Trump’s relocation proposal met with Egypt-led alternative as conflict passes 500-day mark
Feb 17 marked 500 days of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a visit to the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh focused on US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for Gaza, which has drawn condemnation from Arab states, but which Israel said it was “committed” to.
Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the enclave in a counter to Trump’s proposal to depopulate the conflict-torn Gaza Strip.
The Al-Ahram newspaper said Cairo’s proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms rehabilitate Gaza’s infrastructure in a three-phase process that would take up to five years to complete.
Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Egypt, with Saudi Arabia and Jordan, has been leading efforts to formulate an Arab-led alternative. The Egyptian foreign ministry said Cairo plans to present a “comprehensive vision” for Gaza’s reconstruction.
On his first trip to the Middle East since taking office, Rubio met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Feb 17. He has already visited Israel and later also traveled to the UAE.
Meanwhile, Riyadh is expected to host a regional meeting on Feb 21, and officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan will discuss Egypt’s proposal before introducing it at the mini-Arab summit.
While the US has indicated it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments, Rubio has said “the only plan is the Trump plan”.
Gaza remains at a critical juncture with the first phase of the ongoing cease-fire due to end in early March. Israel and Hamas still have to negotiate a second phase, which would ensure the release of all remaining hostages, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a long-term halt to the conflict.
However, on Feb 17, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the establishment of a government directorate to promote the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians, his ministry said that day.
Israel’s military operation has so far killed at least 48,271 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to the Gaza’s health ministry.
Despite the truce and the diplomatic efforts to extend it, Gazans are concerned the violence could reignite. Agence France-Presse reported about Abu Mursa and his family, who have been displaced more than a dozen times since the conflict began, moving from place to place across the territory in a desperate attempt to stay safe.
“It’s been 500 days of humiliation, suffering, and bloodshed,” said the resident of northern Gaza, who finally returned home after the fragile cease-fire took hold on Jan 19.
“I just hope the cease-fire holds. There is only destruction around us.”
Meanwhile, rights groups and experts have said Trump’s plan amounts to forced expulsion, a potential war crime. European countries have largely denounced Trump’s plan.
The plan exhibits no understanding of the historical Palestinian experience, and during the last 16 months, 90 percent of the population of Gaza has again been forcibly displaced, said Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London, adding this was no great humanitarian proposal as the White House was trying to portray it.
“Any solution for Palestine has to be Palestinian-led. Gaza is for Palestinians and all designs on the future of the Strip must be devised by them, for them, and with them. If Israel wants security and not territory, then a thriving Gaza is definitely in its best interest,” he said in a comment for Arab News.
Agencies contributed to this story.
