After President Trump shocked the Arab world last month by suggesting that the whole population of Gaza is expelled from the territory, his collaborators reframed the idea as an invitation to the leaders of the Middle East: develop a better plan, or -The in our own way.
“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,” added Mr. Rubio.
Now the governments of several Arab states are trying to do exactly that. The representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates coordinate quietly to form an alternative vision for Gaza in which the Arab countries would help finance and supervise the reconstruction of Gaza, while keeping its residents in place and preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state, according to diplomats and managers, informed of effort.
The envoys of the five countries should expand the details on Friday in Saudi Arabia, then again during a larger summit on March 4 in Cairo. During these meetings, Egypt will probably propose to form a committee of Palestinian technocrats and community leaders, all affiliated in Hamas, who could lead Gaza after the war, according to two Arab diplomats, a senior west official and senator Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat ,. Mr. Van Hollen said he had spoken of last week with the Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian foreign ministers about the evolution proposal.
“A large part of the objective will be to demonstrate to Trump and others than:” Yes, there is a viable plan to rebuild, we will invest the resources “,” said Van Hollen.
“Their opinion is that Trump is a real estate guy, he talked about the redevelopment of Gaza, they want to develop a viable plan that shows Trump that you can rebuild Gaza and provide a future with two million Palestinians” without forcing them to leave the territory, Mr. Van Hollen added.
Although ideas can be presented as a new alternative, they are hardly new. For months, Egypt promoted the idea of a technocratic committee and welcomed Palestinian leaders in Cairo to discuss the idea. For decades, Arab leaders have called for the creation of a Palestinian state which includes Gaza. Even the Israeli government has pointed out in private more than a year that it is open to Arab leaders playing a surveillance role in Gaza d’Etuerre.
The challenge is that the obstacles to these ideas are as old as the ideas themselves.
Israeli leaders oppose post-war plans that would open the way to Palestinian sovereignty. But the Arab leaders will only support one frame which drills at least nominally a path to the Palestinian state.
They also want the blessing of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized body which administers Gaza until Hamas stops control of the territory almost two decades ago. But the president of the authority, Mahmoud Abbas, seemed to be wary of a post -war governance structure which does not give him total control of the territory – a position which disagree with a technocratic committee. Hamas officials said they would be willing to give in control of civil affairs to such a body. But they refused to dissolve their military wing, an unacceptable position for Israel and Mr. Trump, who seek the complete disarmament of Hamas.
“The biggest challenge that Arab leaders are faced with is to present a realistic plan that can be imposed on the Palestinian factions as well as to be also acceptable to the United States and Israel,” said Ibrahim Dalalsha, director of the Horizon Center, Group political research in Ramallah, West Bank. “It will be a very complicated process.”
Among the uncertainties, there are that Arab leaders would confide in securing Gaza and preventing Hamas from attacking Israel. Israeli officials also want the Israeli army to have operational freedom in Gaza in the long term, but this arrangement would be difficult for Arab leaders to support publicly.
Some hope that Egypt and the Gulf countries would provide their own troops. Last month, Egypt enabled a private Egyptian safety company to help staff at a control point in Gaza – an arrangement that certain diplomats and analysts considered a prototype for a wider operation. But it is not clear if the Arab leaders would be ready to send a larger force to obtain a wider territory. And it is unlikely that Hamas will accept this intervention.
“The one who wants to take the place of Israel will be treated as Israel,” said Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official at a conference in Qatar last weekend.
The firmer element of the Egyptian plan focuses on the reconstruction of Gaza while keeping the Palestinians inside the enclave instead of forcing them to go out in Egypt and Jordan, as suggested by Trump .
President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, of Egypt, described the proposal of broad stroke at meetings on Sunday with Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and Prince Hurtier Hussein of Jordan. Mr. El-Sissi discussed with the Jordanian prince “the need to immediately start the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, without moving the Palestinians from their land”, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.
But the details of the plan remain vague.
Samir Farag, a retired Egyptian military general, said in an interview that Egypt would call on a range of companies, both national and international, to rebuild Gaza over the next three to five years. A first phase of the increase in humanitarian aid in Gaza and the cleaning of rubble is followed by the construction of hospitals, schools and other infrastructure, said Farag, who is close to Egyptian officials.
The question of who will pay him remains unanswered.
Egypt will call on other Arab countries to bring reconstruction funds at a next conference, said Farag.
But even the moment of these summits was the subject of confusion. Origin guest Arab leaders at an “emergency” summit on February 27.
Then he was delayed for a week.
Rania Khaled Reports contributed to Cairo and Ismaeel Naar from Riyadh.
