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Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly without any meeting planned with Donald Trump. The visit comes as Gaza's reconstruction faces a huge funding gap and a fresh quake shakes Turkiye and Syria.
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Dubai,UPDATED: Sep 24, 2026 16:14 IST
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, with no meeting planned with US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu's office said his brief visit would include meetings with several world leaders, but not Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio or any Arab leaders.
On the sidelines of the UN gathering, a senior European Union official said only a small part of the money needed to rebuild Gaza has been raised so far. In a separate development, a moderate earthquake shook south-east Turkiye and parts of Syria on Thursday, sending people out of buildings in panic, though there were no immediate reports of damage.
Netanyahu's office said "many world leaders" had asked to meet him, but that he was on a "tight schedule" and needed to return to Israel before the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which begins at sundown on Friday.
According to his office, Netanyahu will meet the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama and Ethiopia, the vice president of Colombia, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea.
European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica said only 1 billion euros (USD 1.1 billion) has been raised out of the 71 billion euros (USD 80.8 billion) that the United Nations, the World Bank and the 27-member European Union estimate is needed to rebuild Gaza. "All of us, we have to scale up our efforts," she said, calling for a unified recovery plan that would bring together Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the US-backed Board of Peace, and the Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
At a meeting of the Gaza board in New York on Wednesday, the group proposed a six-month, USD 2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza, as Trump's ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat.
The magnitude 5.4 earthquake was centred in Sanliurfa province near the border with Syria, according to Turkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency. The tremor revived memories of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 2023 that killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and south-eastern provinces, including Sanliurfa. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria.
The latest developments came as Netanyahu carried out a short UN visit, Gaza's reconstruction effort remained far short of the funds estimated to be required, and parts of Turkiye and Syria were shaken by another earthquake with no immediate damage reported.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Sep 24, 2026 16:14 IST
