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

The leaders of seven Arab countries have held talks in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to hash out a plan for the future of Gaza.

The gathering on Friday in Riyadh was meant to respond to a plan raised by US President Donald Trump for the US to “take over” Gaza, permanently forcibly displace its residents and turn the Palestinian enclave into the “Riviera” of the Middle East.

Arab leaders have roundly rejected Trump’s proposal, saying it throws out decades of work towards Palestinian self-determination, treads on the rights of residents of Gaza and will perpetuate a regional cycle of violence.

They hope to present an alternative plan with unified support at a March 4 Arab League meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had called the Riyadh meeting, which was attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al Sabah and Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Only the first phase of that agreement, which has seen a pause in fighting and the exchange of captives, has so far been agreed to. A second phase would see a complete end of fighting, while a third phase aims to address rebuilding the devastated Palestinian enclave.

Ahelbarra said the Arab leaders are hoping to build off of the Egyptian plan before the Cairo meeting, so they can “put on a united front with a new proposal that can be easily sold to the Americans and the international audience”.

“We’re talking about extremely difficult things that could shape the entire region for many years to come,” he said.

Still left to be decided was the question of how reconstruction would be funded in an Arab-led plan, he added. Earlier this week, the World Bank, United Nations and European Union said it cost over $53bn to rebuild Gaza, including $20bn in the first three years.

Any reconstruction plan also overlaps with the wider questions of political and security control of Gaza when the war ends, Ahelbarra said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Haridy said the gathering comes at “a crucial moment for the Palestinians and for the Arab nations”.