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Egypt has proposed a $53bn (£42bn) plan to rebuild Gaza, in a rushed attempt to present an alternative to Donald Trump’s idea for a property development-style plan, which involved a relocation of the Palestinian population that has been widely criticised as effectively endorsing ethnic cleansing.
The new proposal, presented at an Arab League summit in Cairo, focused on emergency relief, rebuilding shattered infrastructure and long-term economic development.
The Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said in opening remarks at the summit that his government’s reconstruction plan would ensure Palestinians can “remain on their land”. Later, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the world body stood ready to “fully cooperate”.
In a 112-page document, the Egyptian government presented colourful AI-generated images of housing developments, gardens and community centres, with plans for a commercial harbour, a technology hub, beach hotels and an airport.
What the Egyptian proposal did not fully address was who would run the devastated territory, with a draft communique only mentioning what it called support for a Palestinian administrative committee.
Critically, it has also not received backing from Gaza’s occupying power: Israel. Previous economic plans for Gaza failed after they were stifled by Israel, which has blockaded and bombed the strip for years. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he wants permanent, overarching control over all land in the Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, inside the coastal strip, the Hamas group has been battered by 15 months of war but remains a political force, and is unlikely to agree to a process that excludes it.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group rejected any attempt to impose projects on Palestinians.
“We are keen for the success of the summit, and we hope that there will be a call to reject the displacement and to protect the right of our people in resisting the occupation and governing itself away from any custodianship and intervention,” he added.
Hamas also released a statement on Tuesday calling for the Arab League summit in Cairo to “thwart” the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.
“We look forward to an effective Arab role that ends the humanitarian tragedy created by the occupation in the Gaza Strip … and thwarts the (Israeli) occupation’s plans to displace (Palestinians),” it said.
The Egyptian plan did acknowledge the challenge posed by armed factions in Gaza but said the issue could be resolved through a “credible political process” that restores Palestinian rights and offers a clear path forward.
The military regime in Cairo and many other Arab states are outspoken on Israel’s violence but consider Islamist Hamas a threat. Cairo has long maintained a blockade on Gaza in coordination with Israel.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who runs the western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, attended the summit, although he has limited influence in Gaza.
Egypt’s plan also garnered backing from the United Nations secretary general, Guterres, who had previously warned of ethnic cleansing after Trump released his “Riveria of the Middle East” plan.
“I welcome and strongly endorse the Arab-led initiative to mobilise support for Gaza’s reconstruction, clearly expressed in this summit,” Guterres said at the summit. “The UN stands ready to fully cooperate in this endeavour.”
Guterres also called for the resumption “without delay” of negotiations on continuing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. Israel has killed nearly 50,000 people while Hamas, which killed approximately 1,200 people during an attack that sparked the latest war, still holds Israeli hostages.
While the ceasefire remains in place, Arab states have rushed to present an alternative to Trump’s plan, which they fear would destabilise the entire region, especially if Palestinians in Gaza are forcibly ejected.
Trump has called for the US to effectively colonise Gaza and its population to be displaced to neighbouring countries, including Jordan and Egypt, while the territory is “developed”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said. “We’ll own it.”
The draft Egyptian plan outlined two phases. An early recovery stage is expected to last six months and will aim to remove unexploded bombs, build temporary shelters for more than 1.5 million displaced people inside Gaza and make initial repairs on damaged homes.
A second “reconstruction phase” would take place over four and a half years. It would focus on housebuilding, as well as rebuilding essential infrastructure, including roads, utility networks and public service facilities. Finally, the plan calls for establishing industrial zones, a fishing port, a commercial seaport and an airport.
Funding for Egypt’s plan will probably require investment from oil-rich Gulf governments including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
