US, Arab, European ministers meet in Munich to outline post-Gaza ideas

Senior US, Arab and European officials met in Munich on Friday to discus progress on formulating a plan for post-war Gaza that would be linked to normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, officials and diplomats say.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Qatar, Germany, Britain, France and Italy were among those gathering on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference.

Officials say the meeting was the first in such a format since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7

The aim was for the US, European and Arab states to share discussions they have had on post-war Gaza, Israel-Saudi normalization, Israel’s wider integration into the region and security guarantees, a pathway towards a Palestinian state and how to reform the Palestinian Authority, a senior US official say.

Western and Arab states have shown divisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their response has mostly been to try to ease the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

However, with the number of civilian casualties increasing, officials say there is a sense of urgency to at least put something together for when there is an extended ceasefire.

“The Americans have been working with the Arabs so it’s good to hear what they have to say,” says a European diplomat whose foreign minister attended the meeting.

“It is useful because everybody is trying to get things moving. There’s even more urgency because of the impending attack on Rafah,” he says.

The European diplomat says that while the priority for Arab states was working with Washington, a potential victory by former President Donald Trump in November’s presidential election could alter the landscape and bring more prominence to European links.

“It’s a format that Arab states could find useful going forward,” the diplomat says.