By Andrew Mills
CAIRO (Reuters) -Egypt was expected to present a reconstruction plan for Gaza to Arab leaders in Cairo on Tuesday that would cost $53 billion over five years and avoid resettling Palestinians, in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of developing a “Middle East Riviera”, according to a copy of the plan seen by Reuters.
It was expected that the plan would be adopted in the final communique to be released at the end of the summit on Tuesday evening. Reuters has seen a draft of the final communique.
Neither the reconstruction plan nor the communique addresses the big unanswered question in negotiations over the future of the Palestinian enclave shattered by 15 months of Israel’s war with Hamas – who will rule it?
The communique only mentioned what it called support for a Palestinian decision to form an administrative committee for Gaza affairs, and did not tackle the explosive issue of what Hamas’ role would be after the war ended.
Arab leaders were also expected to call for elections in the West Bank and Gaza in one year, according to the draft final communique.
An earlier draft of an Egyptian political plan seen by Reuters on Monday indicated Cairo was pushing for Hamas to be sidelined and replaced by bodies controlled by Arab, Muslim and Western states. It was unclear if Egyptian officials would also be presenting the political plan at Tuesday’s summit.
Egypt’s reconstruction plan did not specify who would fund the reconstruction of an enclave that has been reduced to rubble.
Any proposal would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, who have the billions of dollars needed.
The UAE, which sees Hamas as an existential threat, wants an immediate and complete disarmament of the Palestinian militant group, while other Arab countries advocate a gradual approach, a source close to the matter said.
Hamas, founded in 1987 by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, has said it rejects any solution imposed on the Gaza Strip by outsiders.
It is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union, Britain and other countries. Hamas characterizes its armed activities as resistance against Israeli occupation.
ALTERNATIVE TO TRUMP PLAN
The draft of the summit’s final communique calls on the international community and financial institutions to quickly provide support for the Egyptian vision for Gaza.
Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been consulting over an alternative to Trump’s ambition for an exodus of Palestinians and a U.S. rebuild of Gaza, which they fear would destabilise the entire region.
Egypt’s Reconstruction Plan for Gaza is a 112-page document that includes maps of how its land would be re-developed and dozens of colourful AI-generated images of housing developments, gardens and community centres. The plan includes a commercial harbour, a technology hub, beach hotels and an airport.
The reconstruction plan projects that rebuilding the enclave would take five years and the first two-year phase would cost $20 billion and involve building 200,000 housing units.
Israel was unlikely to oppose an Arab entity taking responsibility for Gaza’s government if Hamas was off the scene, said another source familiar with the matter.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group rejected any attempt to impose projects or any form of non-Palestinian administration, or the presence of any foreign forces on Gaza Strip territory.
“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.
The draft communique firmly rejects the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, which the U.S. proposed and Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan see as a security threat.
Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and starting the Gaza war.
More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health officials.
Since Hamas drove the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza after a brief civil war in 2007, it has crushed all opposition there.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Pesha Magid in Riyadh, Andrew Mills in Doha and Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alex Richardson)
