Arab leaders adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would cost $53 billion (€50 billion) and avoid resettling Palestinians, in contrast to US president Donald Trump’s “Middle East Riviera” vision, according to a copy of the plan.
The proposal was accepted in the final communique to be released at the end of a summit which was taking place in Cairo on Tuesday evening attended by Arab League nations including key regional stakeholders such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said at the summit he was certain that Mr Trump would be able to achieve peace on what he referred to as the Palestinian issue.
The big questions that need to be answered about Gaza’s future are who will run the enclave and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for the reconstruction of the devastated territory.
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Mr Sisi said Egypt had worked in co-operation with Palestinians on creating an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza.
The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), he said.
The other critical issue is the fate of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the PA’s rival, which triggered the Gaza war by attacking Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, said he welcomed the Egyptian idea and urged Mr Trump to support such a plan that would not involve displacing Palestinian residents.
Mr Abbas, in power since 2005, also said he was ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allowed, adding that the PA was the only legitimate governing and military force in the Palestinian Territories.
[ Egypt’s alternative to Trump’s ‘Gaza Riviera’ aims to sideline HamasOpens in new window ]
Any reconstruction funding would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have the billions of dollars needed.
The UAE, which sees Hamas and other Islamists as an existential threat, wants an immediate and complete disarmament of the group, while other Arab countries advocate a gradual approach, a source close to the matter said.
A source close to Saudi Arabia’s royal court says the continued armed presence of Hamas in Gaza is a stumbling block because of strong objections from the United States and Israel, which would need to sign off on any plan.
Hamas was founded in 1987 by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri on Tuesday rejected Israeli and US calls for the group to disarm, saying its right to resist was not negotiable.
Israel was unlikely to oppose an Arab entity taking responsibility for Gaza’s government if Hamas was off the scene, said a source familiar with the matter.
Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa director at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the summit is “a key pillar in Egypt’s strategy” to counter Mr Trump’s plan for Gaza.
“Egypt is trying to present a credible alternative focused on reconstruction and an indirect consultation mechanism for Hamas that could reassure Israel and the US,” he said. “The idea is also to continue to frame this plan as part of a new push towards the two-state solution.” –Reuters/AP
