Arab leaders have agreed upon a $53bn reconstruction plan for Gaza to rival Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate and develop the enclave, turning it into a “Middle East Riviera”.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the plan, welcomed in subsequent statements by Hamas and criticised by Israel, had been accepted at the closing of a summit in Cairo.
It was presented in a 112-page document, including maps of land to be re-developed, with dozens of colourful AI-generated images of housing projects, gardens and community centres.
The Reconstruction Plan for Gaza includes a commercial harbour, a technology hub, beach hotels and an airport.
It comes after Trump posted an AI-generated video of a golden Gaza on his Truth Social account, having pledged the US would “take over” the strip and “own it” last month.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid meets with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during the emergency Arab summit (Photo: Iraqi President Media Office/Reuters)Trump insisted that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza by his plan, an idea that was quickly rejected.
Sisi said at the summit that he was certain Trump would be able to achieve peace in the conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
The major questions that need to be answered about Gaza’s future remain who will run the enclave and which countries will provide the funding needed for reconstruction.
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.
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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 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
In the following 15 months, the Israeli military killed more than 48,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
In a statement, Hamas said it welcomed the plan, as well as the formation of the Palestinian committee.
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 Palestinian Territories.
The Israeli foreign ministry in a statement called the plan “rooted in outdated perspectives” and rejected the reliance on the PA, while complaining that it left Hamas in power.
Donald Trump said he wants Palestinians in Gaza to be relocated to Jordan and Egypt (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty)Any reconstruction funding 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.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa said the reconstruction fund would seek international financing as well as oversight, and likely be located in the World Bank.
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In a speech at the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international guarantees were needed that the current temporary ceasefire would remain in place, and supported the PA’s role in governing the strip.
Leaders of the UAE and Qatar did not speak during open sessions.
Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been consulting over an alternative to Trump’s ambition for an exodus of Palestinians and a US rebuild of Gaza, which they fear would destabilise the entire region.
A draft final communique from the summit seen earlier by Reuters rejected the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
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.
But an Israeli official told Reuters that Israel’s war aims from the beginning have been to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
“Therefore, if they are going to get Hamas to agree to demilitarise, it needs to be immediately. Nothing else will be acceptable,” the official said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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