US, Israel and UAE held secret meeting over plans for post-war Gaza involving international peace keeping force and no Hamas, report claims after terror group and Fatah agreed to rule territory together in China-brokered deal

The US, Israel and the United Arab Emirates held a secret meeting to discuss post-war plans for Gaza, a report has stated citing officials, with proposals thought to include the removal of Hamas authorities and a peacekeeping force on the ground.

Top American officials, including President Biden's key Middle East advisor Brett McGurk and State Department counselor Tom Sullivan attended from the US side, Axios reports citing Israeli sources.

The gathering in Abu Dhabi on Thursday stands in stark contrast to a meeting hosted by China two days earlier, which saw Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas sign an agreement with Hamas officials to set up an 'interim national reconciliation government' in post-war Gaza.

While the conclusion of the US meeting with Israeli and UAE officials is unclear, neither Washington nor Tel Aviv would sanction any post-war plan that includes Hamas, who they see as a terrorist organisation.

The two very different meetings underline how far removed, and perhaps irreconcilable, the two sides' positions are as it stands, as the war rumbles on and casualties continue to mount in the embattled Gaza Strip.

Top officials, including President Biden's key Middle East advisor Brett McGurk (pictured earlier this month with Israeli PM Netanyahu) attended from the US side, Axios reports

Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organisation and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of Hamas, attend a gathering in Beijing on Tuesday

A man carries children as people inspect the damage following Israeli bombardment at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 23, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed that his forces will continue fighting until Hamas is completely eradicated, even amid international pressure to agree a ceasefire.

But the secretive gathering suggests a growing understanding within the Israeli government that a realistic plan is needed for how Gaza might be governed after the war. 

It comes after the UAE signalled last week that it is willing to send forces to Gaza as part of a multinational 'stabilisation' mission after the war is brought to an end.

Comments made by Lana Nusseibeh, special envoy to the UAE foreign ministry, the day before the meeting suggest the Gulf State is prepared to be the first nation to deploy boots in the ground following the Israeli offensive if strict conditions are met.

'The UAE could consider being part of the stabilisation forces alongside Arab and international partners... at the invitation of a reformed PA, or a PA led by an empowered prime minister,' Nusseibeh said. 

She added that 'the United States should have the lead on this for it to succeed.'

Nusseibeh further said that Abu Dhabi had, 'and continued to have, conversations on the "day after" with all the concerned actors in the region'. 

Israeli officials told Axios that the Emirati foreign minister Abdullah Bin Zayed (pictured in September with Israeli President Isaac Herzog) hosted the meeting

The development comes the West, Arab states and China are wrangling to devise a viable post-war plan for Gaza and present themselves as leading on the brokering of a potential deal.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, Fatah envoy Mahmud al-Aloul and emissaries from 12 other Palestinian groups in Beijing on Tuesday.

He said they had agreed to set up an 'interim national reconciliation government' to govern post-war Gaza, which was backed by China.

'Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. 

'We are committed to national unity and we call for it,' Abu Marzuk said after meeting Wang and the other envoys.

The war, which has been raging for nine months, was sparked by Hamas's October attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.

Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 23 July 2024

Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

China has sought to play a mediator role in the conflict, which has been rendered even more complex due to the intense rivalry between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which partially governs the occupied West Bank.

China, Wang said, was keen to 'play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East'.

He also called for a 'comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire', as well as efforts to promote Palestinian self-governance and full recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.

But in another show of discord between the warring sides, and a sign that the deal is unlikely to have a significant immediate impact, Israel quickly condemned it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed Abbas for engaging with Hamas, writing on X: 'Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. 

Iraeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has slammed the deal, and said on X that Hamas will be 'crushed'

'Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face.

'In reality, this won't happen because Hamas' s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar. Israel's security will remain solely in Israel's hands,' he added.

Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas's resounding victory in a 2006 election.

Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

China has positioned itself as a more neutral actor on the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States, advocating for a two-state solution

Several reconciliation bids have failed, but calls have grown since the Hamas October attack and nine-month war in Gaza, with violence also soaring in the West Bank where Fatah is based.

China hosted Fatah and Hamas in April but a meeting scheduled for June was postponed.

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

China has positioned itself as a more neutral actor on the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United States, advocating for a two-state solution while also maintaining good ties with Israel.