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Egypt working on a ‘comprehensive, multi-stage’ plan to rebuild Gaza
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has again rejected any displacement of Palestinians from their lands, saying his country is working on a plan that ensures the people of Gaza remain on their land as the war-battered enclave is rebuilt.
In a speech at the fourth meeting of the global alliance to implement the two-state solution, Abdelatty said that the “serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza requires an early recovery process” and that the reconstruction must take place “within a clear and specific timeline”.
He said, “Egypt is working on developing a comprehensive, multi-stage vision for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza”, and called for global backing for UNRWA, which has been banned by Israel. The minister described the agency as “indispensable and irreplaceable”.
The comments come as Egypt scrambles to put together an alternative proposal to Trump’s plan for the US to take over and own Gaza after forcibly displacing Palestinians there. The plan, which calls for Egypt and Jordan to take in the displaced people, has been condemned by Palestinians, who say they will not leave their homeland, as well as by other countries around the world.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty chaired the meeting with representatives of more than 30 countries from the international coalition to implement the two-state solution in Cairo on Monday
What’s in Egypt’s plan for Gaza’s reconstruction?
Two Egyptian officials who spoke to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity say the proposal is still being negotiated.
At present, it envisions a three-phase reconstruction process that will take up to five years, without displacing Palestinians from Gaza.
It designates three “safe zones” within Gaza to relocate Palestinians during an initial six-month “early recovery period”. These zones will be equipped with mobile houses and shelters, with humanitarian aid streaming in.
The officials said that about two dozen Egyptian and international firms would take part in removing the rubble and rebuilding Gaza’s infrastructure, and that the reconstruction would provide tens of thousands of jobs to the enclave’s population.
They said the proposal also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian administration that is not aligned with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run the Strip and oversee the reconstruction efforts. They added that officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan will discuss Cairo’s proposal at a gathering in Riyadh this week, before introducing it to the Arab summit later this month.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir accuses Egypt of involvement in October 7 attacks
Far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir says Israel deserves “explanations” from Egypt’s government about how Hamas has received weapons.
“They [Egypt] have a role in what happened on October 7,” said Ben-Gvir in comments carried by Israeli state radio. “There was probably some partnership, or at the very least, a willful blindness.”
There was no immediate comment from Egypt.
Ben-Gvir, a former interior minister who resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet over the Israel-Hamas truce deal, has vigorously backed Trump’s call for Palestinians in Gaza to be pushed into Egypt and Jordan – a plan both countries have rejected.
Egypt has backed Israel’s blockade of Gaza since Hamas took over in the territory in 2007, tightly controlling the entry of materials and the passage of civilians back and forth. It also destroyed the network of tunnels under the border that Hamas and other Palestinians used to smuggle goods into Gaza.
Arab League summit on Gaza postponed to March 4: Egypt
An extraordinary Arab League meeting on Gaza initially planned for next week has been postponed to March 4, host Egypt says.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the new date was agreed with Arab League members as part of “substantive and logistical preparations” for the summit, which had been called in response to Trump’s proposal to take over the war-battered Gaza Strip and displace its Palestinian inhabitants.
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