Arab leaders endorse Egypt's plan to rebuild Gaza as alternative to Trump's proposal
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 March 2025, 15:36
Arab leaders on Tuesday endorsed Egypt's postwar plan for the Gaza Strip that would allow its roughly 2 million Palestinians to remain, in a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to depopulate the territory and redevelop it as a beach destination.
The $53 billion plan's endorsement by Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo amounted to a rejection of Trump's proposal. The summit conclusions were welcomed by Hamas, rejected by Israel and given a lukewarm response by the Trump administration.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi expressed his appreciation for "the consensus among the Arab countries to support the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip, which allows the Palestinian People to stay on their land without displacement."
In a social media post after the summit, el-Sissi said he looked forward to working with Trump, other Arab nations and the international community "to adopt a plan that aims for a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian Issue, ends the root causes of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, guarantees the security and stability of the peoples of the region and establishes the Palestinian State."
Initial reactions
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes dismissed the Egyptian proposal as unworkable.
"The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance," Hughes said. "President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas. We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region."
A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, posted on X that the Egyptian plan "fails to address the realities of the situation" and said the summit's joint communique does not mention Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war or condemn the militant group. The plan, he said, remains "rooted in outdated perspectives."
Marmorstein reiterated Israel's support for Trump's plan to resettle Gaza's population elsewhere, describing it as "an opportunity for the Gazans to have free choice based on their free will."
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty blasted Israel's rejection as "unacceptable," describing its position as "stubborn and extremist."
"There will be no peace neither to Israel or to the region" without establishing an independent Palestinian state in accordance with United Nations resolutions, he said. He said "Israel violates all international law rules … the international law must be imposed."
"No single state should be allowed to impose its will on the international community," Abdelatty said.
Hamas welcomed the summit's outcome, saying it marked a new phase of Arab and Islamic alignment with the Palestinian cause and that it valued Arab leaders' rejection of attempts to transfer Palestinians from their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Israel has embraced what it says is an alternative U.S. proposal for the ceasefire itself and the release of hostages taken in Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza to try to get Hamas to accept the new proposal and has warned of additional consequences, raising fears of a return to fighting.
The suspension of aid drew widespread criticism, with human rights groups saying that it violated Israel's obligations as an occupying power under international law.
The alternative proposal would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages — the militant group's main bargaining chip — in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners — a key component of the first phase.
Egypt's postwar plan
Egypt's plan foresees rebuilding Gaza by 2030 without removing its population. The first phase calls for starting the removal of unexploded ordnance and clearing more than 50 million tons of rubble left by Israel's bombardment and military offensives.
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the summit's final communique calls on the U.N. Security Council to deploy an international peacekeeping force in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
"Peace is the Arabs' strategic option," he said, adding that the communique rejected the transfer of Palestinians and endorsed Egypt's reconstruction plan. "The Egyptian plan creates a path for a new security and political context in Gaza."
The communique said Egypt will host an international conference in cooperation with the United Nations for Gaza's reconstruction, and a World Bank-overseen trust fund will be established to receive pledges to implement the early recovery and reconstruction plan.
According to a 112-page draft of the plan obtained by The Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units would be set up for Gaza's population while reconstruction takes place. Rubble would be recycled, with some of it used as infill to expand land on Gaza's Mediterranean coast.
In the following years, the plan envisages completely reshaping the strip, building "sustainable, green and walkable" housing and urban areas, with renewable energy. It renovates agricultural lands and creates industrial zones and large park areas.
It also calls for the opening of an airport, a fishing port and a commercial port. The Oslo peace accords in the 1990s called for the opening of an airport and a commercial port in Gaza, but the projects withered as the peace process collapsed.
Hamas would cede power to an interim administration of political independents until a reformed Palestinian Authority can assume control. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Western-backed authority and an opponent of Hamas, attended the summit.
Israel has ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and, along with the United States, has demanded Hamas' disarmament. Hamas, which doesn't accept Israel's existence, has said it's willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians, but won't give up its arms until there is a Palestinian state.
Israel has vowed to maintain open-ended security control over both territories, which it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and which Palestinians want for their future state. Israel's government and most of its political class are opposed to Palestinian statehood.
Trump shocked the region last month by suggesting Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians be resettled in other countries. He said the United States would take ownership of the territory and redevelop it into a Middle Eastern "Riviera."
Netanyahu embraced the proposal, which was roundly rejected by Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who said it would likely violate international law.
The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage. Hamas-led militants are still holding 59 hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements. Israel has rescued eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel's 15-month offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It doesn't say how many were fighters, but the ministry says women and children made up more than half the dead. Israel says it killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed large areas of Gaza, including much of its health system and other infrastructure. At its height, the war displaced about 90% of the population, mostly within the territory, where hundreds of thousands packed into squalid tent camps and schools repurposed as shelters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
29 minutes ago
- Nahar Net
Three Alawites killed after attack on Syria government forces
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 June 2025, 11:44 Three Alawite civilians were killed in western Syria overnight, hours after an attack on government forces killed at least one officer, a war monitor said on Wednesday. Syrian authorities said four civilians were targeted by unknown attackers in the Tal Kalakh area near the Lebanese border, killing two of them. Since an Islamist-led offensive toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the Alawite community, which he hails from, has been repeatedly attacked. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the three civilians were killed in Baruha village by "local armed groups" who also set fire to shops and cars. The head of security in Homs province, Murhaf Naasan, said: "Four civilians were directly targeted by unknown people, killing two of them and critically wounding two others." The deaths comes hours after Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported that a security officer had been killed in an attack in the Tal Kalakh area. In March, sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on Syria's Mediterranean coast saw security forces and allied groups kill more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, according to the Observatory's figures. The Islamist-led government accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by launching coordinated attacks on security forces. The government has since launched an inquiry.
