Arab Leaders Have Put Forward A Plan To Reconstruct Gaza
The three-stage plan will cost US$53 billion, with funding from the UN, international financial institutions, donor countries and development banks, foreign direct investment and private sector partnerships.
On March 4, Arab leaders agreed to a plan by Egypt to reconstruct Gaza during an Extraordinary Arab Summit in Cairo.
Leaders, including those of Palestine, rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Gaza by mass expelling Palestinians and instead adopted Egypt's 112-page reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Countries that approved Egypt’s plan included Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti and Comoros.
Egypt’s plan consists of 3 stages: Recovery, Reconstruction, Governance
The plan will cost US$53 billion, with funding from the UN, international financial institutions, donor countries and development banks, foreign direct investment and private sector partnerships.
It involves a trust fund that is internationally supervised to ensure funds are allocated transparently and efficiently.
In the plan, a group of independent Palestinian technocrats would replace Hamas in governing Gaza and be responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid.
This would pave the way for the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to govern Gaza.
Early Recovery: 6 months, US$3 billion
- Clear rubble from the Salah Al-Din road,the main highway linking the north and the south of the Gaza Strip.
- Prepare for temporary housing.
- Construct 200,000 temporary housing units for 1.2 million Palestinians.
- Clear rubble in all areas parallel to the Salah Al-Din road toward the coast of Gaza.
- Restore 60,000 partially damaged homes for 360,000 people.
- Implement programs and plans for loans for Gaza and Palestine to be a sovereign state.
Reconstruction Phase 1: 2 years, US$20 billion
- Complete rubble removal and sorting, using it for coastal area landfill.
- Establish utilities and networks.
- Build 200,000 housing units.
- Complete the restoration of 60,000 housing units for 1.6 million people.
- Construct essential service buildings.
- Reclaim 20,000 feddans (about 20,756 acres) of land.
- Continue social programs and soft loan schemes.
Reconstruction Phase 2: 2.5 years, US$30 billion
- Establish utilities and networks.
- Build 200,000 housing units for 1.2 million people, bringing total housing to 460,000 units for 2.75 million people.
- Construct essential service buildings for phase two.
- Establish the first phase of the 600 feddans (about 622 acres) industrial zone.
- Build fishing and commercial ports.
- Construct 10 km of Corniche Road as part of coastal development.
- Build Gaza Airport.
Governance:
- Respect Palestinian ownership and adhere to international resolutions recognizing Gaza as part of Palestinian land.
- Achieve a two-state solution – an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem – through a gradual approach.
- The Palestinian Authority strengthens its institutions to prepare for full governance.
- Establish an independent Gaza Administration Committee, composed of technocrats and nonpartisan figures, operating under the umbrella of the Palestinian government, to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip during a six-month transitional period.
- Egypt and Jordan train Palestinian police forces in preparation for their deployment.
- Armed factions would be dissolved through a credible political process restoring Palestinian rights.
Egypt will next host a global conference to coordinate financial and political support for Gaza's reconstruction, appealing to international donors and organizations.
Hamas welcomed Egypt’s plan and called for the means to ensure it succeeds.
However, Israel and the US have rejected the plan, with the White House saying it did not address the reality in Gaza and that Trump stood by his proposal.
Israel said it supports Trump’s plan to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza to other countries and for the US to own the strip.
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