Arab Summit Accepts Egyptian Plan For Gaza; Israel, US, Hamas Respond (image @RHCJO)

Cairo, Egypt: The Arab summit convened in Cairo adopted the Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza. The summit called for categorically rejecting the forceful displacement of the Palestinians out of their homeland or within the Strip, and called for finding out a realistic alternative for US President Donald Trump’s “taking over” of Gaza, and making it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Israel slams the Egyptian proposal, claiming that the summit failed to address the realities of the situation following the October 7 attacks and added that its plan for post-war Gaza remained rooted in an outdated perspective.

White House said Trump stays on his vision for the costal enclave, and added that he also welcome inputs from the Arab leaders.

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Hamas welcomed the five-year plan, that calls for a group of independent Palestinian technocrats to manage Gaza and for the armed group to cede power until a reformed Palestinian Authority can take control.

While condemning the “starvation and scorched earth policies” pursued by Israel to forcibly displace Palestinians, the Egyptian draft also stressed the importance of implementing the second and third stages of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which call for a complete Israeli occupation force’s withdrawal from the Strip.

It condemned Israel’s attack, and incursion into Syrian territory, and called the international community to compel Tel Aviv to stop the violation.

The detailed draft of the Egyptian plan envisions $53 billion to reconstruct Gaza and forming a committee to manage it for 6 months in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

As part of the plan, an international conference for the reconstruction of Gaza in Cairo will be held later this month. At the same time, a trust fund will be set up to receive contributions from donor nations.

As per the draft, “implementing reconstruction requires arrangements for transitional governance and providing security in a way that preserves the prospects of a two-state solution”.

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Egypt believe that the early recovery phase will last six months and require $3 billion, while the first reconstruction phase will last for two years and cost $20 billion. The second phase of the reconstruction is expected to last two and a half years and cost $30 billion.

A conference will also be held for international donors in providing the necessary funding for the reconstruction and long-term development of the coastal enclave.

Mahmoud Abbas, the President of PA, addressed the summit saying that a working committee had been formed to prepare for taking up security “responsibilities after restructuring and unifying its cadres present in the Gaza Strip and training them in Egypt and Jordan”.

What is the Egyptian Plan:

• The first phase of the plan would last six months, and the next two phases will last for over four to five years combined.
• A six-month interim period would require a committee of Palestinian technocrats. The committee will operate under the management of the Palestinian Authority, and will look into clearing the rubble from Salah al-Din Street, which is the main north-south highway in the Gaza Strip.
• After the clearing of the road, 200,000 temporary housing units will be built to accommodate 1.2 million people and about 60,000 damaged buildings restored.
• After the said interim measures are fulfilled, an addition four to five years will be required for long-term reconstruction. The plan aims at building at least 400,000 permanent homes, as well as rebuilding Gaza’s seaport and international airport.
• Basic necessities like water, a waste system, telecommunication services and electricity would also be restored.

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Egypt will present its Gaza plan to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for approval next week. Cairo’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said, “On March 7, God willing, in Jeddah, there will be an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the OIC, and we will seek to adopt this plan as well so that it will be an Arab plan and an Islamic plan”.