Egypt is hosting a summit of Arab nations on Tuesday intended to finalize the provisions for a comprehensive plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip – an attempt to prevent President Donald Trump from implementing his proposal for the United States to rebuild the war-torn area, which would require the evacuation of Palestinians trapped under Hamas rule there.
The Egyptian government is referring to the meeting as the “Extraordinary Arab Summit” on the future of Gaza, which has been under the rule of the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas since 2007. Hamas has devastated the Gaza Strip, outfitting a large percentage of its civilian areas into terrorist infrastructure such as tunnels, weapons depots, and command centers. Palestinians civilians have endured Hamas turning homes, schools, United Nations humanitarian sites, and even hospitals into terror centers used to attack Israel.
Much of Hamas has been destroyed in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, terrorist siege of Israel by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,200 people, the abduction of over 200, and a wide array of atrocities committed against Israeli civilians such as gang rape, torture, infanticide, and the desecration of corpses. Israel declared war on Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have focused on dismantling Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, as Hamas used the territory to launch the October 7 attack. The IDF has also uncovered evidence of Hamas terrorists torturing and otherwise abusing Palestinians trapped in Gaza and offered humanitarian support.
Despite the dire state of affairs for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the territory’s Arab neighbors have vocally opposed accepting Palestinian refugees while claiming to support them. Egypt and Jordan have been especially disparaging of calls for them to accept Palestinian refugees fleeing Hamas; Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi pointedly asserted in January, “Jordan is for Jordanians.”
President Trump suggested in January that the end of the war between Israel and Hamas, and the reconstruction of Gaza, required the evacuation of civilians there, referring to it as a “demolition site.” He announced in early February that America would “take over” Gaza, evacuate the refugees, and rebuild the territory, alarming Arab neighbors who oppose accepting Palestinians into their country. He also published a video, apparently made by artificial intelligence, showing a potential future Gaza under Trump leadership.
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The “Extraordinary Arab Summit” is intended to craft an alternative plan to Trump’s that would not require Egypt, Jordan, or any other Arab country to offer safe harbor to terrorized Palestinian civilians. It is taking place on Tuesday and is expected to conclude on Tuesday evening local time with the publication of a joint declaration. Among the guests at the summit in addition to the leaders of those countries are Ahmed al-Sharaa, the jihadi president of Syria; Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid; Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa; and Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah. Saudi Arabia has reportedly sent its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Mahmoud Abbas, the longtime strongman leader of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is also expected to be present.
While the official alternative Gaza plan has yet to be published at press time, multiple Middle Eastern newspaper have published purported details of the plan shared by anonymous sources. The reports indicate that the plan will involve raising around $53 billion in funds to rebuild the territory and establishing a “technocratic” committee to govern Gaza, replacing Hamas.
The Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported that the Egyptian plan would cost $53 billion:
This is divided into $3 billion for the early recovery phase, $20 billion for Phase 1 of reconstruction (including infrastructure, service buildings, 20,000 acres of land reclamation, and permanent housing), and $30 billion for Phase 2 (including completing Phase 1 and building industrial zones, fishing ports, a seaport, and an airport).
Pivotally, this plan would not require Egypt, Jordan, or other Arab countries to shelter Palestinian refugees. According to Emirati newspaper the National, “Gaza residents will be moved to safe zones within the territory while work gets under way. It is estimated to cost about $50 billion, about the same as a UN forecast.”
“To manage the reconstruction, a committee will be formed to oversee the governance of the Gaza Strip during a six-month transitional phase,” Al Ahram reported. “The committee will be independent, composed of technocrats and nonpartisan figures, and operate under the Palestinian government’s umbrella to facilitate the full return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.”
The National similarly reported: “The plan … also has political and security sections outlining how Gaza will be governed after the war. The political part envisages creating a committee of 20 independent technocrats to run the territory, meaning Hamas will have to relinquish its authority.”
One of the goals of the summit, the newspapers reported, is for the Palestinian Authority to approve of the list of names on the “technocratic” committee.
The plan to replace violent or anarchic rule with a committee of faceless unknowns echoes the current situation in Haiti, imposed in part by pressure from former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Haiti fell into a state of functional anarchy, presided over by unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry, after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which technically concluded in April with the establishment of the “presidential transitional council.” The faceless council almost immediately fell into discord over the establishment of a new prime minister and its chosen president, Edgard Gardy Leblanc Fils, served only from May through October 2024.
A major obstacle to such a plan in Haiti is the existence of heavily armed and organized criminal gangs, the functional equivalent of Hamas. Al Ahram noted in its report on the Egyptian Gaza plan that Cairo “acknowledges that the presence of multiple Palestinian factions carrying arms remains a challenge,” but reportedly dismisses it as a problem that “can be addressed and ultimately resolved” somehow.
Part of that solution appears to be a plan for Egypt and Jordan to train Palestinian police officers to keep the peace; Al Ahram did not specify any plan to ensure that these officers are not affiliated with Hamas. The National also reported a plan to use United Nations “forces,” without specifying if these would be peacekeepers or members of foreign militaries. These “forces” would reportedly be used to “monitor land crossings between Gaza and both Egypt and Israel” – to prevent Palestinians from seeking freedom – rather than to eliminate Hamas terrorism.
“Disarmament may be accepted in principle, but no clear mechanism exists to implement it,” an unnamed “diplomatic source” told Al Ahram. “The focus is on strengthening the PA [Palestinian Authority] and establishing a neutral committee to oversee reconstruction and humanitarian efforts.”
Hamas has enthusiastically rejected any plan to abandon its terrorist activities.
“Any talk about the resistance’s weapons is nonsense. The resistance’s weapons are a red line for Hamas and all resistance factions,” Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said this week.
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