Witkoff appears to walk back US opposition to Arab plan for Gaza rebuild

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff appears to walk back the Trump administration’s opposition to the Arab plan for the post-war management of Gaza.

Shortly after the plan was presented by Egypt on Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes issued a statement saying it did not address “the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable” and that US President Donald Trump stands by his Gaza takeover plan.

But asked about the Arab plan during a press gaggle outside the White House, Witkoff tells reporters that “there are a lot of compelling features to it.”

“We need more discussion about it, but it’s a good faith first step from the Egyptians,” he says.

“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,” Witkoff adds, again suggesting that a goal of Trump’s Gaza take over plan was merely to push regional allies to come up with alternatives.

Asked whether he accepts the Arab plan’s notion that the reconstruction of Gaza can take place while Palestinians remain, Witkoff responds, “We’re evaluating everything there. It’s a little bit early to comment.”

Earlier in his remarks, though, Witkoff reiterated that the reconstruction of Gaza will take 10-15 years and that the Strip will be uninhabitable in the interim.

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 Arab plan offers for international peacekeeping troops to be dispatched in Gaza through a UN Security Council resolution.

The plan doesn’t address Hamas by name, though, instead maintaining that 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, asserts 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.”