Arab leaders gather to hash out alternative to Trump's Gaza plan

CAIRO — Arab leaders were gathering in Cairo Tuesday to discuss an alternative to US President Donald Trump's widely condemned plan to assume control of war-battered Gaza and displace its Palestinian population.

Hours before the summit opened, Israel demanded Gaza's "full demilitarisation", which Hamas promptly rejected, calling disarmament a "red line".

The Arab League summit on reconstruction follows renewed backing of Trump's plan from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who labelled it "visionary and innovative".

Palestinians, Arab states and many US and Israeli partners have rejected Trump's proposal, opposing any efforts to expel Gazans.

The United Nations estimates Gaza's reconstruction will cost more than $53 billion, after a devastating war triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Arab foreign ministers met Monday in Cairo for a closed-door meeting to prepare a plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its people, an Arab League source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The plan "would be presented to Arab leaders at Tuesday's summit for approval", the source said.

Several Arab heads of state are expected, along with foreign ministers or other high-level representatives.

Among those attending was Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, state media said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and Bahrain's King Hamad are expected to deliver opening remarks, according to a scheduled shared by the Arab League.

Trump triggered global outrage when he first floated his idea for the United States to "take over" the Gaza Strip and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", while forcing its Palestinian residents to relocate to Egypt and Jordan.

Trump has since appeared to soften his stance, saying he was "not forcing" the plan, which experts have said could violate international law.

On Tuesday, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar said it demands "total demilitarisation of Gaza" and Hamas's removal in order to proceed to the second phase of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri rejected the demand, telling AFP that "any talk about the resistance's weapons is nonsense. The resistance's weapons are a red line for Hamas and all resistance factions."

Ceasefire impasse

Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli-led blockade since Hamas took power in 2007, with critics of Israel often likening the territory to an open-air prison.

In a speech to parliament Monday in which he hailed Trump's plan, Netanyahu said: "It's time to give the residents of Gaza a real choice. It's time to give them the freedom to leave."

The idea of clearing Gaza of its inhabitants has been welcomed by far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called for Israel to "establish full sovereignty there".

The Cairo summit is taking place as Israel and Hamas find themselves at an impasse over the future of a fragile ceasefire that began on January 19.

The first phase ended at the weekend, after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and an influx of badly needed aid into the territory.

While Israel said it backed an extension of the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.

Netanyahu warned Hamas on Monday that there would be "consequences that you cannot imagine" if the dozens of hostages still held by militants were not released.

A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, accused Israel of actively sabotaging the ceasefire, calling its push for an extension "a blatant attempt to... avoid entering into negotiations for the second phase".

Aid block

As the truce's first phase came to a close, Netanyahu's office announced Israel was halting "all entry of goods and supplies" into Gaza, and that Hamas would face "other consequences" if it did not accept the truce extension.

The move drew criticism from key truce mediators Egypt and Qatar, as well as from other regional governments, the United Nations and some of Israel's allies.

The war has destroyed or damaged most buildings in Gaza, displaced almost the entire population and triggered widespread hunger, according to the UN.

The Hamas 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, while Israel's military retaliation in Gaza has killed nearly 48,400 people, also mostly civilians, figures from the two sides show.

Of the 251 captives taken during the attack, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.