Egypt reveals Gaza plan to counter Trump
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellaty revealed on Sunday that Egypt has a plan for reconstructing Gaza that does not involve displacing Palestinian from their land, according to Africa News on January 3rd.
“We have a definitive plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip that ensures no citizen is expelled from their homeland. Our vision is clear on this matter,” Abdelatty stated.
The comments were made during a press conference in Cairo to which Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Youssef Ahmed and UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag all participated.
The declaration firmly rejecting the eviction of the Palestinian population from its territory clearly echoes Donald Trump’s earlier comments in which he proposed that Egypt and Jordan should accommodate Palestinians from Gaza to “clean out the whole thing.”
Egypt, Jordan along with other members of the Arab leagues rejected the plan in a joint statement, warning that the plans “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”
Abdelatty announced that Egypt is willing to hold a reconstruction conference, a process that according to him “will pave the way for a credible political process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state” – a key demand from the Arab states.
Egypt is a key player in the conflict because it shares the Rafah border with the Gaza strip, the only border Gaza shares that does not connect Israel. The border was recently reopened as part of the US-negociated ceasefire, allowing Palestinian in need of medical treatment to cross to Egypt.
In addition, the truce will bring the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel’s own releasing of nearly 2,000 prisoners, the return of Palestinians to Northern Gaza, and the full access for humanitarian aid to the strip.
This comes as Netanyahu is expected to meet Donald Trump in a meeting that threatens the fragile truce.
As the second phase is supposed to be discussed next week, with the objective of securing the release of the remaining hostages and a permanent resolution to the conflict in line, Netanyahu’s far-right coalition has already vowed to bring down his government should the full deal be implemented.
This puts Netanyahu in an awkward position as his interest will undoubtably clash with Trump’s agenda, of which the normalization of Saudi-Israeli relations is a cornerstone.
Africa News, Haaretz, Maghrebi
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