France, Germany, Britain and Italy on Saturday embraced the $53 billion Arab League plan for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip that would avoid the displacement of the Palestinian population.
“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises—if implemented—swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the foreign ministers of the four nations said in a joint statement.
It further read that the four countries were “committed to working with the Arab initiative,” announced at an Arab League summit in Cairo, while stressing that Hamas “must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more.”
Moreover, the ministers said that they endorse the “central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda.”
Israel and the United States rejected the Arab-backed plan, spearheaded by Egypt, which would establish a committee to oversee rebuilding efforts and governance in the war-torn region.
Hamas, on the other hand, expressed support for the plan.
In a statement, the terrorist group said, “We welcome the Gaza reconstruction plan adopted in the summit’s final statement and call for ensuring all necessary resources for its success.”
The Islamist group also voiced its backing for the creation of a “Community Support Committee” that would oversee relief efforts, reconstruction and governance in Gaza, as outlined in the proposal for temporary administrative body proposed by the Arab League summit in Cairo.
The 112-page draft document setting out Cairo’s five-year plan to rebuild Gaza at a cost of $53 billion outlines a two-phase approach.
The initial six-month recovery phase would focus on clearing rubble and setting up temporary housing, at an estimated cost of $3 billion.
The first phase of the plan aims to build 200,000 housing units in Gaza over the next two years, followed by a second phase that would add another 200,000 units. By 2030, the plan envisions the construction of hundreds of thousands of homes, accommodating up to 3 million people. It also includes plans for an airport, industrial zones, hotels and parks.
The Egyptian proposal further calls for the establishment of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats to govern Gaza, Reuters reported.
The Palestinian Authority’s role would be to supervise the committee, which would take on responsibilities of humanitarian aid and managing the enclave’s affairs for a temporary period, the report added.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday sharply criticized the statement issued at the Emergency Summit of the Extraordinary Arab Summit in Cairo, accusing it of ignoring the realities on the ground following the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.
“The statement remains rooted in outdated perspectives,” the ministry said, adding that it “fails to mention Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, which resulted in thousands of Israeli deaths and hundreds of kidnappings.” Israel also condemned the summit for its failure to denounce Hamas explicitly.
U.S. President Donald Trump proposed last month to permanently resettle the Gazans in neighboring Arab states, saying that the Strip was uninhabitable due to the war.
The White House said that Cairo’s proposal does not address the harsh realities on the ground.
“The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is uninhabitable, and its residents cannot live there humanely when it is covered in rubble and unexploded bombs,” said Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council.
