Arab leaders approved on Tuesday Egypt post-war plan for the Gaza Strip which would allow its 2 million Palestinians to remain, in a counter-proposition in terms of US President Donald Trump to depopulate the territory and to rearrange it as a beach destination.
It was not clear if Israel or the United States would accept the Egyptian plan, whose approval of Arab leaders was equivalent to a generalized rejection of Trump’s proposal. The vote was announced by the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.
The Tuesday summit in Cairo included the Emir of Qatar, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia-countries whose support is crucial for any post-war plan. UN secretary general António Guterres also participated.
Addressing the summit, El-Sissi said that the plan “preserves the right of the Palestinian people to rebuild their nation and guarantees their existence on their land”.
Israel has adopted what he says to be an alternative American proposal for the cease-fire herself and the release of hostages taken in the attack on Hamas against the south of Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Israel blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicines and other supplies to Gaza to try to bring Hamas to accept the new proposal and warned against additional consequences, which raises fears of a return to fighting.
The suspension of aid has aroused many criticisms, human rights groups claiming that it had violated Israel’s obligations as a power occupying under international law.
The new plan would oblige Hamas to release half of its remaining hostages – the main negotiation broadcast of the militant group – in exchange for a cease -fire extension and a promise to negotiate a sustainable truce. Israel has made no mention to publish more Palestinian prisoners – a key element of the first phase.
The Egyptian plan of $ 53 billion plans to rebuild Gaza by 2030 without withdrawing its population. The first phase calls for starting the abolition of unplodced ammunition and clean the more than 50 million tonnes of rubble left by the bombing and the military offensives of Israel.
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A final statement said that Egypt would organize an international conference in cooperation with the United Nations for the reconstruction of Gaza. An on site trustee for the World Bank will be created to receive commitments to implement the recovery and early reconstruction plan, he said.
According to a project of 112 pages of the plan obtained by the Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of temporary homes are set up where the Gaza population could live during reconstruction. The rubble would be recycled, some used as a filling to create expanded land on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza.
During the following years, the plan plans to completely reshape the band, to build “sustainable, green and accessible” housing and urban areas, with renewable energies. It renovates agricultural land 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 agreements in the 1990s called for the opening of an airport and a commercial port in Gaza, but the projects were bent down when the peace process collapsed.
Under the plan, Hamas would give way to a provisional administration of political self -employed until a reformed Palestinian authority can take control. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of authority supported by the West and opponent of Hamas, attended the summit.
Israel has excluded any role from the Palestinian authority in Gaza and, with the United States, demanded the disarmament of Hamas. Hamas, which does not accept the existence of Israel, said that it was willing to yield power to Gaza to other Palestinians, but will not abandon its weapons before there is a Palestinian state.
Speaking at the summit, El-Sissi said that it was necessary to make a parallel path for peace to realize a “complete, fair and lasting colony” to the Palestinian cause.
“There will be no real peace without the establishment of the Palestinian state,” said the Egyptian chief. “It is time to adopt the launch of a serious and effective political path which leads to a permanent and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause according to resolutions of international legitimacy.”
Israel has promised to maintain control of the safety open to the two territories, which he captured in the war in the Middle East in 1967 and that the Palestinians wish for their future state. The Israeli government and most of its political class are opposed to the Palestinian state.
Trump shocked the region last month when he suggested that around 2 million Gaza Palestinians are reinstalled in other countries. He said the United States would appropriate the territory and rearrange it in a “riviera” in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted the proposal, which was refused by the Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who said it would likely violate international law.
Riccardo Fabiani, director of North Africa at the International Crisis Group, a reflection group based in Brussels, said that Egypt “was trying to present a credible alternative focused on reconstruction and an indirect consultation mechanism for Hamas which could reassure Israel and the United States”.
Gaza children head for Jordan for treatment
Trump suggested that Egypt and Jordan, two close American allies, could accommodate a large number of Palestinian refugees from Gaza. The two countries have categorically rejected such a plan.
Meet Trump at the White House last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan proposed to take around 2,000 children for medical treatment. The first group of approximately 30 children left Gaza for Jordan on Tuesday, according to Nasser hospital in the city of southern Gaza, Khan Younis. Children are accompanied by up to two family members.
Jordan said children are amputated and return to Gaza when their treatment is finished. The kingdom has also installed hospitals in the field in Gaza and provided Air and Land aid.
The war began with Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in which Palestinian activists killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and took 251 people hostage. The activists led by Hamas still hold 59 hostages, 35 of which are supposed to be dead.
Most of the others have been released in ceasefire agreements. Israel has saved eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens of others.
The 15 -month offensive of Israel killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. He does not say how many fighters were fighters, but the ministry says that women and children invented more than half of the dead. Israel says he killed more than 17,000 activists, without providing evidence.
The offensive has destroyed large Gaza areas, including a large part of its health system and other infrastructure. At its peak, the war has moved around 90% of the population, mainly in the territory, where hundreds of thousands were packed in sordid tents and schools have reused as an abuse.
