Key points
- All 15 members of the Security Council were invited
- Informal meeting took place in New York behind closed doors
- Very, very big announcement to come: Trump
ISLAMABAD: United States (US) President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff informally briefed members of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday on Gaza.
The participants were briefed on other regional issues in the closed-door talks.
Prior to the meeting, Reuters reported that all 15 members of the Security Council were invited.
The informal meeting in New York came a day after Witkoff was formally sworn in as President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East.
“Very, very big announcement”
At the swearing-in ceremony, Trump teased a “very, very big announcement” to come before his multi-nation visit to the Middle East next week, without providing details.
Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and close Trump ally, has been acting as lead US negotiator on several major disputes, including the Gaza war, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Details withheld
After the meeting Wednesday, ambassadors from the UN Security Council’s 14 other members declined to give details of Witkoff’s remarks.
“It was confidential,” Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said.
Panamanian Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba called it “an informal meeting, it was very interesting, about various subjects, not only Gaza.”
No permanent ambassador
Since Trump’s return to office in January there has not been a permanent US ambassador to the UN, making it difficult for council members to stay abreast of American positions on various issues, some diplomats have said.
Witkoff also met separately on Wednesday with Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon.
Danon said afterward they had an “important discussion about the regional issues.”
“We will continue to cooperate with our strongest ally, the United States,” he added.
