CAIRO (AP) — 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
The White House welcomed input from Arab nations, but insisted Hamas could not remain in power.
“President Trump has been clear that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said. “While the President stands by his bold vision for a post-war Gaza, he welcomes input from our Arab partners in the region. It’s clear his proposals have driven the region to come to the table rather than allow this issue to devolve into further crisis.”
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 The plan, he said, remains “rooted in outdated perspectives."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.
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Jahjouh reported from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Samy Magdy And Mohammad Jahjouh, The Associated Press
