Egypt says Gaza reconstruction plan completed, will be presented at Arab summit this week

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says the Egyptian Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in the enclave, is ready and will be presented to the emergency Arab summit on Tuesday.

The Egyptian reconstruction plan, according to Abdelatty, will not be purely Egyptian or Arab but will seek international support and funding to ensure its successful implementation.

“We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit,” Abdelatty says in a press conference with the European Union Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica.

Abdelatty says Europe’s role, especially in the economic aspect of rebuilding the war-torn enclave, is critical.

According to reports, the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the Strip’s infrastructure.

The plan comes after an international uproar over US President Donald Trump’s call for the removal of Gaza’s population of some two million Palestinians. Trump suggested the United States would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” though Palestinians would not be allowed back.

Palestinians have widely said they will not leave, while Egypt, and Jordan, backed by Saudi Arabia, have refused Trump’s calls for them to take in Gaza’s population.

Asked about the second phase of the ceasefire deal, Abdelatty says Egypt will continue its intensive efforts to ensure the ceasefire is maintained and negotiations for the second phase can begin.

He stresses the importance of safely executing the ceasefire agreement signed in January, emphasizing Egypt’s commitment to ensuring its proper implementation.

“The first phase has concluded successfully, and now we must shift to discussions on the second phase, which is key to sustaining the ceasefire,” he says.

“Naturally, it will be difficult, but with goodwill and political determination, it can be achieved.”