Egypt and Jordan believe they have successfully dissuaded US President Donald Trump from backing a forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and that the US has gotten behind an Egyptian post-war plan for the enclave, a senior Egyptian official told Middle East Eye.
“This will be an Egyptian plan adopted and supported by the Arabs,” the official said. “That is what Trump has agreed to.”
The Egyptian official, speaking to MEE on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said King Abdullah II of Jordan’s visit to Washington was critical to convincing Trump to ditch his plan to empty Gaza of Palestinians. Cairo and other Arab states viewed the outcome of Abdullah’s meeting as a win.
“The closed meeting was very good,” the Egyptian official told MEE.
King Abdullah did not confront Trump publicly on his proposal to “take over” the Gaza Strip, but the Egyptian official said the king privately warned Trump his plan would provoke “Islamic extremism” and lead to the collapse of pro-US governments across the region.
Trump came across as “attentive and sympathetic,” the official said.
Captives for reconstruction equipment
Egypt was able to build on the momentum of Abdullah’s meeting and further gain Trump’s trust to be the lead actor in Gaza by successfully negotiating for Hamas to release six living captives on Tuesday, the official said. That is double the number mandated by the ceasefire deal.
Hamas agreed to release the captives in part because Israel allowed heavy machinery into Gaza to begin reconstruction, the official said.
In addition, Israel allowed mobile homes into Gaza that it had previously blocked. Hamas said Israel was violating the ceasefire by withholding the aid and had threatened not to release any captives.
The official confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, likely on Thursday, to discuss Egypt’s plan for post-war Gaza governance. Reuters first reported Sisi’s travel plans.
Trump’s call for the US to take over the besieged Gaza Strip and forcibly displace its Palestinian inhabitants sparked a widespread backlash in the US and around the world. It dismayed the US’s Arab partners, who were concerned about a popular Arab backlash to the proposal and a widening of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Phase II ceasefire talks
Diplomats and analysts have been left guessing whether Trump truly covets the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or was threatening a takeover to extract concessions from Arab states. Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, suggested it was the latter and that Arab states should make a counteroffer.
With the Egyptian plan gaining momentum, it appears Trump has been swayed.
During a visit to Israel on Monday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said there was “very little appetite” for the US to take over Gaza “in any way, shape or form”.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said Jordan’s Abdullah had told him Arab states have a plan to normalise ties with Israel, achieve Palestinian self-determination and expand regional defence agreements with Israel.
Israel has latched on to Trump’s proposal and has set up a directorate to facilitate the “voluntary immigration” of Palestinians from Gaza.
But Israel also said it would begin negotiations “this week” on the second stage of the Gaza ceasefire, which includes talks on post-war Gaza governance.
Arab states and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have floated a number of post-war plans for the Gaza Strip that would see the enclave governed by Palestinians from inside and outside the enclave not affiliated with Hamas.
The PA informed Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, that it was prepared to clash with Hamas to impose a government in the Gaza Strip, MEE reported previously.
Future of Gaza
The Egyptian official told MEE a clash would not be necessary per its plan and that Hamas has agreed to step aside for a new Palestinian government that does not include senior PA officials from the West Bank.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the Egyptian plan would not include Hamas or the PA. The report said it would involve a police force made up of PA policemen who remained in Gaza after 2007, when Hamas won legislative elections and took control of the enclave.
MEE reported in May that Hamas was prepared to show “flexibility” about the future governance of Gaza, stating its condition was that Gaza’s fate was agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and not imposed by either the United States or Israel.
The devil, however, is in the details on who will maintain security control inside the Gaza Strip. For example, Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990 with a new government, but Hezbollah kept its arms and operated as an armed force outside the state.
The Egyptian official told MEE that Cairo’s proposal is intended to prevent a similar situation by ensuring Gulf states have a role “on the ground in the Gaza Strip” through reconstruction investments.
Rebuilding Gaza and the occupied West Bank will require more than $50bn, according to a joint assessment by the United Nations, European Union, and World Bank, released on Tuesday.
At least $20bn will be required in the first three years.
