The United States and Israel reacted with hostility to the results of the emergency summit of the League of Arab States (LAS) in Egypt. The meeting was dedicated to Cairo’s initiative to reconstruct the Gaza Strip without evacuating residents to third countries. The White House called the Egyptian alternative inhumane. The degree of support for the initiative at the regional level is also very elusive. The leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not attend the summit.
Brian Hughes, an official representative of the National Security Council at the White House, said that the Cairo initiative does not take into account an important fact. The problem, according to the official, is that Gaza is “uninhabitable.” “The population cannot live humanly in an area covered with debris and unexploded ordnance,” Hughes explained.
According to him, US President Donald Trump adheres to his opinion on the restoration of Gaza. His idea involves clearing the territory and resettling the Palestinians in third countries. In addition, Gaza must be free of Hamas, the White House noted. “We look forward to further negotiations to bring peace and prosperity to the region,” Hughes added.
The Egyptian side presented its alternative plan for the reconstruction of Gaza on March 4. The initiative, which is estimated at a preliminary cost of $ 53 billion, provides for the restoration of the sector by 2030 and the creation of temporary zones on its territory, where the population could be relocated, awaiting the restoration of their homes. To do this, Cairo proposes to create hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units, and temporarily entrust the management to a “politically clean” team of Palestinian technocrats. Nothing is said about who exactly should take over the donation, but Egypt proposes to form a special fund under the supervision of the World Bank to raise funds for the implementation of the reconstruction plan.
In the final communique, Arab League representatives condemned “the strategy of starvation and scorched-earth tactics aimed at forcing the Palestinian people to leave their lands.” The Arab League meeting participants stressed the need for “Israel to comply with international resolutions rejecting any attempts to change the demographic composition of the Palestinian lands.” “Our strategic choice is to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that meets all the rights of the Palestinian people, above all their right to freedom and the establishment of an independent sovereign State on their national territory based on a two–State solution,” the final statement said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized the initiative. The official representative of the department, Oren Marmorstein, noted that the final declaration adopted at the extraordinary Arab League summit “does not reflect the realities” that developed after the tragedy on October 7, 2023, and is based on outdated views. “There is no mention of the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas, which killed thousands of Israelis and abducted hundreds of people, and there is no condemnation of this deadly terrorist organization, despite its well-documented atrocities and the threat it poses to Israel and the region,” Marmorstein said. According to him, the Arab world itself condemned the Palestinians “to eternal refugee status.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that Arab League representatives still see support in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). “Both of these organizations have repeatedly demonstrated corruption, support for terrorism, and an inability to solve problems,” Marmorstein explained. “Now, with President Trump’s idea, the Gazans have the opportunity to make free choices based on their free will.” By this he meant evacuation. But, according to the diplomat, instead of approving Trump’s concept, “the Arab states rejected this opportunity without giving it a fair chance.”
The degree of support for the Egyptian plan is also rather vague at the regional level. The emergency summit in Egypt was ignored by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, lowering the level of presence. It is from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi that powerful financial support is expected for any post-war strategy, but, apparently, both Arabian capitals intend to maneuver between the requests of the United States and the need to at least formally support the Palestinians.
In addition, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboun refused to attend the Arab League meeting. Algerian diplomats attributed this to “the imbalance and gaps that have marred the process of preparing for this summit.” In addition, Algeria considered that “the process was monopolized by a narrow group of Arab countries” that did not coordinate “with the rest of the Arab States.”
The political wing of Hamas welcomed the results of the summit in Egypt. However, a group at the level of one of the representatives of the Politburo, Sami Abu Zuhri, categorically refused to discuss disarmament. The Israeli side insists on the disarmament and dissolution of Hamas. Without this, it is impossible to imagine the reconstruction process itself.
The current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which began operating on January 19, may fail as early as next week. Israeli officials, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, said: if Hamas does not agree to extend the first phase of the deal for another 42 days, which will involve humanitarian exchanges without turning to military and political issues, fighting will resume in the enclave.