The United States has rejected an alternative reconstruction plan for Gaza supported by Arab leaders, insisting that President Donald Trump holds his own proposal, which includes the relocation of Palestinian residents and the transformation of the enclave into a coastal area administered by the United States.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, the spokesman for the National Security Council Brian Hughes said that the proposal supported by the Arabs “is not aimed at reality that Gaza was currently uninhabitable”. He added that Trump remains determined to rebuild Gaza “free from Hamas” and is eager to continue the talks.
The plan supported by Arabic, led by Egypt, envisages Hamas handing over the control of Gaza to a provisional administration until a reformed Palestinian authority (PA) can take over. Unlike Trump’s proposal, this would allow the 2 million Palestinian residents of Gaza to stay.
At a summit in Cairo, the president of the Palestinian authority Mahmoud Abbas undertook to hold elections in the West Bank, Gaza, and occupied East Jerusalem for the first time in two decades, if the conditions allow.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to describe his post-war vision for Gaza, but supports Trump’s plan for a “different Gaza”. He rejected Hamas and the AP as future leaders of the enclave.
The Arab proposal of $ 53 billion, with a target completion date of 2030, favors the abolition of unplodced ammunition and erase more than 50 million tonnes of rubble left by the Israeli bombing.
The plan should be presented to President Trump in the coming weeks, according to Jordanian officials.
While the Arab nations have largely approved the proposal of Egypt, the key actors remain absent. Saudi Arabia and water, crucial donors for any reconstruction effort, did not attend the top of Cairo. Meanwhile, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune boycotted talks, criticizing them as dominated by a “limited group” of the Arab states.
A disclosed document obtained by CNN describes ambitious redevelopment plans, including shopping centers, an international congress center, an airport and coastal stations to attract tourism.
However, the proposal recognizes the challenge of disarming activists in Gaza, declaring that it can only be addressed by a credible political process.
The senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, firmly rejected any suggestion that the group would disarm in exchange for reconstruction aid.
“The weapon of resistance is a red line, and it is not negotiable,” he told Reuters.
Hamas has sent mixed signals concerning its role of governance in Gaza. While some officials have suggested a desire to withdraw, they insist that any transition must be treated internally without foreign intervention.
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza, in place since January, remains uncertain. Israel supports an American alternative proposal to extend the truce and negotiate the release of the hostages taken during the October 7 attack in Hamas.
However, Israel has also blocked essential supplies such as food, fuel and drugs to put Hamas to accept the terms – by removing international criticism and raising fears of a renewed conflict.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El -Sissi, speaking at the top, reaffirmed that “real peace” cannot be carried out without an independent Palestinian state – a result strongly opposed by the Israeli government and a large part of his political leadership.
