Arab leaders reject Trump’s Gaza plan, endorse Egyptian reconstruction proposal

Arab leaders have firmly rejected US president Donald Trump’s controversial plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop the region, endorsing an Egyptian-proposed reconstruction plan instead.
The $53 billion plan, approved at an emergency summit in Cairo on Tuesday (4 February), aims to rebuild Gaza while keeping Palestinians in the enclave and excluding Hamas from governance. The plan, designed to be implemented in three phases, begins with debris removal and gradually transitions into full reconstruction over five years. It envisions the return of the Palestinian Authority to power in Gaza and the training of a Palestinian police force by Egypt and Jordan. This initiative stands in stark contrast to Trump’s proposal, which suggested transforming Gaza into a luxury “Riviera” and relocating its population to countries like Egypt and Jordan — an idea met with widespread condemnation.
Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit reiterated that Palestinians “have the right to live peacefully on their land” and rejected what he called “illegal American projects” in the region. The summit’s final statement also called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in Gaza and the West Bank to ensure security. Although the Egyptian plan is gaining regional support, it remains uncertain whether Israel or the United States will accept it, particularly as key issues such as the status of Hamas and Palestinian self-determination remain unresolved. Earlier, the South African and Colombian presidents, along with Malaysian prime minister, stated in a joint article published in Foreign Policy magazine that “the proposal by US President Donald Trump to annex the Gaza Strip amounts to ethnic cleansing.”