After initial rejection, US sends mixed signals on Arab alternative to Trump’s Gaza plan
While State Department and White House characterize Arab plan as inadequate, Witkoff — who is seen as influential figure — says it has compelling features and is good first step
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The Trump administration on Thursday sent mixed signals regarding its feelings about the Egypt-led Arab plan for the post-war management of Gaza.
Early in the day, US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff called the proposal a “good faith first step” with “a lot of compelling features to it.” Hours later, though, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce characterized the proposal as “inadequate.”
Bruce’s comments at her first press briefing seemed more in line with the position voiced by White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes shortly after the plan was unveiled in Cairo, saying it didn’t account of “the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable” and that US President Donald Trump stands by his proposal to take over Gaza and relocate all of its Palestinians.
But it is Witkoff — not the State Department or White House National Security Council — who is widely understood to be the most influential figure in the administration regarding matters pertaining to the Middle East and beyond, other than Trump himself, who has repeatedly expressed his faith in his envoy.
Egypt’s proposal received the endorsement of the Arab League summit in Cairo on Tuesday. The plan was hurriedly put together after Arab nations were spooked by Trump’s proposal in early February to take over Gaza, oust its residents and rebuild the Strip as a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The Arab plan envisions an independent committee of technocrats running Gaza for a six-month period before handing off control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority. It provides for Palestinians to remain in the Strip while it is being rebuilt, as opposed to Trump’s proposal that the entire population be relocated.
The proposal provides for international peacekeeping troops to be deployed in Gaza through a UN Security Council resolution. In the meantime, Egypt and Jordan would train Palestinian Authority police officers, so that they can then be dispatched to Gaza to uphold law and order.
The plan doesn’t address Hamas by name, instead maintaining that the issue and fate of armed groups in Gaza can only be fully addressed through a political process that establishes a Palestinian state.
Still, the Arab League, in a statement endorsing the Egyptian plan, asserted that the security of Gaza “remains an exclusive responsibility of legitimate Palestinian institutions, in accordance with the principle of one law and one legitimate weapon” — indicating that the presence of armed groups other than the Palestinian Authority’s security forces would not be accepted.
While the Arab League adopted the plan, several leaders were notably absent at the Cairo summit, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, in what is being interpreted as a demonstration of their reticence toward the Egyptian proposal. The two countries, particularly the UAE, have been adamant in their opposition to any Hamas presence in Gaza.
Some analysts maintain that Egypt’s proposal is merely a starting point in negotiations with the US, and that Cairo could be prepared to move toward a harder line against Hamas if Israel is willing to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This has been a non-starter for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Arab world is hoping to use its leverage to move Jerusalem, given that the US is not expected to get directly involved in Gaza’s reconstruction and that Israel could thus find itself bogged down in Gaza on its own if it doesn’t receive help from Arab allies.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Bruce nodded at the Arab effort to address Gaza’s post-war governance, but said, “The Arab [plan] does not fulfill… the nature of what President Trump was asking for.”
Trump’s plan was “an invitation for new ideas, and it seemed to have spurred some new ideas” from the Arab world, said Bruce. However, she added, what Washington has seen to date from its allies has not been “adequate.”
The State Department spokeswoman did not specify what the White House thought was missing from Egypt’s plan, but said the US would not accept a framework that leads to a return of the cycle of violence in Gaza. She stressed Hamsas could not continue to exist in the Strip.
Earlier Thursday, Witkoff reiterated that rebuilding Gaza would take 10 to 15 years, during which the Strip would be uninhabitable. Still, he avoided criticizing the Egyptian plan, under which Palestinians would be able to remain in Gaza while it is being rebuilt by dividing the enclave into seven zones and working on them separately.
“We’re evaluating everything there. It’s a little bit early to comment,” Witkoff said in response to a question regarding this aspect of the Egyptian plan. “We need more discussion about it, but it’s a good faith first step from the Egyptians.”
Like Bruce, Witkoff suggested a goal of Trump’s plan was to push regional allies to come up with alternatives.
“The larger point is that what President Trump is now talking about in Gaza is now encouraging other people in the Middle East to present proactive proposals for what we might consider,” said Witkoff.
According to a United Nations analysis from September, over two-thirds of Gaza’s structures have been damaged or destroyed amid the war in Gaza sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
