What is Egypt's Gaza plan, who's for it and who's against it?

Arab leaders have adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump's "Middle East Riviera" vision.

The White House said the plan adopted by Arab states did not address Gaza's reality and that Trump stood by his proposal. Trump's plan to displace Palestinians in a U.S. takeover of the enclave received global condemnation last month and echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the Egyptian proposal, subsequently welcomed by Hamas and criticized by Israel and the U.S., had been accepted at the closing of a summit in Cairo.

Sisi said at the summit that he was certain Trump would be able to achieve peace as the Gaza Strip has been left devastated by Israel's military assault.

The major questions

The major questions that need to be answered about Gaza's future are who will run the enclave and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for reconstruction.

Sisi said Egypt had worked in cooperation with Palestinians on creating an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the Israel-Gaza war.

The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip's affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), he said.

Hamas, the Islamist organization that has run Gaza since 2007, in a statement it agrees to the Egyptian committee proposal. Hamas agreed not to field candidates to the Cairo-proposed committee but says it would have to give its consent to the tasks, members and the agenda of the committee that would work under the PA's supervision.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said late on Tuesday the names for the individuals participating in the committee had been decided.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, said he welcomed the Egyptian idea and urged Trump to support such a plan that would not involve displacing Palestinian residents.

Abbas, in power since 2005, also said he was ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allowed, adding his PA was the only legitimate governing and military force in the Palestinian Territories. Hamas said it welcomed the elections.

The Israeli foreign ministry in a statement called the plan "rooted in outdated perspectives" and rejected the reliance on the PA while complaining that Hamas was left in power by the plan. Washington also voiced its disapproval.

"The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance," White House spokesman Brian Hughes said when asked whether Trump would support the Arab leaders' plan.

"President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas," he said.

Egypt's plan was, however, supported by the UN and EU. 

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said his organization was "ready to cooperate fully in this effort," as did the President of the European Council, António Costa, who offered "concrete support" from the European bloc's 27 member countries. "We should implement this plan together, the European Union, its partners in the Arab world and the international community," he said.

Reconstruction would need Gulf states

Any reconstruction funding would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have the billions of dollars needed.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa said the reconstruction fund would seek international financing as well as oversight and likely be located in the World Bank.

The UAE, which sees Islamist groups as an existential threat, wants an immediate and complete disarmament of Hamas, while other Arab countries advocate a gradual approach, a source close to the matter said.

A source close to Saudi Arabia's royal court says the continued armed presence of Hamas in Gaza was a stumbling block because of strong objections from the United States and Israel, which would need to sign off on any plan.

In a speech at the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international guarantees were needed that the current temporary ceasefire would remain in place, and supported the PA's role in governing the strip.

Leaders of the UAE and Qatar did not speak during open sessions of the summit.

What is in Egypt's plan? 

Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been consulting over an alternative to Trump's ambition for an exodus of Palestinians and a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which they fear would destabilize the entire region.

A draft final communique from the summit rejected the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Egypt's Reconstruction Plan for Gaza is a 112-page document that includes maps of how its land would be re-developed and dozens of colorful AI-generated images of housing developments, gardens and community centers. The plan includes a commercial harbor, a technology hub, beach hotels and an airport.

The plan is in three phases – interim measures, reconstruction and governance. In the first phase, projected to cost $3 billion, a committee of technocrats under the PA would oversee clearance and construction in the Strip, with 200,000 homes built and 60,000 buildings restored within six months. 

During the $20 billion reconstruction phase 400,000 homes would be built while services like water, electricity, telecoms and waste would be restored. The aim is to provide housing for the entire population within two and a half years, and to build an industrial zone, fishing port, commercial port and airport. 

The $30 billion governance phase would involve the technocratic committee overseeing humanitarian aid and governance, supported by a steering and management council. Palestinian PM Abbas said elections could take place within a year if conditions allow. 

Trump's plan, which envisioned clearing Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, appeared to back away from long-standing U.S. Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.

Cairo's plan does not tackle critical issues such as who will foot the bill for Gaza's reconstruction or outline any specific details around how Gaza would be governed, nor how an armed group as powerful as Hamas would be pushed aside.

Israel criticizes plan, Hamas welcomes it

After the announcement on Tuesday, Israel criticized the plan while Hamas welcomed it.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the reconstruction plan "failed to address" the realities of the situation following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

"Hamas' brutal terrorist attack, which resulted in thousands of Israeli deaths and hundreds of kidnappings, is not mentioned, nor is there any condemnation of this murderous terrorist entity," the foreign ministry said.

Hamas, however, called for providing the means to ensure the plan's success and considered the summit a "step forward" for Arab and Islamic support behind the Palestinian cause. The group urged Arab leaders to compel Israel to commit to its ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

"We value the Arab stance rejecting the attempts to displace our people," Hamas added.

The Arab statement condemned Israel's latest decision to halt the entry of aid into Gaza, called for an end to Israel's "aggression" in the West Bank and affirmed the vital role of UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel meanwhile reiterated support for Trump's idea, which aims to displace Palestinians and relocate them to Jordan and Egypt, saying Arab states had rejected it without giving it a chance.

Israel also criticized the statement's reliance on the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, which it said had previously "demonstrated corruption and support for terrorism."