The leaders of the Arab States of the Gulf met on Friday to develop strategies with their Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts in order to counter the controversial proposal of President Trump to redevelop Gaza under American control and to move his Palestinian residents.
The meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was in preparation for a broader summit of the Arab League in Egypt on March 4. Gaza Strip, “according to a statement from the Saudi government.
Mr. Trump’s suggestion this month that the United States could take control of Gaza, develop it in “Riviera du Middle East” and move its Palestinian residents to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan was encountered with astonishment and indignation through the Arab world. His collaborators then reframed him as a challenge for the leaders of the Middle East to offer a better alternative, even though Mr. Trump continued to emphasize the fact that he could convince the two countries to accept the Palestinians.
“All these countries say how much they care about Palestinians,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week. “If the Arab countries have a better plan, it’s great.”
Then the Arab governments rushed to find one.
Trump seemed to concede on Friday that his persuasion efforts had failed and that Egypt and Jordan’s refusals to accept the displaced Gazans would make the idea impossible.
“Well, we pay billions of dollars in Jordan and Egypt per year. And I was a little surprised that they say that, but they did it, “said Trump in a telephone interview with Fox News Brian Kilmeade. He added: “I’ll tell you that the way of doing it is my plan. I think it’s the plan that really works. But I don’t force it. I’m just going to sit down and recommend it.
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have worked together to forge an alternative idea for Gaza in which Arab countries would help finance and supervise reconstruction, while keeping the two million Palestinian residents and preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state, according to diplomats and officials, informed efforts.
But a key snack is the issue of post-war governance in Gaza.
An Egyptian plan proposed would most likely include the formation of a committee of Palestinian technocrats and community leaders, all not affiliated with Hamas, which could manage Gaza after the war.
But the Israeli leaders said that they would oppose all post-war planes that would open the way to Palestinian sovereignty. Arab leaders insist that they will only support a proposal which has at least nominally forged a path to the Palestinian state.
For any Arab strategy on the governance of Gaza, the Arab leaders would like the blessing of the Palestinian authority, the internationally recognized body which administered Gaza until Hamas stops control of the territory almost two decades ago .
But the president of the authority, Mahmoud Abbas, appeared suspicious of any plan which does not give him total control of Gaza. Mr. Abbas did not attend the talks on Friday, according to an official photograph of the leaders published by the Jordanian royal court.
Hamas officials said they would be willing to give in control of civil affairs to another power, but have so far refused to say that they would dissolve their military wing, an unacceptable position for Israel and Mr. Trump.
Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council attended the meeting in Riyadh with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, and King Abdullah of Jordan. The Egyptian chief arrived in Riyadh for preliminary interviews on Thursday with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday before his departure for Saudi Arabia, Mr. El-Sissi strengthened the idea that Egyptian proposals “would not imply the forced displacement” of the Palestinians.
The Arab plan will focus on the ideas that keep Palestinians inside Gaza to counter Mr. Trump’s calls to Egypt and Jordan to take them, an idea of the Arab countries have all rejected. Many in the Arab world would consider any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza as an ethnic cleaning and a war crime as well as a death of death for any future Palestinian state.
Some countries, such as Jordan and Egypt, could also be concerned that the increase in Palestinian migration could create economic and political disturbances in the country.
There have been a number of other daring floors floated for the next day in Gaza, but none really gained ground. The last one came from Khalaf al-Habtoor, an Emirati billionaire real estate magnate, which offered an ambitious plan aimed at rebuilding the enclave in a “problem of years, not decades”.
Its proposal would begin with the construction of 500,000 prefabricated units as temporary accommodation for people displaced in the south of Gaza. The ambitious plan would cost about $ 2 billion for an initial phase it envisages would be funded by the governments of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, if they accepted its proposal.
It would cost more than $ 50 billion to rebuild Gaza after almost 16 months of war, According to an assessment Released by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank this week.
Any plan for Gaza will also have to take into account the need to prevent future attacks on Israel. There are also the questions of who would pay for reconstruction and if the Arab countries would send forces to keep Gaza Stable.
While Egypt has yet to release full details of its proposal, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly Said on Wednesday that cairo was working on understanding plan for Gaza’s’ Reconstruction that Invisioned Restoring The Enclave Within Three Years, According to Ahram online, An Egyptian State-Run News out.
Riyadh played a crucial diplomatic role this week, welcoming us Russian, Russian and Arab officials for high stakes on wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Vivian Yee Reports contributed to Cairo.
