The leaders of an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League in Cairo approved an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip ravaged by the war.
“It was approved,” said Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sissi to the summit closing session, during which he had presented a five-year plan to rebuild Gaza which will cost $ 53 billion (50.5 billion euros), according to documents, and allow Palestinians to “stay on their land”.
“There will be no real peace without establishing a Palestinian state,” he said earlier, opening the summit. “Peace will not force force and cannot be forced.”
But for the ceasefire to go to the next phase, Israel demanded the disarmament of Hamas, a move that the Islamist group called a “red line”.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that discussions and mentions in Cairo “had not approached the realities of the situation” after the attack on Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Washington welcomes entries but says that Hamas cannot stay in power in Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi said in a position after the summit that he had welcomed any proposal and ideas from the international community and impatiently awaited to work with US President Donald Trump.
The White House welcomed the contributions of the Arab nations, but insisted that Hamas could not stay in power in Gaza, said the spokesman for the American National Security Council Brian Hughes.
“President Trump has been clear that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza,” said Hughes, adding: “While the president maintains his daring vision of a post-war Gaza, he welcomes the contributions of our Arab partners in the region.”
What we have known so far on the reconstruction plan of Egypt
According to the 112 -page document project seen by the DPA and Reuters press agencies, an initial six -month recovery phase would focus on the abolition of rubble and the installation of temporary housing at a cost of around 3 billion dollars.
In a first phase proper, the plan provides for the construction of 200,000 dwellings in Gaza over the next two years. A second step will see 200,000 additional homes.
By 2030, the plan foresees hundreds of thousands of new houses housing up to 3 million people as well as an airport, industrial areas, hotels and parks.
President Sissi said that a “independent” Palestinian body would manage Gaza as part of the reconstruction plan, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas affirming that his Palestinian authority would be ready to play a role.
UN, UE Back on Egyptian proposals
Sissi urged the international community to support the Egyptian reconstruction plan and has received support from the United Nations and the European Union.
Speaking at the Cairo summit, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said that he had “strongly approved” the initiative led by Arabic, adding: “The UN is ready to cooperate fully in this company.”
The president of the EU council, Antonio Costa, also praised the plans, affirming that they “give hope to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank and abroad” that “the terrible suffering which we all witnessed in the last year and a half” could end.
The king of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, also expressed his support, saying to the opening session: “We congratulate the plan of Egypt presented at the top of the Gaza Strip and that we wanted to support this plan, which helps to strengthen our fraternal links and protect our national interests.”
The acting president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, also attended the summit, his first meeting of this type since his ouster the longtime manager Bashar al-Assad almost three months ago. Sharaa described Trump’s proposals “a very huge crime that cannot happen.”
Egyptian reactions inside Gaza
Any reconstruction funding would require strong membership of the Gulf States rich in oil such as the United Arab Emirates (Water) and Saudi Arabia.
Neither of the two countries supports Hamas, the Islamist group currently governing the gang.
Nevertheless, Hamas has always welcomed the Egyptian proposal, affirming in a statement: “We are impatiently awaiting an effective Arab role which puts an end to the humanitarian tragedy created by the occupation in the Gaza Strip … and thwarts the (Israeli) profession to move (Palestinians).”
Although the complete extent of damage is only known when the inspectors have full access to the territory, the UN estimated using satellite data only nearly 70% of all Gaza structures have been damaged or destroyed. This includes more than 245,000 houses.
Another UN estimate indicates that the war junmed Gaza with more than 50 million tonnes of rubble – about 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
What caused the Arab emergency summit?
The plans discussed at the Tuesday summit were smuggled to fight against the controversial promise of American president Donald Trump to own Gaza and to redevelop him after having “reinstalled” some two million Palestinians in the Arab countries.
Trump had downloaded a video produced by AI showing Gaza torn by the war transformed into “Riviera du Middle East”, a plan rented as “visionary and innovative” by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and who sparked outrage through the Middle East and other nations.
Nevertheless, the Egyptian president, Sissi, insisted that President Trump could still achieve peace on what he called the Palestinian issue.
“I am sure that Trump is able to carry out that in the midst of our true desire to end tensions and hostilities in our region,” he said.
Edited by: Alex Berry
