U.S., Israel reject Gaza reconstruction plan backed by Arab nations

Arab nations, led by Egypt, that have strongly rejected President Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to “take over” the Gaza Strip and displace its more than 2 million Palestinian residents so the enclave can be turned into a luxury real estate development have offered an alternative plan. Leaders from the 22-nation Arab League attended a summit in Cairo Tuesday and unanimously adopted the Egyptian proposal, which does not foresee any of Gaza’s residents being forced to leave during reconstruction.

The Trump administration, along with its close allies in Israel, quickly rejected the plan, with the White House reiterating the president’s contention that the destruction wrought on Gaza during Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas has made the enclave uninhabitable. 

Palestinians who have spoken with CBS News in Gaza have all vehemently rejected any bid to force them from the territory, and the head of the United Nations and some others have suggested that making them leave would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Hamas backed the Arab plan, but has consistently refused to disarm as part of any ceasefire agreement, something Israel considers essential.

Israel and the U.S. reject the Arab Gaza plan

Israel was quick to dismiss the Egyptian-made plan, with the Foreign Ministry in Tel Aviv saying in a statement that the proposal, “continues to rely on the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA — Both have repeatedly demonstrated corruption, support for terrorism, and failure in resolving the issue.”

Israeli accused its neighboring Arab nations of having “used Palestinians as pawns against Israel” since the country’s creation, and the ministry’s statement reiterated the Netanyahu administration’s backing for “President Trump’s idea.”

The ministry claimed the U.S. president’s plan was “an opportunity for the Gazans to have free choice based on their free will,” despite Mr. Trump saying they would not be permitted to return to Gaza.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement, meanwhile, that the Arab proposal “does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance.”

“President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas,” Hughes said, adding: “We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region.”

In his speech, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said he believed the time had come to find a pathway to “a just and sustainable solution” to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian crisis, adding: “I firmly believe that U.S. President Trump possesses the capacity to realize this objective, aligning with our sincere aspirations to bring an end to tensions and hostilities in our region.”

Next week, at another summit in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and its Arab League partners will seek the backing of other predominantly Islamic countries for their plan. A senior European Union official was at the summit in Cairo on Tuesday, but there has been no statement from the bloc to date offering its clear backing for the Arab proposal. 

What is in the Arab proposal to rebuild Gaza? 

The Egyptian plan, as explained by the country’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty after Tuesday’s summit, would involve three phases. The first would focus on urgent relief operations and initial recovery, including building 200,000 temporary housing units in Gaza. 

That first phase would take between six months and a year and would cost $3 billion. 

The second stage would involve the construction of 200,000 permanent housing units and efforts to reestablish vital infrastructure. That phase is envisioned to take about two years, with a $20 billion price tag. 

The final phase would add another 200,000 permanent housing units and more service facilities, including reconstructing ports and an airport over the ensuing two years, requiring roughly $30 billion. 

On the key question of who or what would oversee the operations and administer Gaza, which has been ruled by the U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group Hamas for almost two decades, Egypt’s plan calls for an administrative committee comprised of independent Palestinian technocrats to manage the territory for six months, before the Palestinian Authority returns to control Gaza.

The PA currently administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the other, much larger Palestinian territory. It is widely unpopular among Palestinians and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently ruled out either Hamas or the PA taking control in Gaza.

Abdelatty also said Egypt would train Palestinian security personnel, in Egypt, to return and help maintain security throughout the Gaza Strip, but he didn’t say which phase of the proposed plan that would commence during.

The foreign minister acknowledged that before any of this could happen — even if the plan or some version of it is backed by Israel, which maintains firm control over goods and people entering and exiting Gaza and is currently blocking all aid entry — there must first be a permanent ceasefire.

A call for international support – and a lot of money

Addressing the summit, el-Sissi called on other nations to back the roughly $53 billion plan — including financially — and to participate in a reconstruction conference Egypt is hosting next month.

“Let us unite to make the channeling of support for this fund a noble goal and a moral imperative,” el-Sissi said, “ensuring every Palestinian child and every Palestinian family the right to live in a safe and civilized environment, equal to that of all peoples.”

In a final statement issued by the summit attendees, the leaders called on the United Nations Security Council to send international peacekeepers “to contribute to achieving security for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as part of enhancing the political horizon for the establishment of the Palestinian state.”

The leaders also affirmed “the vital and irreplaceable role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in carrying out its mandate granted by the United Nations resolution.”

Israel’s government has long accused UNRWA of being linked with Hamas and, just weeks ago, it banned the U.N. aid agency from operating on its territory.