US Press
Gulf states blame Trump for a war they are paying for
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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The governments that Washington counts on to pay for Gaza's reconstruction have stopped hiding what they think of the president who is asking them.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain are now united in their frustration with the Trump administration, and that Gulf leaders doubt the president can manage the diplomacy needed to end the war with Iran. The account rests on Arab and Western officials who spoke to the paper.
Trump started this war, and we are paying the price.
A Gulf official, quoted by The Washington Post
What the officials describe is a pattern rather than a single decision: threats issued against Iran and then withdrawn within days, each time on the grounds that talks are progressing. In the region the policy is described as erratic and unpredictable.
The agreement Washington did produce, the paper reported, left the Gulf's own priorities untouched — Iran's ballistic missile arsenal and its support for allied armed groups. Some of these governments have begun to debate whether hosting large American military installations still serves them.
Why this reaches Gaza#
Palestinians have a direct interest in the answer. The states now questioning Washington's competence are the same states whose money the reconstruction of Gaza depends on, and the fund the World Bank administers for that purpose has so far received none of the $4.2 billion Arab governments pledged at the Cairo conference.
They are also the states whose pressure the ceasefire's second phase needs. Egypt is hosting Hamas's leadership this week and Jared Kushner is due in the region next; both tracks assume Gulf capitals still believe an American guarantee is worth accepting.
The Post's reporting says they are less sure than they were. A Gulf that has concluded Washington cannot finish what it starts is a Gulf that will move slowly on Gaza, and slow money in the reconstruction file is measured in Gaza in winters spent under plastic sheeting.
