Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to deliver one of the opening remarks of the summit [Getty]
Arab leaders are gathering in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss an alternative to a widely condemned plan from US President Donald Trump to assume control of war-battered Gaza and displace its Palestinian population.
The Arab League summit on the territory’s reconstruction comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again gave his backing to Trump’s plan, calling it “visionary and innovative”.
Palestinians, along with the Arab world and many of Israel and the United States’ partners, have condemned Trump’s proposal, rejecting any efforts to expel Gazans.
UN estimates have put the cost of Gaza’s reconstruction at more than $53 billion, after more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment destroyed large swathes of the enclave.
Arab foreign ministers met in the Egyptian capital on Monday for a closed-door preparatory session centred on a plan to rebuild the territory without displacing its people, a source at the Arab League told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The source said the plan “would be presented to Arab leaders at Tuesday’s summit for approval”.
According to a Reuters report on Monday, the Egyptian plan would see the creation of a Governance Assistance Mission that would replace the Hamas government in Gaza for an unspecified interim period and would be responsible for humanitarian aid and for kick-starting reconstruction of the enclave, which has been devastated by the war.
The heads of state of several Arab nations are expected to attend, while some countries sent foreign ministers or other high-level representatives.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa are expected to deliver opening remarks, according to a schedule shared by the Arab League.
Trump triggered global outrage when he first floated his idea for the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian residents to relocate to Egypt and Jordan.
Trump has since appeared to soften his stance, saying he was “not forcing” the plan, which experts have said could violate international law.
Ceasefire impasse
The Gaza Strip has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since 2007, with leading rights groups often likening the territory to an open-air prison.
In a speech to parliament Monday in which he hailed Trump’s plan, Netanyahu said: “It’s time to give the residents of Gaza a real choice. It’s time to give them the freedom to leave.”
The idea of clearing Gaza of its inhabitants has been welcomed by far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called for Israel to “establish full sovereignty there”.
The Cairo summit is taking place as Israel and Hamas find themselves at an impasse over the future of a fragile ceasefire that began on January 19.
The first phase of the Gaza truce ended over the weekend, after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and an influx of badly needed aid into the territory.
While Israel said it backed an extension of the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.
Netanyahu on Monday warned Hamas “there will be consequences that you cannot imagine” if the dozens of captives still held by militants were not released.
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, accused Israel of actively sabotaging the ceasefire, calling its push for an extension “a blatant attempt to… avoid entering into negotiations for the second phase”.
Aid block
As the truce’s first phase came to a close, Netanyahu’s office announced Israel was halting “all entry of goods and supplies” into Gaza, and that Hamas would face “other consequences” if it did not accept the truce extension.
The move drew criticism from key truce mediators Egypt and Qatar, as well as from other regional governments, the United Nations and some of Israel’s allies.
Germany’s foreign ministry said that denying humanitarian access “is not a legitimate means of pressure in negotiations”, while Britain said aid “must not be blocked”.
The war has destroyed or damaged most buildings in Gaza, displaced almost the entire population and triggered widespread hunger, according to the UN.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 61,709 Palestinians since October 2023, according to the Gaza government media office.
