Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Sunday that Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in their land, is ready and will be presented at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.
Arab states, which were swift to reject President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians, are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea.
Trump’s plan announced on February 4 amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, appeared to back away from longstanding U.S. Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.
Abdelatty said Egypt would seek international backing and funding for the plan and emphasised Europe’s crucial role, particularly in the financing of Gaza’s reconstruction.
“We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit,” he said in a press conference with the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.
Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated. Abdelatty said the use of aid as a weapon of collective punishment could not be permitted.
