An independent Palestinian body would manage Gaza under the Egyptian plan, which would ensure Palestinians remain on their land, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said Tuesday, as Arab countries met to discuss the future of the blockaded enclave.
Giving opening remarks at an Arab League summit in Cairo to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Gazans, el-Sissi said that under the Egyptian plan, Palestinians would "remain on their land" and the territory would be run by a committee of Palestinian technocrats.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he welcomed the plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Abbas said Tuesday he would create a vice-president position in his government, also announcing amnesty to expelled members of his Fatah party at a Cairo summit on Gaza.
Foreign backers of the Palestinian Authority have long asked for a vice-president to be appointed, and the announcement could pave the way for expelled Fatah member Mohammed Dahlan to be nominated for the new position.
Speaking at the summit, Abbas also said he was ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allow, adding his Palestinian Authority was the only legitimate governing and military force in the Palestinian Territories.
Abbas said that he would issue a general amnesty for all those dismissed from the Fatah movement which rules the West Bank.
Egypt is proposing a $53 billion five-year plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that ensures Palestinians are not displaced outside the besieged strip, according to a document seen by dpa.
The removal of the rubble and restoration of around 60,000 partially damaged houses would need six months and $3 billion, according to the document. Reconstruction should start afterward.
By 2030, hundreds of thousands of new homes that can house up to 3 million people would have been built, as well as an airport, a port, industrial zones, hotels and parks.
Starting the reconstruction process requires arrangements for transitional governance, providing security, preserving the horizon of the two-state solution, and preventing the outbreak of new conflicts, the plan said, as it urged the international community to support mediators' efforts to maintain the current cease-fire agreement.
The proposal also stated that Egypt and Jordan are working on training Palestinian police personnel ahead of deploying them in Gaza.
The summit's final statement stipulated "the adoption of the plan submitted by the Arab Republic of Egypt-in full coordination with the State of Palestine and Arab countries, and based on studies conducted by the World Bank and the U.N. Development Fund-regarding early recovery and the reconstruction of Gaza as a comprehensive Arab plan."
It affirmed the rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their land "under any pretext or circumstances."
The Arab Summit highlighted that it assigned an Arab legal committee to study the classification of Palestinian displacement as part of the crime of genocide.
It condemned a recent decision by Israel to halt the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and to close crossings used for relief efforts, affirming that those measures constitute "a violation of the ceasefire agreement, international law, and international humanitarian law."
Additionally, it expressed rejection of Israel's use of a siege and starvation of civilians as a "means to achieve political objectives."
The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, welcomed the reconstruction plan, while it also backed the summit's call for a political and economic boycott of Israel.
Hamas said in a statement after the summit that the gathering marked a significant step toward Arab and Islamic alignment with the Palestinian cause, especially amid continued Israeli attacks and displacement efforts in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The group praised Arab leaders for rejecting attempts to displace Palestinians or undermine their national cause, calling it a historic message that a second Nakba, or Catastrophe, will not be allowed.
It welcomed a call to boycott Israel commercially and politically, describing it as a "highly effective strategic move to isolate Israel and pressure it into complying with international law."
Hamas expressed support for the adoption of the reconstruction plan and urged all measures to ensure its success. It also commended Egypt's efforts in preparing an international reconstruction conference and endorsed the formation of a community support committee to oversee aid, reconstruction and Gaza's governance as part of a Palestinian state.
