Trump administration developing post-war Middle East strategy for Iran, Israel - report

According to an Axios report, the proposed strategy could include resolving the regional fallout of Hamas’s October 7 massacre against Israel and the resulting Israel-Hamas war.

The US has begun developing a post-war strategy aimed at expanding regional efforts to contain Iran and the normalization of relations between Israel and US allies, according to a Friday Axios report.

Two US officials and other sources with knowledge of the matter told Axios that the plan is still in the early stages but is intended to guide the US’s actions in the Middle East after the conclusion of the Iran war and in the final years of US President Donald Trump’s term.

According to the officials, preliminary work on the strategy is taking place among the senior level of the Trump administration and on the working level across multiple government agencies.

Trump has also recently held at least two meetings with senior advisors, during which the strategy was discussed and ideas for the plan were raised, the sources told Axios.

Trump has reportedly stated during private conversations that he is working towards “something much bigger” in the Middle East for after the war with Iran wraps up.

Strategy may center around expansion of the Abraham Accords, Iran containment 

Sources told Axios that three main elements have been proposed for the plan. 

One potential component is fostering alignment among America’s allies in the Middle East on US-guaranteed efforts to contain a post-war Iran.

The establishment of a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement and the expansion of the Abraham Accords have also reportedly been raised.

Resolving the regional fallout of Hamas’s October 7 massacre against Israel and the resulting Israel-Hamas war may also be a focus of the strategy, according to Axios.

That element of the strategy reportedly could include concerted efforts to secure the next phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, the creation of a security agreement between Israel and Syria, and the implementation of Israel-Lebanon agreements aimed at combatting the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah.

Plan is 'not yet cooked,' may be drafted in upcoming weeks

A source briefed on the development of the plan told Axios that it could take weeks until a more complete strategy is drafted, stating that the Trump administration is “cooking it, but it is not yet cooked."

"The idea is to tie a whole lot of things in the region together - how you create a regional alignment after the war. It is still unclear if all US allies in the region will be on board," the source added.

According to the report, the Trump administration hopes that the new government that will be formed after the upcoming October 27 Knesset elections will be willing to cooperate in the proposed strategy.

US officials, however, reportedly stressed that Trump will push to implement the Middle East strategy regardless of election results and any political pushback that could come from the new government.