World in Brief: Trump threatens to bomb Oman; Jared Kushner meets Netanyahu
Two major Middle East developments have drawn international attention as the United States faces mounting challenges on both the Iran and Gaza fronts.
President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Oman if the Gulf nation interferes with U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reach an agreement involving Iran. Trump made the warning as Iran and Oman worked on a possible arrangement to manage commercial shipping through the strategically important waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical issue because of its importance to global energy markets. Shipping through the waterway has been severely disrupted amid the wider conflict, increasing pressure on governments to find a diplomatic solution.
Trump's warning comes as a 60-day negotiating period between Washington and Tehran reached its end without a broader agreement. The president has continued to insist that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon, while negotiations remain uncertain.
Kushner Meets Netanyahu Over Gaza Plan
Separately, Jared Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as the Trump administration sought to revive a U.S.-backed plan aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza.
Kushner, a senior Trump envoy and the president's son-in-law, has been involved in efforts to move the proposed Gaza roadmap forward. The plan calls for Hamas to disarm while Israeli forces would gradually withdraw and an international mechanism would help oversee security and reconstruction.
The meeting followed Kushner's earlier discussions with Hamas representatives in Egypt. However, major disagreements remain. Netanyahu has insisted that Hamas must fully disarm before Israel agrees to a broader withdrawal, while Hamas has sought guarantees concerning Israeli withdrawal and other parts of the proposed arrangement.
The two developments highlight the complicated diplomatic challenges facing the Trump administration across the Middle East. While Washington is pushing for progress on both Iran and Gaza, disagreements among the parties continue to make a broader regional settlement difficult.
For now, attention remains focused on whether diplomacy can prevent further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz and whether Kushner's negotiations can produce a breakthrough in the stalled Gaza peace process.
