The leaders of Gulf Arab states met on Friday to strategize with their Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts in an effort to counter President Trump’s controversial proposal to redevelop Gaza below U.S. management and displace its Palestinian residents.
The assembly within the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was in preparation for a broader Arab League summit in Egypt on March 4. It ended after a number of hours with none official assertion of what was mentioned or determined.
Mr. Trump’s suggestion this month that america would possibly take management of Gaza, develop it into the “Riviera of the Center East” and relocate its Palestinian residents to neighboring international locations like Egypt and Jordan was met with astonishment and outrage throughout the Arab world. His aides then reframed it as a problem to leaders of the Center East to give you a greater various.
“All these international locations say how a lot they care concerning the Palestinians,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned final week. “If the Arab international locations have a greater plan, then that’s nice.”
Then, Arab governments scrambled to give you one.
Mr. Trump mentioned on Friday that he didn’t intend to impose his Gaza plan on anybody.
“I’m not forcing it. I’m simply going to take a seat again and advocate it, after which the U.S. would personal the positioning,” he mentioned in an interview with Fox Information Radio. “There’d be no Hamas and it could be developed, and also you’d begin once more with a clear plate.”
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been working collectively to forge another thought for Gaza through which Arab international locations would assist fund and oversee reconstruction, whereas protecting the 2 million Palestinian residents in place and preserving the potential of a Palestinian state, according to diplomats and officials briefed on the efforts.
However a key sticking level stays the query of postwar governance in Gaza.
A proposed Egyptian plan would almost certainly embody the formation of a committee of Palestinian technocrats and group leaders, all unaffiliated with Hamas, who might run Gaza after the conflict.
However Israeli leaders have mentioned they might oppose any postwar plans that may pave the way in which to Palestinian sovereignty. Arab leaders insist they might assist solely a proposal that not less than nominally solid a path towards Palestinian statehood.
For any Arab technique on the governance of Gaza, the Arab leaders would need the blessing of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally acknowledged physique that administered Gaza till Hamas wrested management of the territory practically twenty years in the past.
However the authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, has appeared cautious of any plan that doesn’t give him full management of Gaza. Mr. Abbas didn’t attend Friday’s talks, in response to an official {photograph} of the leaders launched by the Jordanian royal court docket.
Hamas officers have mentioned they might be keen to cede management over civilian affairs to a different energy however have refused thus far to say they might disband their navy wing, an unacceptable place for each Israel and Mr. Trump.
Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council attended the assembly in Riyadh together with Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and King Abdullah of Jordan. The Egyptian chief arrived in Riyadh on Thursday for preliminary talks with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday earlier than his departure for Saudi Arabia, Mr. el-Sisi bolstered the concept that Egypt’s proposals would “not contain forcible displacement” of Palestinians.
The Arab plan will concentrate on concepts that preserve Palestinians inside Gaza to counter Mr. Trump name’s for Egypt and Jordan to take them in, an thought Arab international locations have all rejected. Many within the Arab world would take into account any compelled displacement of Palestinians from Gaza an ethnic cleaning and a conflict crime in addition to a loss of life knell for any future Palestinian state.
Some international locations, like Jordan and Egypt, may also be involved that elevated Palestinian migration might create financial and political disruptions at dwelling.
There have been various different audacious plans floated for the day after in Gaza, however none have actually gained traction. The most recent one got here from Khalaf al-Habtoor, a billionaire Emirati actual property magnate, who offered an ambitious blueprint aimed toward rebuilding the enclave inside a “matter of years, not a long time.”
His proposal would start with the development of 500,000 prefabricated items as momentary housing for displaced individuals in southern Gaza. The formidable plan would price an estimated $2 billion for an preliminary part that he envisions could be financed by the governments of United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, ought to they settle for his proposal.
It will price greater than $50 billion to rebuild Gaza after practically 16 months of the conflict, according to an assessment launched by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Financial institution this week.
Any plan for Gaza will even must consider the necessity to forestall future assaults on Israel. There are additionally the questions of who would pay for reconstruction and whether or not Arab international locations would ship forces to maintain Gaza secure.
Whereas Egypt has but to release full details of its proposal, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly mentioned on Wednesday that Cairo was engaged on a complete plan for Gaza’s reconstruction that envisioned restoring the enclave inside three years, in response to Ahram On-line, an Egyptian state-run information outlet.
Riyadh has been taking part in a crucial diplomatic role this week, internet hosting U.S., Russian and Arab officers for high-stakes talks on the wars in each Ukraine and Gaza.
Vivian Yee contributed reporting from Cairo.