Nahar Net
29 minutes ago
- Nahar Net
Police make 'mass arrests' in LA during nighttime curfew
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 June 2025, 11:48 Los Angeles police began arresting people in the city's downtown late Tuesday, as groups gathered in violation of an overnight curfew after a fifth day of protests against Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Looting and vandalism in the second-biggest U.S. city have marred the largely peaceful protests over ramped-up arrests by immigration authorities. The demonstrations, which began Friday, and isolated acts of violence prompted Trump to take the extraordinary step of sending in troops, over the objection of the state governor. The protests again turned ugly after dark Tuesday, but an hour into the overnight curfew only a handful of protesters were left downtown, with police making several arrests as they warned stragglers to leave. "Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda" within the designated downtown curfew area, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) wrote on X late Tuesday. "Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated." Police arrested 25 people on suspicion of violating the curfew as of Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing an LAPD spokesperson. The number of arrests was likely to rise as law enforcement worked to remove the remaining protesters from the area, the newspaper said. Earlier, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she had issued the curfew "to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting." One square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city's more-than-500 square mile area will be off-limits from 8:00 pm and 6:00 am (0300 to 1300 GMT) for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services, she added. One protester told AFP the arrest of migrants in a city with large immigrant and Latino populations was the root of the unrest. "I think that obviously they're doing it for safety," she said of the curfew. "But I don't think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It's whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence." At their largest, the protests have included a few thousand people taking to the streets, but smaller mobs have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows. Overnight, Monday 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days. Protests against immigration arrests by federal law enforcement have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Austin. - 'Provide protection' - Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control -- despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they could handle matters. A military spokeswoman said the Marines were expected to be on the streets by Wednesday. Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and to accompany "federal officers in immigration enforcement operations in order to provide protection." Demonstrators told AFP the soldiers "should be respected" because they had not chosen to be in Los Angeles, but Lisa Orman blasted it as "ridiculous." "I was here for the Dodger parade," she said, referring to the LA team's World Series victory. "It was 100 times bigger," she said, branding the idea that Marines were necessary as "a big show" that Trump wanted. The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million. Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. Late Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state would deploy its National Guard "to locations across the state to ensure peace & order" after solidarity protests. "Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest," Abbott wrote on X. The Texas National Guard "will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order." - Behaving like 'a tyrant' - In sprawling Los Angeles on Tuesday, it was largely a typical day: tourists thronged Hollywood Boulevard, celebrities attended red carpet premieres, tens of thousands of children went to school and commuter traffic choked the streets. But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump was painting a much darker picture. "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty," the Republican told troops at Fort Bragg. "This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy." California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump's shock militarization of the city was the behavior of "a tyrant, not a president." In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing. US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force -- absent the declaration of an insurrection, which Trump has mused. The president "is trying to use emergency declarations to justify bringing in first the National Guard and then mobilizing Marines," said law professor Frank Bowman.
Al Manar
41 minutes ago
- Al Manar
Israeli Occupation Forces Kill Palestinians in Tubas and Nablus
Israeli occupation special forces assassinated a young man in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas, on Tuesday evening. Local sources report that the special unit opened fire on the unidentified youth during a raid, while ambulance crews were blocked from reaching the scene. The Red Crescent reported that one of its paramedics sustained injuries from live ammunition shrapnel while attempting to assist the wounded. Breaking | A Palestinian paramedic officer was reported injured by a shrapnel from Israeli occupation fire during their storm while on his way to evacuate an injured person in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank. — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 10, 2025 In a separate incident, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot and killed two Palestinian men in Nablus City, identified as Nidhal Mahdi, 40, and Khaled Mahdi, 35. Their bodies were seized by Israeli occupation forces, further escalating tensions in the area. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that at least 27 individuals were injured during the IOF raid, which involved the use of tear gas. Notably, a 59-year-old woman suffered severe bleeding after being bitten by a dog belonging to the Israeli occupation troops. Israeli occupation forces detain Palestinian youth during their invasion of the town of Bruqin west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 10, 2025 The raid on Nablus City saw a significant deployment of Israeli occupation troops, who stormed neighborhoods, assaulted residents, ransacked homes and businesses, and even kidnapped a young paramedic from the Old City. Israeli occupation forces storm the town of Bruqin west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 10, 2025 Adding to the unrest, two Palestinian citizens were injured during a settler attack in the village of Osrin, south of Nablus, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. Scenes of the ongoing raid of Nablus city. Two Palestinians have been killed and dozens were wounded. — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) June 10, 2025 Local medical sources noted that the injuries occurred as the individuals fell while confronting the attackers. They were later taken to a local clinic for treatment. Over the past two days, Israeli occupation forces have arrested dozens of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs from various areas of Jerusalem, under the pretext of entering and being present in the city illegally. Settlers are assisting the police in carrying out the arrests by… — Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) June 10, 2025 In a related event, Israeli occupation forces conducted a raid in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah, where they fired tear gas canisters but no injuries were reported. The occupation forces also established a military checkpoint in the center of Nabi Saleh, restricting movement for residents and their vehicles.
