Trump advisors push for Gulf states to cooperate on Gaza but find no takers

According to a report by Middle East Eye, a senior US official revealed that because Gulf allies have failed to reach an agreement on the US taking over the Gaza Strip, nor have they proposed alternative solutions, US President Donald Trump is planning to pressure these countries to provide financial support for US actions. This move reflects the frustration of Trump administration advisors on the matter.

The official stated on Wednesday: "The message being delivered is, 'The US is not going to let you get what you want for free anymore.'" This suggests that the US wants Gulf countries to take on more economic responsibility regarding the Gaza Strip issue and cooperate with US strategic deployments.

The Trump administration plans to grant Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates property rights to the waterfront area of the rebuilt Gaza Strip, and to award construction contracts to build apartment buildings there to construction companies from these countries. In return, these countries would need to fund the "relocation" of Palestinians and the reconstruction of Gaza. The official said he had heard briefings from a few advisors who consulted Trump on this plan.

However, international law stipulates these territorial rights, and the United States does not control the property rights of the Gaza waterfront or its maritime boundaries, which is a problem that cannot be ignored. This means that the United States may face legal challenges and questions from the international community when promoting this plan.

Trump's press conference on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shocked allies and enemies alike, including ordinary Americans. There is widespread speculation that the president, who once campaigned on ending US foreign intervention, genuinely wants to take over Gaza, or is merely using it as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Gulf countries on the post-war future of Gaza and the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

For weeks, Trump has been calling on neighboring Arab countries such as Jordan and Egypt to receive displaced Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. However, the US State Department has warned him that Egypt will not be persuaded. Similarly, Saudi Arabia has publicly expressed a tough stance on the issue of providing funding for the reconstruction of Gaza.

When Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the UK, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, was asked in an interview in January whether Saudi Arabia would fund the reconstruction of Gaza, he said: "Rebuilding a Palestinian state, yes. Rebuilding territory that Israel is likely to destroy again in a few years, I don't think that's wise."

Trump said on Tuesday that after evacuating the Palestinians from Gaza and "owning" the territory for "a long time," the United States would turn it into "the Riviera of the Middle East." Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior US intelligence official at the Atlantic Council, told Middle East Eye: "This could lead to negotiations, but I take Trump seriously. He and his team really believe this is the best way forward. I am not surprised that the Gulf countries have not joined."

But what may be most frustrating for the White House is the cold shoulder it has received from its American Arab Gulf partners. Trump insisted on Tuesday that his vision would be "funded by rich neighbors." Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an analyst from the UAE with close ties to the ruling Nahayan family of the UAE, wrote on X: "We just heard the dumbest idea about Gaza coming out of Washington DC," which was said after Trump's speech.

Saudi Arabia vetoed the plan and quickly issued a statement early Wednesday morning rejecting any efforts to displace Palestinians from their land. It also raised Saudi Arabia's demands that an independent Palestinian state must be established before diplomatic relations with Israel can be normalized. Saudi Arabia's wording indicated that its position was non-negotiable, which is a step further than previous statements calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state as a prerequisite for reaching an agreement.

Bilal Saab, a former Trump administration Pentagon official, told Middle East Eye: "The Gulf countries will not inject any funds into the Gaza Strip without a serious discussion of a two-state solution and the fate of the current ceasefire." He also added: "Making statements with Netanyahu is not the best way to conduct diplomacy with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi."

Anna Jacobs, a Middle East expert at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C., said that the Gulf countries have "made it clear" to Trump that his statements on Gaza are unworkable. "They will not pay for the forced displacement of Palestinians," she said. The Arab League has also joined the criticism, calling Trump's proposal a "destabilizing factor."

The US President's advisors spent time on Wednesday walking back some of his more shocking remarks. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump's speech was "not hostile," but described it as "an act of generosity - offering to rebuild and take responsibility for the rebuilding." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Palestinians would only be "temporarily relocated" from the enclave, and that Trump had not promised to deploy US troops.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East researcher at Rice University's Baker Institute, said that Trump may instead have prompted the Gulf countries to take a firmer stance, rather than pushing for progress in negotiations with the Gulf countries on funding the reconstruction of Gaza. He told Middle East Eye: "If the goal was to use deterrence to get the Gulf countries to act, I think it backfired. Trump may think he has created room for concessions, but he has made it more difficult for regional leaders to reach an agreement."