CAIRO – Arab leaders have endorsed a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority, presenting an alternative to US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take over the territory and displace its people.
The prospect of the Palestinian Authority governing Gaza remains far from certain, however, with Israel having ruled out any future role for the body, and Trump having closed the Palestine Liberation Organization liaison office in Washington during his first term while stepping up support for Israel.
Trump triggered global outrage by suggesting the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.
Tuesday’s Arab League summit in Cairo — a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his support for Trump’s proposal — offered an alternative with the adoption of a “comprehensive Arab plan.”
It announced the establishment of a trust fund to pay for the territory’s reconstruction, and urged the international community to back it.
“All these efforts are proceeding in parallel with the launch of a political track” towards Palestinian statehood, it added, an ambition that Israeli leaders have opposed.
The statement welcomed “the Palestinian decision to form a Gaza administration committee under the umbrella of the Palestinian government.”
The summit also called on Palestinian representation to be unified under the PLO, an umbrella group that is the dominant political force within the Palestinian Authority — and which excludes Hamas.
The PA had previously governed Gaza before losing power there in 2007 to Islamist Hamas.
