Aiming to stymie Trump’s ‘Riviera’ vision, Arab leaders endorse $53 billion Gaza plan
Egypt’s Sissi presents proposal that would see Gazans remain in Strip during 5-year reconstruction, but avoids difficult questions on Hamas, which US says cannot remain in power
Arab leaders adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza on Tuesday that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to US President Donald Trump’s “Middle East Riviera” vision.
Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said the proposal, welcomed in subsequent statements by Hamas and criticized by Israel, had been accepted at the closing of a summit he hosted in Cairo.
Sissi said at the summit that he was certain Trump would be able to achieve peace in the conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
However, the agreement did not address the major questions that need to be answered about Gaza’s future regarding the role of Hamas and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for reconstruction.
Sissi stressed that his country’s reconstruction plan would allow Palestinians to remain in the war-torn territory.
He said that independent Palestinian technocrats unaffiliated with Hamas would run the Strip after an end to the war.
The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority, he said.
In a statement, Hamas said it welcomed the plan as well as the formation of the Palestinian committee.
Future of Hamas
There appeared to be divisions among participants over the future of Hamas, which sparked the war with the October 7, 2023 onslaught on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took another 251 hostages.
The UAE, which sees Hamas and other Islamists as an existential threat, wants an immediate and complete disarmament of the terror group, while other Arab countries advocate a gradual approach, a source close to the matter told Reuters.
A source close to Saudi Arabia’s royal court said the continued armed presence of Hamas in Gaza was a stumbling block because of strong objections from the United States and Israel, which would need to sign off on any plan.
“President Trump has been clear that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said Tuesday in response to Arab leaders’ endorsement of the Egyptian plan. “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.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the Egyptian plan “fails to address the realities of the situation.”
“It is noteworthy that Hamas’s vicious terror assault isn’t mentioned, and there isn’t even a condemnation of this murderous terrorist entity, despite the documented atrocities,” the statement said.
It 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,” a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again gave his full-throated backing to the proposal, calling it “visionary and innovative.”
The Foreign Ministry statement also urged responsible regional states to “break free from past constraints and collaborate to create a future of stability and security in the region.”
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.
Palestinians, along with the Arab world and many allies of Israel and the US, have condemned Trump’s proposal, rejecting any efforts to expel Gazans.
‘Preserving the horizon of a two-state solution’
At Tuesday’s meeting, Sissi also reissued a call for a two-state solution.
“There will be no true peace without the establishment of the Palestinian state,” Sissi said during Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s time to adopt the launching of a serious and effective political path that leads to a permanent and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause according to the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
The Egyptian plan, called “Early Recovery, Reconstruction, Development of Gaza,” is based on “preserving the rights, dignity and humanity of the Palestinian people, and on the horizon of a two-state solution.”
The Egyptian proposal says it is “illogical” to ignore Palestinians’ desire to remain on their land. It also calls for the continuation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
The Egyptian document, reviewed by The Times of Israel, envisions a Gaza Administration Committee, made up of independent technocrats, to manage an initial six-month transitional phase. It also urges elections in all Palestinian areas within a year, if conditions support such a move.
Using colorful AI images, it envisages a series of modern living spaces, agricultural zones, commercial centers and government complexes throughout the Strip. An airport and seaport would also be constructed, according to Egypt’s plan, which would continue until 2030.
The emir of Qatar, Bahrain’s king, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister attended the Cairo confab, as did UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Any reconstruction funding would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have the billions of dollars needed. Egypt estimated the plan would cost US$ 53 billion.
PA Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa said the reconstruction fund would seek international financing as well as oversight and likely be located in the World Bank.
In a speech at the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international guarantees were needed that the current temporary ceasefire would remain in place, and supported the PA’s role in governing the strip.
Leaders of the UAE and Qatar did not speak during open sessions of the summit.
Guterres said he fully supported the Egyptian plan.
“I welcome and strongly endorse the Arab-led initiative to mobilize support for Gaza’s reconstruction, clearly expressed in this summit,” he said. “The UN stands ready to fully cooperate in this endeavor.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also in attendance, said he too welcomed the plan. The 89-year-old — who has been ruling since winning the last Palestinian national elections in 2005 — said he is ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allow, asserting that the PA is the only legitimate governing and military force in the West Bank and Gaza.
Abbas has repeatedly promised to hold elections and then backtracked over the years.
Trump triggered surprise and indignation when he first floated his idea last month for the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” while forcing its Palestinian residents to relocate to Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere.
Trump has since appeared to soften his stance, saying he was “not forcing” the plan, which experts have said could violate international law.
Netanyahu has embraced the Trump plan, however, saying that Israel is “committed” to it. Working groups have begun fleshing out the plan, Israeli officials told The Times of Israel.
Hamas won’t let ‘external forces’ determine Gaza’s future
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said Tuesday that the terror group will only accept an Arab-led plan for postwar reconstruction of Gaza that wins the support of Palestinians in the enclave, rejecting “external forces” determining the future of the Strip.
“Our position is clear, any plans for Gaza’s future… must be reached through national consensus, and we will facilitate the process,” Qassem told Turkish news outlet Anadolu.
Earlier, leading Hamas figure Sami Abu Zuhri said the terror group would not disarm, and nor would other armed Palestinian organizations. “Any talk about the resistance’s weapons is nonsense. The resistance’s weapons are a red line for Hamas and all resistance factions,” Abu Zuhri said, speaking in the context of potential negotiations to end the current ceasefire.
Ambitious framework, missing key specifics
The Egyptian plan doesn’t explain what Hamas’s fate would be, or how to prevent the terror group from intimidating officials or firing rockets at Israel.
It does call for Egypt and Jordan to train Palestinian police, and a draft version encouraged the examination of an international force in the West Bank and Gaza.
In the medium term, Israel and the Palestinian Authority would negotiate final status issues.
The early recovery phase would last six months and cost $3 billion, followed by a five-year reconstruction phase at a cost of $53 billion.
The plan takes its inspiration from the reconstruction of Hiroshima and Berlin, cities devastated by Allied attacks in World War II. They are now thriving, modern cities.
Despite lacking solutions to fundamental challenges like Hamas’s role, the ambitious plan is concerned with issues like walkability, green buildings and smart cities.
It also doesn’t leave the Mediterranean resorts only to Trump’s plan. The Egyptian program also calls for resorts and tourist villages on the beach.
It plans for 120 hospitals and clinics to be constructed across the Strip.
The Cairo summit is taking place as Israel and Hamas find themselves at an impasse over the future of a fragile hostage-ceasefire deal that began on January 19.
The ceasefire’s first phase saw 33 Israeli hostages released, eight of them dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted terrorists serving hefty jail sentences. Five Thai nationals held hostage in the Gaza Strip were freed separately during that period.
While Israel said it backed an extension of the first phase until mid-April — including the release of the remaining 59 hostages in two batches toward the beginning and end of the Ramadan and Passover holidays that run through March and until April 19 — Hamas has accused Israel of violating the original deal and has insisted on continuing to the second stage.
Netanyahu on Monday warned Hamas that “there will be consequences that you cannot imagine” if the hostages still held by terrorists were not released.
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, accused Israel of actively sabotaging the ceasefire, calling its push for an extension “a blatant attempt to… avoid entering into negotiations for the second phase.”
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