CAIRO — Egypt is creating a plan to rebuild Gaza with out forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.
Egyptian officers have been discussing the plan with European diplomats in addition to with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, in response to two Egyptian officers and Arab and Western diplomats. They’re additionally discussing methods to fund the reconstruction, together with a global convention on Gaza reconstruction, stated one of many Egyptian officers and an Arab diplomat.
The officers and diplomats spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the proposal continues to be being negotiated.
The proposal comes after a global uproar over Trump’s name for the elimination of Gaza’s inhabitants of some 2 million Palestinians. Trump stated the USA would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it right into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” although Palestinians wouldn’t be allowed again.
Palestinians have broadly stated they won’t go away their homeland, whereas Egypt, Jordan – backed by Saudi Arabia – have refused Trump’s requires them to absorb Gaza’s inhabitants. Rights teams have broadly stated the plan quantities to compelled expulsion, a possible warfare crime. European nations have additionally largely denounced Trump’s plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the concept and says Israel is making ready to implement it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday in a tour of the area, has stated the USA was as much as listening to different proposals. “If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Rubio stated Thursday on the U.S. radio program “Clay and Buck Show.”
Gaza is nearing a crucial juncture with the primary section of a ceasefire because of run out in early March. Israel and Hamas should nonetheless negotiate a second section meant to deliver a launch of all remaining hostages held by the militants, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a long-term halt to the warfare.
Any reconstruction plan will likely be unimaginable to implement with out a deal on the second section, together with an settlement on who will govern Gaza in the long run. Israel calls for the elimination of Hamas as a political or army pressure within the territory, and worldwide donors are unlikely to contribute to any rebuilding if Hamas is in cost.
Central in Egypt’s proposal is the institution of a Palestinian administration that’s not aligned with both Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run the strip and oversee the reconstruction efforts, in response to the 2 Egyptian officers concerned within the efforts.
It additionally requires a Palestinian police pressure primarily made up of former Palestinian Authority policemen who remained in Gaza after Hamas took over the enclave in 2007, with reinforcement from Egyptian- and Western-trained forces.
Requested about the potential for deploying an Arab pressure in Gaza one Egyptian official and the Arab diplomat stated Arab nations would solely agree if there have been a “clear path” for the institution of an unbiased Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected any Palestinian state in addition to any function for Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza, although he has not put ahead any clear different.
Hamas has stated it’s keen to surrender energy in Gaza. Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou advised The Related Press on Sunday that the group has accepted both a Palestinian unity authorities with out Hamas’ participation or a committee of technocrats to run the territory. The Palestinian Authority, which governs pockets of the West Financial institution, has to this point opposed any plans for Gaza that exclude it.
The Western diplomat stated France and Germany have backed the concept of Arab nations creating a counterproposal to Trump’s plan, and that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi mentioned his authorities’s efforts with the French president in a cellphone name earlier this month.
Egyptian International Minister Badr Abdelatty additionally briefed the German overseas minister and different EU officers on the sidelines of final week’s Munich safety convention, one of many Egyptian officers stated.
Officers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan will talk about Egypt’s proposal at a gathering in Riyadh this week, earlier than introducing it to the Arab summit later this month, in response to the 2 Egyptian officers and the Arab diplomat.
Isarel’s 16-month marketing campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault, devastated the territory. Round 1 / 4 million housing items have been destroyed or broken, in response to U.N. estimates. Greater than 90% of the roads and greater than 80% of well being amenities have been broken or destroyed. Harm to infrastructure has been estimated at some $30 billion, together with an estimated $16 billion in broken to housing.
Egypt’s plan requires a three-phase reconstruction course of that can take as much as 5 years with out eradicating Palestinians from Gaza, the Egyptian officers stated.
It designates three “safe zones” inside Gaza to relocate Palestinians throughout an preliminary six-month “early recovery period.” The zones will likely be outfitted with cellular homes and shelters, with humanitarian support streaming in.
Greater than two dozen Egyptian and worldwide corporations would participate in eradicating the rubble and rebuilding the strip’s infrastructure. The reconstruction would supply tens of 1000’s of jobs to Gaza’s inhabitants, the officers stated.
