Arab leaders gather in Saudi Arabia to hash out Gaza plan

Arab leaders were gathering in Saudi Arabia on Friday to hammer out a recovery plan for Gaza aimed at countering President Donald Trump's proposal for US control of the territory and the expulsion of its people.

Trump's plan has united Arab states in opposition, but disagreements remain over who should govern the war-ravaged Palestinian territory and how to fund its reconstruction.

Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy, called the summit the "most consequential" in decades for the wider Arab world and the Palestinian issue.

Trump triggered global outrage when he proposed the United States "take over the Gaza Strip" and relocate its 2.4 million people to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.

A source close to the Saudi government told AFP Arab leaders would discuss "a reconstruction plan to counter Trump's plan for Gaza".

The Gaza Strip is largely in ruins after more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas, with the United Nations recently estimating that rebuilding would cost more than $53 billion.

Meeting with Trump in Washington on 11 February, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Egypt would present a plan for a way forward.

The Saudi source said the talks would discuss "a version of the Egyptian plan".

The official Saudi Press Agency, citing an official, confirmed on Thursday that Egypt and Jordan were participating in the Riyadh summit along with the six country members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

It also said decisions issued by the "unofficial fraternal meeting" would appear on the agenda of an emergency Arab League summit to be held in Egypt on 4 March.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, his office said.

Previously, a Saudi source told AFP the Palestinian Authority would also take part in the talks.

Three phases

Rebuilding Gaza will be a key issue, after Trump cited reconstruction as justification for relocating its population.

Cairo has yet to announce its initiative, but former Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Hegazy outlined a plan "in three technical phases over a period of three to five years".

The first phase, lasting six months, would focus on "early recovery" and the removal of debris, he said.

The second would require an international conference to provide details of reconstruction and focus on rebuilding utility infrastructure.

And the final one, Hegazy said, would entail urban planning, the reconstruction of housing, provision of services and the establishment of a "political track to implement the two-state solution".

An Arab diplomat familiar with Gulf affairs told AFP: "The biggest challenge facing the Egyptian plan is how to finance it."

The plan also seeks to address the complex issue of post-war oversight for Gaza -- which Hamas has controlled since 2007 -- with "a Palestinian administration that is not aligned with any faction", Hegazy said.

It will comprise "experts" and will be "politically and legally subordinate to the Palestinian Authority", he added.

Hegazy said Hamas "will retreat from the political scene in the coming period".