Gaza. They do have the power and resources to restore Gaza for Palestinians, but as usual the biggest challenges are Israel who wants to steal the land, and Hamas who wants to maintain control. Only a untied Arab front against Israel, the US, and Hamas might make it possible. A tall order.
"The meeting – including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Arab nations – will take place ahead of a larger Arab summit on March 4, Saudi Arabia said. A meeting of Islamic countries is expected to follow, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry.
A report published in Egypt’s state-run Al Ahram Weekly said Cairo was proposing a 10-to-20-year plan to rebuild Gaza with Gulf Arab funding, while excluding Hamas from governing the enclave and allowing its 2.1 million Palestinian residents to remain.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Wednesday claimed that his country could fully rebuild Gaza in three years to a state that is “better than it was before,” without saying how he plans to achieve that. If a permanent ceasefire is reached in Gaza in the coming months, that would mean the vision could be completed before the end of Trump’s presidential term.
Any reconstruction effort would be futile if a fragile ceasefire in Gaza fails, plunging the territory back to war.
A source familiar with the reconstruction plans said that funding could include public and private donations, likely from the EU and Gulf Arab countries, adding that there could be an international donor conference for Gaza in April.
The plan could also fall through if Israel, which controlled Gaza’s border long before Hamas’ October 2023 attack, refuses to cooperate. So far, it has backed Trump’s plan to de-populate Gaza, and its defense ministry this week announced plans to launch a “Directorate for the Voluntary Departure of Gaza Residents” to facilitate, it says, Gazans who wish to emigrate.
Meanwhile, Qatar said that Palestinians should decide who governs them in the future.
The UAE is one of the few Arab nations that has expressed willingness to consider a role in postwar Gaza at the invitation of a reformed Palestinian Authority and with a commitment from Israel for a future Palestinian state. It has rejected Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians.
But Hamas has warned that it will treat anyone that takes Israel’s place in Gaza as it treats Israel, calling on regional states not to become “agents” for Israel."