The News
Arab nations are stepping up efforts to draft a counter proposal for Gaza, even as US President Donald Trump and Israeli leaders have doubled down on Trump’s controversial plan to resettle Palestinians elsewhere and redevelop the enclave.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar will convene in Riyadh Friday to hash out a plan, which could see the group pledge as much as $20 billion to form a new Palestinian committee of technocrats and community leaders to lead Gaza instead of Hamas. The plan would also see Gaza’s residents given the right to remain in the strip.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is open to alternate ideas from Arab governments, but emphasized that, for now, “the only plan is the Trump plan.”
SIGNALS
Arab plan faces “obstacles… as old as the ideas themselves”
Arab leaders are tasked with convincing US President Donald Trump that their plan is a viable alternative for Gaza’s reconstruction, but even if they do, implementation remains a challenge, analysts argued. “The obstacles to these ideas are as old as the ideas themselves,” The New York Times wrote. Questions around Palestinian statehood — which Israel rejects — and what role the Palestinian Authority should have are highly contentious, even for Arab states. Meanwhile Hamas, which took over Gaza more than two decades ago, has refused to disband its paramilitary. Devising an alternative to Trump’s proposal will necessitate “a degree of Arab unity not seen before in decades,” a Saudi foreign policy expert told AFP.
Hamas, Israel look to next phase of ceasefire talks
The Arab leader meeting comes as negotiations for the second stage of Hamas and Israel’s increasingly fragile ceasefire agreement remain largely stalled. On Tuesday, Hamas said it would be willing to hand over all remaining Israeli hostages to secure second-stage talks, a surprise concession that seemed aimed at abating Gazans’ fears that fighting could resume, The Associated Press wrote. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told cabinet members Tuesday that Israel would seek Hamas’ disarmament and withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal. Yet many analysts believe that securing the remaining Israeli hostages’ release will ultimately mean making a deal with Hamas that leaves them “functional in Gaza in some form,” The Times of Israel wrote.