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Details of an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza were revealed on Tuesday, with sources involved in the process telling The National that the proposal includes the creation of safe zones within the territory during a five-year rebuilding period.
The plan, designed to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposals for Gaza’s future, is expected to be presented at a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other Arab countries on February 20, the sources added.
The initial stages would focus on restoring essential services and temporary housing. Drafted by experts, the plan stipulates that caravans, tents and essential services would be made available inside the safe zones, said the sources, who were briefed on the proposal.
Rakha Hassan, a former Egyptian deputy foreign minister who now sits on the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, a Cairo-based think tank, said several large Egyptian property developers had submitted several proposals to the government on Gaza's reconstruction. He told The National that the Egyptian government also planned to host an international conference to raise money for rebuilding.
The GCC summit will be held in Riyadh on Thursday and attended by Egypt and Jordan, the two Arab nations where Mr Trump wants Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians to be permanently resettled while the US grabs the territory and turns it into the “riviera of the Middle East”. Separately, Egypt said on Tuesday that an Arab summit that was scheduled for Cairo on February 27 would now take place on March 4.
The summit is primarily designed to build a united opposition to Mr Trump's plan.
The sources held out the possibility that representatives of potential donors might be invited to Thursday's summit in Riyadh, where they would be speaking to the participants on the sidelines of the gathering.
Mr Trump's Gaza proposals have been widely condemned in the Arab world and globally, with some international rights groups renouncing them as ethnic cleansing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has warmly welcomed Mr Trump's plan.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in the Middle East this week, has said the US was open to hearing alternative proposals. “If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Mr Rubio said.
The Egyptian plan can only succeed if sufficient funds are raised and the 42-day Gaza ceasefire that went into effect on January 19 is held beyond its expiry early in March and through negotiations on the deal's second phase.
If successfully negotiated, the second phase means Hamas will release all hostages it still holds, Israel should withdraw from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire would go into effect.
Israel has repeatedly vowed not to end the war before Hamas's military and governance capabilities are dismantled and all the hostages are freed. Hamas has frequently aired fears that Israel will resume military operations in Gaza when all hostages are released.
The sources said Egyptian government officials have been discussing and fine-tuning the Gaza reconstruction plan with international donors, including the EU, as well as representatives of construction companies and Gulf nations that have stated their initial readiness to contribute funds.
The Egyptian plan envisages the creation of an independent Palestinian agency to co-ordinate and oversee the reconstruction. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority will have to issue a decree creating the agency but will not be entitled to interfere or influence its work, the sources said.
Members of the agency will be technocrats who enjoy the support of all Palestinian factions.
Separately, Egypt is in the process of selecting a 15-man Palestinian committee to oversee the day-to-day affairs of post-war Gaza, including a limited say in the reconstruction effort, said the sources. The proposed committee will not include representatives of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority and will be aided by local clan chiefs and mayors.
The war in Gaza was started by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 and led to the kidnapping of about 250 others. The attack drew a relentless military response from Israel that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that many, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It has also reduced large parts of Gaza's built-up areas to rubble.
“The [amount of] rubble in Gaza isn’t as large as the US and Israel would suggest, and contractors have confirmed that much of it can be recycled in the reconstruction process,” said Mr Hassan, the former Egyptian deputy foreign minister.
“Hospitals can be restored quickly, within months, because many of their exteriors are left standing … Gazan labour is going to be essential for the rebuilding plan. Gaza’s population needs to stay there to do the rebuilding themselves.”
Egypt, which administered Gaza between 1948 and 1967, has long viewed the territory as part of its national security sphere. Allowing Gaza's Palestinians to resettle on Egyptian territory, Cairo maintains, will weaken the Palestinian cause. It insists that a two-state solution allowing a Palestinian nation to be created and peacefully exist alongside Israel is the only feasible resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.