hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv, calling for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Modest food aid increase not
enough to stop Gaza starvation
More food aid is reaching Gaza but it still remains far from enough to prevent widespread starvation, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) told Reuters on Thursday.
"We're getting a little bit more food in. We're moving in the right direction ... but it's not nearly enough to do what we need to do to make sure that people are not malnourished and not starving," WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain told Reuters in an interview via video link from Jerusalem.
McCain said the WFP is now able to deliver about 100 aid trucks per day into Gaza, but this figure still falls far short of the 600 trucks that were entering daily during the ceasefire.