CAIRO — Egypt is creating a plan to rebuild Gaza with out forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.
Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper mentioned the proposal requires establishing “safe areas” inside Gaza the place Palestinians can dwell initially whereas Egyptian and worldwide development corporations take away and rehabilitate the strip’s infrastructure.
Egyptian officers have been discussing the plan with European diplomats in addition to with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, in accordance to two Egyptian officers and Arab and Western diplomats. They’re additionally discussing methods to fund the reconstruction, together with a global convention on Gaza reconstruction, mentioned one of many Egyptian officers and an Arab diplomat.
Column: President Clinton’s Higher Imaginative and prescient for Gaza’s Future
The officers and diplomats spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the proposal continues to be being negotiated.
The proposal comes after a global uproar over Trump’s name for the elimination of Gaza’s inhabitants of some 2 million Palestinians. Trump mentioned the US would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it right into a “Riviera of the Center East,” although Palestinians wouldn’t be allowed again.
Palestinians have broadly mentioned they won’t depart their homeland, whereas Egypt, Jordan—backed by Saudi Arabia—have refused Trump’s requires them to absorb Gaza’s inhabitants. Rights teams have broadly mentioned the plan quantities to compelled expulsion, a possible warfare crime. European international locations have additionally largely denounced Trump’s plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the concept and says Israel is getting ready to implement it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday in a tour of the area, has mentioned the US was up to listening to different proposals. “If the Arab international locations have a greater plan, then that’s nice,” Rubio mentioned Thursday on the U.S. radio program “Clay and Buck Present.”
Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper mentioned the proposal is designed to “refute American President Trump’s logic” and counter “every other visions or plans that purpose to change the geographic and demographic construction of Gaza Strip.”
Gaza is nearing a important juncture with the primary section of a ceasefire due to run out in early March. Israel and Hamas should nonetheless negotiate a second section meant to deliver a launch of all remaining hostages held by the militants, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a long-term halt to the warfare.
Any reconstruction plan will probably be not possible to implement and not using a deal on the second section, together with an settlement on who will govern Gaza in the long run. Israel calls for the elimination of Hamas as a political or army pressure within the territory, and worldwide donors are unlikely to contribute to any rebuilding if Hamas is in cost.
Learn Extra: Israel’s Stop-Fires With Hezbollah and Hamas Are in Limbo Once more
Central in Egypt’s proposal is the institution of a Palestinian administration that isn’t aligned with both Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run the strip and oversee the reconstruction efforts, in accordance to the 2 Egyptian officers concerned within the efforts.
It additionally requires a Palestinian police pressure primarily made up of former Palestinian Authority policemen who remained in Gaza after Hamas took over the enclave in 2007, with reinforcement from Egyptian- and Western-trained forces.
Requested about the potential of deploying an Arab pressure in Gaza one Egyptian official and the Arab diplomat mentioned Arab international locations would solely agree if there have been a “clear path” for the institution of an impartial Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected any Palestinian state in addition to any function for Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza, although he has not put ahead any clear different.
Hamas has mentioned it’s prepared to quit energy in Gaza. Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou advised The Related Press on Sunday that the group has accepted both a Palestinian unity authorities with out Hamas’ participation or a committee of technocrats to run the territory. The Palestinian Authority, which governs pockets of the West Financial institution, has up to now opposed any plans for Gaza that exclude it.
The Western diplomat mentioned France and Germany have backed the concept of Arab international locations creating a counterproposal to Trump’s plan, and that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi mentioned his authorities’s efforts with the French president in a cellphone name earlier this month.
Egyptian Overseas Minister Badr Abdelatty additionally briefed the German overseas minister and different EU officers on the sidelines of final week’s Munich safety convention, one of many Egyptian officers mentioned.
Officers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan will talk about Egypt’s proposal at a gathering in Riyadh this week, earlier than introducing it to the Arab summit later this month, in accordance to the 2 Egyptian officers and the Arab diplomat.
Isarel’s 16-month marketing campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault, devastated the territory. Round 1 / 4 million housing items have been destroyed or broken, in accordance to U.N. estimates. Greater than 90% of the roads and greater than 80% of well being amenities have been broken or destroyed. Injury to infrastructure has been estimated at some $30 billion, together with an estimated $16 billion in broken to housing.
Learn Extra: The Devastation of the Israel-Hamas Warfare—in Numbers
Egypt’s plan requires a three-phase reconstruction course of that may take up to 5 years with out eradicating Palestinians from Gaza, the Egyptian officers mentioned.
It designates three “secure zones” inside Gaza to relocate Palestinians throughout an preliminary six-month “early restoration interval.” The zones will probably be geared up with cellular homes and shelters, with humanitarian support streaming in.
Greater than two dozen Egyptian and worldwide corporations would participate in eradicating the rubble and rebuilding the strip’s infrastructure. The reconstruction would supply tens of hundreds of jobs to Gaza’s inhabitants, the officers mentioned.
Source link
#Egypt #Developing #Plan #Rebuild #Gaza #Countering #Trumps #Plan
