Rejecting Arab plan, White House says Trump ‘stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas’

The White House comes out against the Arab plan for the post-war management of Gaza and sticks to US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over the enclave and relocate all of its two million residents.

In a statement to The Times of Israel, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes says the Arab plan released Tuesday “does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance[s].”

“President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas,” Hughes adds.

“We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region,” Hughes says, appearing to leave the door open for further talks with Arab allies.

The Arab plan envisions the establishment of an independent committee of Palestinian technocrats to temporarily manage the Gaza Strip before handing it over to the Palestinian Authority.

The plan stresses that Palestinians will be able to remain in Gaza, rejecting Trump’s proposal to relocate the Strip’s residents.

It doesn’t explicitly tackle the issue of Hamas and how the terror group will be disarming, leading to criticism from the US and Israel, which are demanding that Hamas be fully dismantled.