The leaders of Gulf Arab states are expected to strategize with their Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts on Friday in an effort to counter President Trump’s controversial proposal to redevelop Gaza under U.S. control and displace its Palestinian residents.
The meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, is in preparation for a broader Arab League summit in Egypt on March 4.
Mr. Trump’s suggestion last month that the United States might take control of Gaza, develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” and relocate its Palestinian residents to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan was met with astonishment and outrage across the Arab world. His aides then reframed it as a challenge to leaders of the Middle East to come up with a better alternative.
“All these countries say how much they care about the Palestinians,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week. “If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great.”
Now, Arab governments are in rushed consultations to do just that.
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been working together to forge an alternative idea for Gaza in which Arab countries would help fund and oversee reconstruction, while keeping the two million Palestinian residents in place and preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state, according to diplomats and officials briefed on the efforts.
There have been a number of audacious plans floated for the day after in Gaza, but none have really gained traction. The latest one came from Emirati real estate magnate, Khalaf al-Habtoor, who offered an ambitious blueprint aimed at rebuilding the enclave within a “matter of years, not decades.”
But a key sticking point remains the question of postwar governance in Gaza.
A proposed Egyptian plan would likely include the formation of a committee of Palestinian technocrats and community leaders, all unaffiliated with Hamas, who could run Gaza after the war.
But Israeli leaders have said they would oppose any postwar plans that would pave the way to Palestinian sovereignty. Arab leaders insist they would only support a proposal that at least nominally forges a path toward Palestinian statehood.
For any Arab strategy on the governance of Gaza, the Arab leaders would want the blessing of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized body that administered Gaza until Hamas wrested control of the territory nearly two decades ago.
But the authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, has appeared wary of any plan that does not give him full control of Gaza.
Hamas officials have said they would be willing to cede control over civilian affairs to another power but have refused so far to say they would disband their military wing, an unacceptable position for both Israel and Mr. Trump.
All six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council are expected to attend the meeting in Riyadh on Friday along with Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The Egyptian leader was expected in Riyadh on Thursday for preliminary talks with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday before his departure for Saudi Arabia, Mr. el-Sisi reinforced the idea that Egypt’s proposals would “not involve forcible displacement” of Palestinians.
The Arab plan will focus on ideas that keep Palestinians inside Gaza to counter Mr. Trump call’s for Egypt and Jordan to take them in, an idea Arab countries have all rejected. Many in the Arab world would consider any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza an ethnic cleansing and a war crime as well as a death knell for any future Palestinian state.
Some countries, like Jordan and Egypt, might also be concerned that increased Palestinian migration could create economic and political disruptions at home.
Speaking at an investment forum hosted by Saudi Arabia in Miami on Thursday, Mr. Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the president’s plan for Gaza was not about evicting Palestinians, but about shaking up current thinking and improving prospects for the Palestinian people.
“He’s engendered this discussion throughout the entire Arab world,” Mr. Witkoff said. “You’ve got different types of solutions than before he talked about this.”
Any plan for Gaza will also need to take into account the need to prevent future attacks on Israel. There are also the questions of who would pay for reconstruction and whether Arab countries would send forces to keep Gaza stable.
While Egypt has yet to release full details of its proposal, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly said on Wednesday that Cairo is working on a comprehensive plan for Gaza’s reconstruction which envisions restoring the enclave within three years, according to Ahram Online, an Egyptian state-run news outlet.
Riyadh has been playing a crucial diplomatic role this week, hosting U.S., Russian and Arab officials for high-stakes talks on the wars in both Ukraine and Gaza.
Vivian Yee contributed reporting from Cairo, Egypt.
