• The US and Israel has rejected Egypt’s plan calling for a post-war reconstruction of Gaza.
• The plan that would allow $53 bllion in the reconstruction of Gaza was endorsed by Arab countries in Cairo as an alternative to Trump’s forced displacement plan.
The US has rejected an Arab plan calling for the reconstruction of Gaza without the forced displacement of its 1.5 million people proposed in Trump’s plan.
Along with the Arab states the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have welcomed the Arab plan, which calls for Gaza to be governed temporarily by a committee of independent experts and for international peacekeepers to be deployed there.
The plan rejected by the United States and Israel was said to have failed to address realities in Gaza.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the Arab plan did “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. We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region.”
Trump proposed last month that the US would occupy Gaza and force all the Palestinians to leave permanently to create a “Riviera of the Middle East”.
The Arab plan envisions reconstruction taking place over three phases over a period of five years, during which some 1.5 million displaced Gazans would be moved into 200,000 prefabricated housing units and 60,000 repaired homes.
In the first phase, which would last about six months and cost $3bn, millions of tonnes of rubble and any unexploded ordnance would be cleared.
The second phase lasting two years would cost $20bn andwould see housing and utilities rebuilt.
The third phase would see an airport, two seaports and an industrial zone be built which would take another two years and cost $30bn.
The Arab plan also proposes that an “administrative committee” made up of independent Palestinian technocrats are to run post-war Gaza for a transitional period while “working towards empowering the Palestinian Authority to return”.
Hamas said it appreciated “the Arab position rejecting attempts to displace our people”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, told the summit that he welcomed the Arab plan and urged President Trump to support it.
The deal rejection comes after Israel cut off all food and essential supplies to Gaza, a lifeline to the survival of Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinian population.
From the original ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Hamas the deal was meant to move into phase 2 after last Saturday in which there would be a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, release of more hostages, Palestinian prisoners along with an increase in aid.
Israel has shown unwillingness to progress into the second phase of the ceasefire deal and in order to pressure Hamas to accept a extension to phase 1 of the ceasefire, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid with US backing.
