Foreign ministry says it wants to cooperate with US, but stresses its solution will enable Palestinians to stay ‘in enclave with the legitimate and legal rights of this people’
Egypt plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land, the Egyptian foreign ministry said late Tuesday.
The statement came a day after US President Donald Trump said he could “conceivably” halt aid to Egypt and Jordan if they refuse to cooperate with his plan to take over the Gaza Strip and displace its population to their countries.
The foreign ministry said Egypt “hopes to cooperate” with Trump’s administration on the matter, with the goal of “reaching a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause.”
It said its plan would provide for the reconstruction of Gaza “in a clear and decisive manner that ensures the Palestinian people stay on their land and in line with the legitimate and legal rights of this people.”
During a meeting with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Egypt would present a plan that Arab leaders would discuss at coming talks.
During a phone call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Sissi “stressed the necessity of starting the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip… without displacing Palestinians and in a way that ensures the preservation of their rights… to live on their land.”
Sissi also said the establishment of a Palestinian state was “the only guarantee for achieving lasting peace” in the region, according to a statement from his office.
Gaza was largely laid waste during the war between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group that rules the Strip led thousands of terrorists to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 to Gaza.
The US, Egypt, and Qatar mediated a complex, three-phase ceasefire that began last month and includes the gradual release of the hostages and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Trump has proposed the US taking over Gaza and clearing Palestinians out, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, namely Egypt and Jordan.
His remarks have sparked a global backlash and Arab countries have condemned the proposal, insisting on a two-state solution of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
On Monday, Egypt’s foreign ministry rejected “any compromise” that would infringe on Palestinians’ rights, including their right to “remaining on the land,” in a statement issued shortly after Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, in Washington.
The fragile ceasefire, barely halfway through its first stage, is already wobbling as Hamas has said it will not deliver the next batch of captives scheduled for release on Saturday, alleging Israeli violations of the pact.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday the ceasefire would be over and Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages by midday Saturday.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-to-present-comprehensive-plan-for-gaza-reconstruction-without-displacement/.
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