Arab leaders meet in Saudi Arabia to counter Trump’s Gaza depopulation plan
Arab leaders have gathered in Saudi Arabia to discuss a reconstruction plan for Gaza aimed at countering President Donald Trump's scheme for a US takeover of the strip and the forced displacement of its Palestinian people.
Egypt and Jordan as well as the six country members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are participating in the "unofficial fraternal meeting", according to the Saudi Press Agency.
A source close to the Saudi government was quoted Friday as saying that the Arab leaders would discuss "a reconstruction plan to counter Trump's plan for Gaza."
The source said the meeting would discuss "a version of the Egyptian plan."
According to Saudi media outlets, yielding decisions would appear on the agenda of the extraordinary meeting of the Arab League, which is scheduled to be held in Cairo on March 4.
During the early days of his administration, Trump suggested that the people of Gaza must relocate from the strip to countries such as Egypt and Jordan.
On February 4, Trump proposed that the US could take over Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera” of West Asia after clearing the Palestinians out, and resettling them elsewhere.
Rebuilding Gaza will be a key issue, after Trump cited reconstruction as justification for relocating its 2.4 million people.
Cairo has yet to announce its initiative, but former Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Hegazy outlined a plan "in three technical phases over a period of three to five years."
An Arab diplomat said the biggest challenge facing the Egyptian plan is how to finance it.
Trump’s provocative proposal came after the Israeli regime failed to realize its objectives in the war on the coastal strip for over 15 months, during which the regime killed at least 48,319 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The Israeli war also left Gaza largely in ruins, with the United Nations recently estimating that rebuilding would cost more than $53 billion.
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