The Arab leaders supported the postwar plan of Egypt for the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that would allow their approximately 2 million Palestinians to remain, in a counterproposal for the plan of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to depopulate the territory and rebuild it as a beach destination.
It was not clear if Israel or the United States would accept the Egyptian plan, whose support by Arab leaders was equivalent to a generalized rejection of Trump's proposal. The vote was announced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.
Tuesday's 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 postwar plan. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, also attended.
Going to the summit, El-Sissi said the plan “retains the right of the Palestinian people in the reconstruction of their nation and guarantees its existence in their land.”
Israel has adopted what it says is an alternative proposal of the United States for the high fire and the release of hostages taken in the attack of Hamas south of Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered 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 have warned about additional consequences, which increases the fear of a return to the fight.
The suspension of aid generated generalized criticism, and human rights groups said that it violated Israel's obligations as an occupation power according to international law.
The new plan would require Hamas to publish half of its remaining hostages, the main negotiation chip of the militant group, in exchange for an extension of high fire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel did not mention the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a key component of the first phase.
The Plan of $ 53 billion of Egypt foresees the reconstruction of Gaza by 2030 without eliminating its population. The first phase demands to begin the elimination of unleashed ammunition and clear the more than 50 million tons of debris that leave the bombing of Israel and military offensives.
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A final statement said that Egypt will organize an international conference in cooperation with the United Nations for the reconstruction of Gaza. An overseen fiduciary fund from the World Bank will be established to receive promises to implement the early recovery and reconstruction plan, he said.
According to a draft of 112 pages of the plan obtained by Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units would be established where the population of Gaza could live while the reconstruction is carried out. The rubble would be recycled, and some of them are used as a filling to create expanded land on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza.
In the following years, the plan provides that the completely reorganization of the strip, build housing and “sustainable, transitable” urban areas, with renewable energy. Renovate agricultural land and create industrial areas and large areas of parks.
It also requires the opening of an airport, a fishing port and a commercial port. The Peace Agreements of Oslo in the 1990s requested the opening of an airport and a commercial port in Gaza, but the projects wilt when the peace process collapsed.
According to the plan, Hamas would give power to a provisional administration of political independents until a renovated Palestinian authority can assume control. The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, head of the authority backed by the West and opponent of Hamas, attended the summit.
Israel has ruled out any role for the Palestinian authority in Gaza and, together with the United States, has demanded the disarmament of Hamas. Hamas, who does not accept the existence of Israel, has said that he is willing to give power in Gaza to other Palestinians, but will not give up his arms until there is a Palestinian state.
Speaking at the summit, El-Sissi said that there is a need for a parallel path for peace to achieve a “complete and durable settlement” to the Palestinian cause.
“There will be no true peace without the establishment of the Palestinian State,” said the Egyptian leader. “It is time to adopt the launch 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.”
Israel has promised to maintain open security control over both territories, which he captured in the Middle East War of 1967 and that the Palestinians want for their future state. The Israel government and the majority of its political class oppose Palestinian status.
Trump surprised the region last month when he suggested that the approximately 2 million Palestinians of Gaza were reapted in other countries. He said that the United States would take possession of the territory and develop it again in a “Riviera” of the Middle East.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, embraced the proposal, which was flatly rejected by Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who said they would probably violate international law.
Riccardo Fabiani, director of Africa of the North of the International Crisis Group, a group of experts based in Brussels, said that Egypt was “trying to present a credible alternative focused on reconstruction and an indirect consultation mechanism for Hamas that could reassure Israel and the United States.”
Gaza Head Children to Jordan to receive treatment
Trump has suggested that Egypt and Jordan, two nearby Americans, could take a large number of Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Both countries have firmly rejected any plan of this type.
Gathering with Trump at the White House last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan offered to enjoy around 2,000 children to receive medical treatment. The first group of around 30 children left Jordan from Gaza on Tuesday, according to Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Children are being accompanied by up to two family members.
Jordan said children are amputated and will return to Gaza when their treatment is completed. The kingdom has also established field hospitals in Gaza and has delivered help by air and land.
The war began with the October 7 attack of Hamas against Israel, in which the Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people as hostages. The militants led by Hamas still have 59 hostages, 35 of which they are believed to be dead.
Most of the rest were released in high -fire agreements. Israel has rescued eight living hostages and has recovered the remains of more dozen.
Israel's 15 -month offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. It does not say how many were combatants, but the ministry says that women and children constituted more than half of the dead. Israel says he killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed large areas of Gaza, including much of its health system and another infrastructure. At its peak, the war displaced around 90% of the population, mainly within the territory, where hundreds of thousands packed in camps and schools in the miserable store reused as shelters.