Rising international frustration with the United States over the Gaza conflict surfaced at this week’s United Nations General Assembly, as Washington allies recognised Palestine as a state, posing a major test for President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy.

After promising at the start of his second term to quickly end the war between Israel and Hamas, Trump now looks increasingly like a bystander as Israeli forces escalate their onslaught in the Palestinian enclave and he remains reluctant to rein in Washington’s closest regional ally.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blindsided Trump with a strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar earlier this month that all but doomed the Trump administration’s latest effort to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Israel, since the

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