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Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.
Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing secure areas within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the strip’s infrastructure.
Egyptian officials are discussing the plan with European diplomats and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. They are also discussing ways to fund the reconstruction, including an international conference on Gaza reconstruction, said one of the Egyptian officials and an Arab diplomat.
The proposal comes after an international uproar over Trump’s call for the removal of Gaza’s population of some 2 million Palestinians. Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” though Palestinians would not be allowed back.
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Palestinians have widely said they will not leave their homeland, while Egypt, and Jordan – backed by Saudi Arabia – have refused Trump’s calls for them to take in Gaza’s population. Rights groups have widely said the plan amounts to forced expulsion, a war crime. European countries have also largely denounced Trump’s plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the idea and says Israel is preparing to implement it.
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