Thanks for being with us here on BBC
News. Let's uh bring you the latest now
on events in the Middle East. All
members of the United Nations Security
Council, with the exception of the US,
have said that the famine in Gaza is
man-made. The 14 diplomats reiterated
that the use of starvation as a weapon
is banned under international law and
urged Israel to lift all restrictions on
aid immediately. Separately, President
Trump has chaired a meeting in
Washington about the future of Gaza with
Donald Trump's son-in-law, the former
Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, and the
former British Prime Minister, Satonyi
Blair, among the attendees. It's
understood that no Israeli or
Palestinian representatives participated
in the meeting in the White House.
Meanwhile, large plumes of smoke were
seen rising from Deer Albbala inside
Gaza as Israel is continuing its massive
offensive to take over the north of the
strip. Our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Yoland Nell, has more on that White
House meeting.
>> I mean, certainly this issue of who is
going to be responsible for post-war
Gaza is a critical one. And now, after
more than 22 months of war, we still
don't have a clear idea of what the end
goal is. um who would be the
administration um that would um take
things forward post war. So uh President
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Wickoff
had said that this would be a large
meeting that the White House was working
on a very comprehensive plan um to to
look at this. Um and then there was a
senior White House official quoted by
Reuters after the meeting who said it
was simply a policy meeting um of the
kind that the president often has with
his aids. Um, as you mentioned, we know
that um, Jared Kushner, who was formerly
a White House Middle East envoy in
President Trump's first term, he was
there. Um, he is said to have been an
influence on President Trump when he
came up with that idea. It was highly
controversial early this year, that
global condemnation um, that Gaza should
be empties of its 2 million residents
and that it should be turned into a
coastal resort with a the US taking
over. President Trump has not um
repeated that idea since um Tony Blair
um a relevant person here. He has his
think tank and has also um worked in the
Middle East um as a peace enboy
representing the UN uh the EU um the US
and Russia. He did that for for some
years. Our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Yoland Nell.