The Trump administration has yet to get the sense that any pan-Arab plan for Gaza is coming together, and it believes that the matter will become clearer after a five-nation meeting on the subject on Friday, JNS learned.
Saudi Arabia is set to host Egyptian, Jordanian, Qatari and Emirati leaders on Friday to work toward a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction while ensuring that Gazans aren’t relocated.
Several Arab countries reacted angrily to U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement earlier this month that he envisioned a U.S. takeover of Gaza to revitalize it after its destruction in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Trump demanded that Egypt and Jordan absorb nearly 2 million Gazans and has acknowledged that they may not be able to return to the Strip.
The Trump administration believes that the Saudis, Jordanians and Egyptians have ideas to bring to the table in offering an alternative to Trump’s plan, which the U.S. president said he would welcome. The White House aims to give the Arabs space to formulate their plan before weighing in further, JNS learned.
The Trump administration believes that there would be no shortage of funders to foot the bill for reconstruction in Gaza under a potential, Arab-formulated Gaza plan. There are many construction companies, engineers and other experts who could handle the large task, the administration thinks.
The biggest sticking point by far, JNS learned, is who would control Gaza. The Trump administration thinks that another war would be inevitable absent a realistic plan to remove Hamas from power.
