Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is striving to rally fellow Arab leaders around a plan for postwar Gaza that would serve as an alternative to proposals put forward by US president Donald Trump, and ensure Palestinians aren’t displaced from the war-ravaged territory.
The kingdom’s de facto leader is expected to host counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in Riyadh on Friday to discuss the proposal, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The plan would see internally displaced Palestinians temporarily housed in Gaza’s open spaces while reconstruction gets under way, they said.
The details have been worked on mainly by Egypt and Jordan – the countries Mr Trump has said should take in Gazans – with input from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, they said. They need the full backing of the UAE, which is focused on postwar governance of the enclave.
The UAE’s foreign ministry, as well as foreign ministry officials from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and Qatar media officials, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The plan for what happens after the Israel-Hamas war was slated to be unveiled at an Arab League summit in Cairo at the end of February, but the date has been pushed back to early March, said the sources. That would allow more time for consultations, they said.
Crown prince Mohammed is keen for a unified approach by the five Arab leaders so that any proposal carries more weight. Mr Trump has said the US should take ownership of Gaza, redevelop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” and move its population into permanent new homes in Egypt and Jordan.
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His proposal has been widely condemned, although not by Israel, and rejected outright by Egypt and Jordan in particular.
The Saudi leader is on good terms with the US president, and is seeking to play a role as power broker between Washington and the Arab world and even Russia and Ukraine.
The UAE is also an ally of the US and, unlike Saudi Arabia, has formal relations with Israel via the Abraham Accords in 2020. Abu Dhabi is a major financial backer of Egypt, and has been a driver of humanitarian efforts in Gaza during the 16 months of fighting.
The Israel-Hamas conflict is currently on hold after a six-week truce, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, began last month. The two sides are now preparing to start negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire, with Israel aiming for a permanent dismantling of the Palestinian group, both in government and militarily.
What’s been referred to in Arab media as ‘the Egyptian plan’ is divided into two main phases, according to people who have been briefed on its details.
The short- and medium-term components call for Gazans to be sheltered in new temporary housing during efforts to remove rubble created by the massive Israeli bombardment of urban areas.
Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the US and many other countries, would cease to have any formal role in running the territory’s affairs, with authority delegated to a new body that would be known in Arabic as Lajnat El-Isnad Al-Mujtamaiee, or the societal support committee, the sources said.
That would be largely made up of Gaza notables and city-council-like functionaries and overseen by a higher body made up of representatives of key Arab states, they said. Security would be controlled by a police force vetted and trained mainly by Egypt and including elements of the Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the West Bank, said the sources, who added that the issue of how to disarm Hamas isn’t addressed in the plan.
Israel has ruled out the Palestinian Authority’s involvement and is unlikely to trust that Hamas isn’t playing a part, officially or otherwise, an issue that may complicate any implementation of the proposal.
The longer-term aspects of the roadmap address the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Gaza, with potential funding from Gulf Arab states, Europeans and others tied to the establishment of a political pathway toward a Palestinian state. Israel, which would need to buy in to the proposal, is firmly against the latter idea.
In his meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, UAE’s president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed rejected “any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land”.
He also “underscored the importance of linking Gaza’s reconstruction to a path that leads to a comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution,” it said. The UAE hasn’t itself put forward an alternative to Mr Trump’s plan. − Bloomberg
