Arab leaders discuss alternative to Trump Gaza plan at Saudi Arabia meet

Seven Arab leaders convened in Saudi Arabia to discuss and formulate a plan for the future development of Gaza. The meeting was intended as a response to a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to have the U.S. "take over" Gaza, permanently forcibly displace its residents, and transform the Palestinian enclave into a Middle Eastern "Riviera."

Arab leaders unanimously opposed Trump's proposal, arguing that it negated decades of efforts towards Palestinian self-determination, violated the rights of Gazan residents, and would perpetuate the cycle of violence in the region. They hope to present a unified and supported alternative at the Arab League meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on March 4th.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman convened the Riyadh meeting, which was attended by Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. As of Friday, no official meeting records have been released by the participating countries, and it remains unclear whether any plan details have been agreed upon.

According to Al Jazeera's correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Riyadh, the meeting on Friday began with a presentation of a reconstruction plan formulated by Egypt, envisioned as part of a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. Currently, only the first phase of that agreement, a pause in fighting and an exchange of prisoners, has been achieved. The second phase would achieve a complete cessation of hostilities, while the third aims to address the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian enclave.

Ahelbarra stated that Arab leaders hope to build upon the Egyptian plan before the Cairo meeting so they can "unite around a new proposal and be able to market it easily to the Americans and the international community." He also noted, "We are talking about extremely difficult things that could affect the entire region for many years to come." How the reconstruction would be funded under an Arab-led plan remains to be determined. The World Bank, the UN, and the EU stated earlier this week that rebuilding Gaza would cost over $53 billion, including $20 billion for the first three years.

Any reconstruction plan overlaps with broader issues such as the political and security control of Gaza after the war. Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Haridi told Al Jazeera that the meeting was taking place at "a critical moment for Palestinians and for the Arab countries." He quoted Shakespeare, saying, "To be or not to be, that is the question for the Arab world today. Because if Trump's proposal ends up prevailing, then that would be the end of the seventy-year struggle, Arab and Palestinian."

Israel and many of its Western allies reject the prospect of Hamas continuing to control the enclave after the war. While there is more international support for the possibility of the Palestinian Authority controlling Gaza, Israel has rejected this option as well. Observers say the urgency to reach an agreement is especially important for Egypt and Jordan, who were pressured by Trump to accept large numbers of displaced Palestinians. The U.S. president threatened to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in aid if they did not comply. Both countries rejected the plan.

Cairo has not yet publicly disclosed its initial reconstruction plan. However, former Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Hegazy previously outlined a plan that he described as taking place "in three technical stages over three to five years." He said the first six-month stage would focus on "early recovery" and clearing rubble. The second stage would hold an international conference to develop a detailed plan to restore infrastructure and rebuild Gaza. The final stage would provide housing and services and establish a "political track to implement the two-state solution," referring to eventual Palestinian statehood.

Abdulaziz al-Ghashian, director of Middle East studies at the Observer Research Foundation in Riyadh, told Al Jazeera that all the countries involved in Friday's meeting were focused on determining how to respond to "the U.S. administration almost proudly trying to blindly support (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu." He also stated, "We have an Israeli prime minister who is trying to really push his luck and maximize his efforts."

Ghashian stated that any Arab-led plan "cannot separate the economic, the political, and the security" and includes a path to Palestinian self-determination. He said, "The reality is, all of these things are very much related. We need to start thinking about this in a much more interconnected, synergistic way."