Egyptian president ‘certain’ Trump can bring peace to the Middle East — as Arab leaders weigh $20B reconstruction of war-torn Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he’s “certain” President Trump can broker peace in the Middle East on Tuesday as the country presented a $20 billion reconstruction plan for war-torn Gaza.
At a summit of Arab leaders in Cairo on Tuesday, the Egyptian government offered an alternative to Trump’s controversial plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza and redevelop it under US control.
The proposal involves raising billions from the oil-rich Arab states and the international community to invest in the Palestinian enclave over the next two years.
The plan garnered support from the Arab League nations. It calls for the money to be used to build 200,000 housing units in Gaza, where nearly 70% of all buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the war.
But an elephant in the room remains: The Israel-Hamas cease-fire expired over the weekend and the two sides have not agreed to extend the truce — though they have not resumed fighting yet, either.
The proposal comes after Trump pushed a plan to evacuate the more than 2 million residents living in Gaza, calling the enclave uninhabitable and tapping the US to take it over and rebuild it into a “Riviera.”
Trump’s proposal earned widespread backlash and allegations of “ethnic cleansing,” with the US administration repeatedly suggesting that the Palestinians would be moved to Egypt and Jordan with no word on whether they would ever be allowed to return to Gaza.
The Trump administration has maintained that the president’s proposal was meant to pressure leaders in the Middle East to come up with their own alternative plans to the reconstruction issue.
Egypt’s counter has been met with praise as it calls for reconstruction without the need to displace the Palestinian inhabitants who have been forced to relocate repeatedly during the war.
“I welcome and strongly endorse the Arab-led initiative to mobilize support for Gaza’s reconstruction, clearly expressed in this summit,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
“The UN stands ready to fully cooperate in this endeavor.”
Both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas also appeared to welcome the Egyptian plan, which also called for elections to be held in Gaza within a year.
Hamas halted the voting when it came into power in 2006.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas said his group, which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas, was the only legitimate governing and military force able to rule the enclave.
Abbas said he is ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in Gaza.
Questions over who will rule Gaza have become the biggest sticking point of achieving a permanent end to the Gaza war and the return of all Israeli hostages.
Israeli said that Hamas must be wiped out in Gaza, and cannot return to power. However, the Jewish state also opposes the Palestinian Authority taking over.
Hamas has agreed to abide by whatever reconstruction plan gains the most support from Palestinian and Arad leaders, spokesman Hazem Qassem told Turkish news outlet Anadolu.
“Hamas does not necessarily have to be part of these arrangements, nor is it interested in being involved in them at all,” Qassem said of the postwar plans.
The terror group said it would not support the plans being proposed by “external forces,” referencing Trump’s plan, which has been touted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “visionary and innovative” idea that must be carried out.
With Post wires
About The Author
