Egypt: Sisi preparing a ‘comprehensive’ rebuilding plan for Gaza
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has confirmed the country is preparing a ‘comprehensive’ rebuilding plan for Gaza which will not include the large-scale displacement of Palestinians.
According to Anadolu Ajansi on February 16th, the Egyptian President met in Cairo with Ronald Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress to discuss the need for regional stability, maintenance of the shaky ceasefire in place between Hamas and Israel, and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
During a statement, al-Sisi emphasized the importance of “beginning the reconstruction of Gaza and ensuring that its residents are not displaced from their land” before adding the Egyptian policy line of supporting a two-state solution corresponding to the 1967 borders. These borders would facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The response from Egypt offers an alternative plan to rebuilding Gaza after the news of Donald Trump’s plan to carve out a “Riviera” in the Middle East, which many have criticized amounts to ethnic cleansing through the displacement of the Palestinian people.
The American President has suggested those living in Gaza move into neighboring Arab states whilst he “clears out” the damage done by the war. Then he will begin the rebuild which would involve hotels on the beachfront for international tourists.
The alternative plan will be developed by the Arab states, including the Gulf states which have already contributed vast swathes of humanitarian aid (roughly $650 million) to Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023.
Israel, responsible for the decimation of Gaza, has said it “will not compensate Palestinians or help to pay to fix the damage it has wrought in Gaza. Instead, it would be up to regional countries and the international community…” as reported by Al Jazeera.
The concern, raised in the article by Al Jazeera, is the pressure that Trump could put Egypt in, referring to the threats that he would freeze aid funds to Egypt if they do not cooperate. US foreign aid constitutes over 80 percent of military funding in Egypt.
The concern arises following Trump’s recent meeting with Jordanian King Abdallah II where the king accepted to take in and treat two thousand children from Gaza diagnosed with cancer, although the monarch maintained that Jordan was against the deportation or ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Thus, whilst Egypt may not be in a financial position to send millions into the rebuilding Gaza plan, its role as a massive regional power, and its history as a mediator in this conflict suggests that an alternative plan which stays on the right side of International Humanitarian Law, may be possible.
Anadolu Ajansi, Al Jazeera, Maghrebi
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