The News
Arab leaders endorsed Egypt’s $53 billion Gaza reconstruction plan following an emergency summit in Cairo on Tuesday, only for the US to promptly reject it.
The Arab League meeting concluded with the first unified counter to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza and displace Gazans, estimating a three-to-five year rebuilding process, with Gazans remaining in temporary housing rather than leaving the enclave. Governance would be overseen by a small technocratic committee for six months before transitioning to a revamped Palestinian Authority.
“The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance,” a US National Security Council spokesman said. Trump, in his 100-minute congressional address on Tuesday, didn’t mention his plan to redevelop Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The announcements come after the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expired, with no clear path to further talks. Israel has since blocked aid to the strip in an attempt to pressure Hamas to agree to a temporary extension.
SIGNALS
Arab countries divided over Gaza’s post-war future
Arab countries are united in opposition to Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. But “beyond insisting on Palestinian statehood and rejecting forcible displacement, [they] have not yet agreed on an alternative vision for Gaza,” The New York Times wrote. Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia want Hamas to disarm, but are open to the group retaining a political presence, while the UAE wants the Palestinian Authority to govern both Gaza and the West Bank. Meanwhile, Israel — backed by the US — opposes Hamas involvement in postwar Gaza, while Hamas has refused to disarm. ”[Any proposal] cannot just be a reconstruction plan but a political and security plan,” a former senior counterterrorism official at the US Defense Department told The Wall Street Journal.
Cairo talks gains urgency as Gaza ceasefire falters
The Cairo talks gained urgency after the first phase of a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas expired. Israel has refused to begin talks on a second stage, instead proposing what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a US-backed extension that would run throughout Ramadan and Passover, which ends on April 20. Hamas has rejected the plan, with an official telling Al Jazeera that the Tehran-backed group would only release the remaining Israeli hostages under the terms of the initially agreed deal. The stalemate has escalated regional concern that the war could soon reignite, The Economist wrote. “If the group continues to refuse to change the terms of the agreement, Israel is preparing a massive new offensive in Gaza. Israeli officers say that could pay the way for [Trump’s] plan.”
Trump’s intentions for Gaza remain unclear
Some analysts have questioned if Trump’s widely criticized proposal to transform Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ is realistic or even sincere. But Trump’s announcement, two Middle East policy experts at The Washington Institute wrote, has “moved the goalposts on Gaza negotiations.” This, they argued, is “very much in line with Trump’s established playbook of upping the ante, creating a pressurized situation, and putting the onus on others to offer workable solutions.” If Trump’s proposal is aimed at spurring negotiations, a Chatham House researcher argued, it could nonetheless backfire by harming other US interests in the region, including potentially giving a boost to Iran’s influence.