ARAB leaders have endorsed an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of war-shattered Gaza that would allow its residents to remain in the territory, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said.
At the meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, the regional leaders endorsed the counterproposal to US President Donald Trump’s plan to expel Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and redevelop the Palestinian territory.
The attendees at the summit included the emir of Qatar, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. United Nations Secretary-General Antonios Guterres also attended.
Egypt’s plan includes an initial recovery phase aimed at de-mining the territory and providing temporary housing, followed by a longer reconstruction phase focused on rebuilding essential infrastructure, according to media reports.
Other key questions about Gaza’s future include who will govern the enclave and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for the reconstruction of the devastated territory.
El-Sisi said Egypt had worked in cooperation 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 Gaza Strip’s affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), he said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, said he welcomed the Egyptian idea and urged Trump to support such a plan that would not involve displacing Palestinian residents.
Abbas, in power since 2005, also said he was ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allowed, adding his PA was the only legitimate governing and military force in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hamas has said it rejects any solution imposed on the Gaza Strip by outsiders.
“We look forward to an effective Arab role that ends the humanitarian tragedy created by the occupation in the Gaza Strip … and thwarts the [Israeli] occupation’s plans to displace [Palestinians],” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
Any proposal would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have the billions of dollars needed to roll out the plan.
