Arab leaders discuss backing ‘the Palestinian cause’ at meeting on Trump’s Gaza plan
Sources familiar with discussions say the leaders primarily talked about Egyptian proposal to rebuild Strip, though no signs yet of serious progress on formulating a counter-plan
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Arab leaders on Friday discussed joint efforts supporting “the Palestinian cause” and Gaza developments, during an informal meeting in Riyadh attended by Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan, the Saudi state news agency SPA said.
Arab countries are rushing to formulate an alternative to US President Donald Trump’s plan to redevelop the Gaza Strip into an international beach resort and his call on Egypt and Jordan to take in resettled Palestinians from the enclave, which has been devastated by the war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Both Cairo and Amman reject the proposal, citing national security concerns, but there are no signs Arab states are making serious progress on a counter-plan.
SPA did not mention that the leaders discussed Trump’s proposal.
The meeting, called by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah and Crown Prince Hussein, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his national security adviser, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, a photo published with the statement showed.
Sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters they tackled a mainly Egyptian proposal that could include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from wealthy Gulf and Arab states, but there was no official confirmation.
The leaders welcomed Egypt hosting an emergency meeting of the Arab League on March 4, SPA added, saying the decisions taken at the “unofficial fraternal meeting” in Riyadh would be put on the summit’s agenda.
Major US allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which is one of few Arab states to have normalized ties with Israel, have ruled out any displacement of Gaza Palestinians and said peacemaking should envisage a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel.
Palestinians and others in the region are concerned Trump’s plan would destabilize the region, repeating the “Nakba,” Arabic for “catastrophe,” referring to the hundreds of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel before and during the War of Independence in 1948, after the UN-proposed division of mandatory Palestine was rejected by Arabs in Palestine and Arab states.
The Times of Israel Community.