France, Germany, Italy, UK welcome Arab plan for Gaza rebuild
The foreign ministers of the four countries have issued a joint statement in support of the Arab initiative for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, adopted at an emergency summit in Cairo earlier this week.
“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza”, the statement reads.
“We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more. We explicitly support the central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda”, the statement adds.
The Arab plan did not explicitly exclude Hamas, but rather called for swift elections to determine control of the Palestinian territories. Hamas welcomed these calls for elections days ago, signalling they may be acceptant of stepping down from control of Gaza.
What is the Arab plan for Gaza’s future after Israel’s war?
- The Egyptian proposal envisages the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war on Gaza.
- The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.
- The first stage would last about six months, while the next two phases would take place over a combined four to five years.
- Once the roads are clear debris, 200,000 temporary housing units would be built to accommodate 1.2 million people and about 60,000 damaged buildings restored.
- The proposal later aims to build at least 400,000 permanent homes as well as rebuild Gaza’s seaport and international airport.
- Gradually, basic provisions such as water, a waste system, telecommunication services and electricity would also be restored.
Arab plan for Gaza neglects to outline gas development in Mediterranean
The Egypt-led plan for Gaza is comprehensive and even includes moves to help ensure Israel’s security, analyst Sultan Barakat says.
“They’re proposing that the new footprint of the Gazan cities would be closer to the sea as to leave a buffer zone between the Israeli boundaries,” said the professor of public policy at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar.
The Arab plan also includes economic forethought such as recycling the vast debris from Israeli bombardments, a move that would create many jobs for the people of Gaza, he told Al Jazeera.
But Barakat noted the proposal doesn’t include gas development in the Mediterranean Sea, which Egypt and Israel are currently involved in, and that should be changed to include the Gaza government.
