Muslim leaders approved a plan to restore the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a solution to US President Donald Trump’s frequently criticized proposal to annex the area and relocate its citizens, in response to the Palestinian Authority’s upcoming administration.
However, Trump’s decision to establish the Palestinian Authority ( PA ) in Gaza leaves a long way off, and he has already stepped up support for Israel by closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s liaison office in Washington in his first term.
Trump sparked anger on a global scale when he suggested that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and make it the” Riviera of the Middle East” while obstructing its Palestinian residents to emigrate to Egypt or Jordan shortly after taking office in January.
A moment after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his aid for Trump’s plan, the Arab League conference in Cairo on Tuesday sought to provide an alternative to that vision.
The summit called for the implementation of a” complete Muslim plan,” and in a last communiqué, to urge the international community to support it.
According to the statement,” all these attempts are going along with the launching of a social path” in the direction of a Palestinian statehood, which Israeli officials have opposed.
The Palestinians ‘ decision to establish a Gaza management council under the auspices of the Israeli government were also welcomed in the statement.
It stated that it would “receive financial vows from all donor countries and funding organizations” to carry out projects and that it had established a trust account to finance the reconstruction of the territory.
Additionally, Hamas is urged to be excluded from the summit’s call for integrated Arab picture under the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella organization that is the main political pressure within the Arab Authority.
Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, with its own attack, welcomed the event’s plan and the idea of creating a temporary council to” supervise relief efforts, reconstruction, and governance.”
How eagerly do Hamas become to renounce control of Gaza was not known. Israel, in contrast, has stated that it will not permit Hamas to play any part in the future of the territory.
-” Long sustained solution”-
Iranian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had stated in his opening remarks on Tuesday that his nation’s program would allow Palestinians to “main on their land,” but he made a conscious effort not to criticize Trump.
He continued,” I am convinced that President Trump is capable of doing that,” calling for” a significant and powerful political operation that leads to a just and lasting alternative to the Arab reason.”
At a press conference held on Friday in Jeddah, the nation’s foreign secretary, Badr Abdelatty, later announced that Egypt had get support from Muslim countries.
Abdelatty said,” We will also try to get your support for this program so that it turns into both an Islamic and Muslim strategy.”
Trump’s request for US manage of Gaza has been rejected by Palestinians, Arab states, and a number of European governments, who oppose any attempts to remove its citizens.
Trump has just made an appearance to soften his stance, saying he was” no forsaking” the strategy, which some experts believe could be in violation of international law.
The event’s final statement warned against” sinful efforts to relocate the Palestinian people,” warning that this would “usher the place into a new stage of conflicts.”
Any forced movement, in the eyes of Palestinians, brings back memories of the” Nakba” or calamity, the mass movement that led to Israel’s development in 1948.
Sisi stated on Tuesday that the new administration commission, made up of Arab technocrats, was “paving the means for the transfer of the Palestinian Authority to the Strip.”
Mahmud Abbas, a veteran Palestinian president and speaker at the summit, claimed a working committee had been set up to get ready for the PA to resume its presence in Gaza.
Before losing control of Gaza in 2007 to Islamist Hamas, the PA had earlier ruled the region.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres endorsed the effort to rebuild Gaza from Cairo on Tuesday, adding that the international organization was ready to “fully cooperate.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, was somewhat excluded, sending his top diplomat in vain to the summit.
Saudi Arabia’s support may be crucial to any local reconstruction effort because it is the Middle East’s largest market.
– Peace crisis at an impasse
1, 218 people died as a result of Hamas ‘ October 7 attack on Israel, the majority of whom were residents, while at least 48, 405 people died as a result of Israel’s military retribution in Gaza, according to statistics from both sides.
The conflict in Gaza has left the region largely inruins and caused a terrible humanitarian crises.
After a delicate peace in January, humanitarian assistance has poured into Gaza, before Israel announced on Sunday that it would stop deliveries until Hamas agreed to terms for an extension of the truce.
After six months of relative calm, which included exchanges of Jewish hostages for Israeli prisoners, the second phase of the agreement came to an end over the weekend.
Hamas has urged a change to the second phase of the agreement, which may result in a permanent end to the conflict, despite Israel’s claim that it wants to extend the second phase until mid-April.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s leading diplomat, stated just before the summit that it needed to “demand the complete demilitarization of Gaza” and Hamas’s deportation in order to move forward with the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Sami Abu Zuhri, the head of Hamas, responded to the request, telling AFP:” Hamas and all opposition groups are on the receiving end.”
