Saudi Arabia to host Arab summit on Trump's Gaza plan

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia will host the leaders of four Arab countries at a summit on February 20 to discuss President Donald Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza, a source with   of the preparations said on Friday.

The leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will attend the summit, to take place ahead of an Arab League meeting in Cairo one week later on the same issue, the source said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, another source said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would also attend.

Trump sparked a global outcry with his proposal for the United States to "take over" the Gaza Strip and to move more than two million Palestinians out of the war-devastated territory, citing Egypt or Jordan as possible destinations.

Trump made the proposal during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.

Arab countries have come together in a rare united front, outraged by the idea of displacing the Palestinians en masse.

For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of their ancestors during Israel's creation in 1948.

But Trump has floated the possibility of cutting off aid to longstanding allies Jordan and Egypt should they refuse his plan.

Egypt put forward its own proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza under a framework that would allow for the Palestinians to remain in the territory.

'The only plan' 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the United States was eager to hear new proposals on Gaza from Arab governments but that, "right now the only plan -- they don't like it -- but the only plan is the Trump plan".

In January, Rubio's predecessor Antony Blinken outlined a roadmap for post-war Gaza and warned it required Israel's acceptance of a path to a Palestinian state -- something the Israeli government strongly opposes.

Regional states including Saudi Arabia have repeatedly called for a Palestinian state, existing alongside Israel.

Rubio was on his way to Europe on Friday.

He was set to join Vice President JD Vance in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after Trump spoke by phone with his counterpart Vladimir Putin and said he would pursue talks to end the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.

Afterwards Rubio is set to fly on to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire in effect since January 19.

Following his surprise call with Putin, Trump said the two leaders were "going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time".