Extraordinary Arab League meeting in Cairo to approve a Gaza reconstruction plan to counter US President Donald Trump‘s controversial ideas, though some critical details must be ironed out before the proposal can be finalized.
The proposal is expected to be presented at an extraordinary Arab summit in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday. But while country leaders, including Saudi Arabia, will seek to present a united front against Trump’s proposal to displace Palestinians, the initiative faces some significant obstacles, according to several people briefed on the roughly 150-page document.
Disagreements exist over the issue of Palestinian governance of Gaza, said the people, who asked not to be named while discussing sensitive material. The security of the enclave is another outstanding issue, they said, as is the future of Hamas.
The summit is overshadowed by the risk of renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas after a six-week cease-fire ends Sunday, making any reconstruction plan questionable for now.
Israel, with apparent US support, wants to extend the initial phase of the ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US in January. Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and several other countries, insists the parties should move on to the second phase of negotiations that would define the end of the war, according to Bloomberg.
Israel has suspended humanitarian aid to Gaza as a result of the stalemate, drawing rebukes from Arab mediators as well as Saudi Arabia, which has rallied countries in the region around Trump’s alternative proposal for Gaza’s redevelopment.
During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last month, Trump said the US should take over Gaza, relocate Palestinians and develop a holiday resort, sparking criticism across the Middle East and elsewhere.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Sunday that there is “no alternative to the faithful and full implementation by all sides” of the January cease-fire agreement, signaling that a return to war would derail all efforts to plan for a post-war Gaza.
“Maintaining the ceasefire is what matters,” he told a news conference in Cairo alongside European Union Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica. “This is absolutely vital.”
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