Saudi Arabia is spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop a plan for Gaza's future as a counter to US President Donald Trump's ambition for a Middle East Riviera cleared of its Palestinian inhabitants, 10 sources said.
Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas, five of the people said.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump's plan to "clean out" Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilizing.
The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said, because the plan would nix the kingdom's demand for a clear path to Palestinian statehood as a condition to normalize ties with Israel - something that would also pave the way for an ambitious military pact between Riyadh and Washington, shoring up the kingdom's defenses against Iran.
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Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas, five of the people said.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump's plan to "clean out" Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilizing.
The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said, because the plan would nix the kingdom's demand for a clear path to Palestinian statehood as a condition to normalize ties with Israel - something that would also pave the way for an ambitious military pact between Riyadh and Washington, shoring up the kingdom's defenses against Iran.
More
Saudi Arabia spearheads Arab scramble for alternative to Trump's Gaza plan
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump's plan to "clean out" Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt
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