Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Sunday that Egypt's Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in their land, is ready and will be presented at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Cairo, Egypt March 1, 2025. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Sunday that Egypt's Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in their land, is ready and will be presented at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.
Arab states, which were swift to reject President Donald Trump's plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians, are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea.
Trump's plan, announced on February 4 amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, appeared to back away from longstanding U.S. Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.
Abdelatty said Egypt would seek international backing and funding for the plan and emphasised Europe's crucial role, particularly in the financing of Gaza's reconstruction.
"We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit," he said in a press conference with the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.
Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated. Abdelatty said the use of aid as a weapon of collective punishment could not be permitted.
The first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement expired this weekend. Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to the originally agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to move into a second phase. "It will be difficult, but with goodwill and political determination, it can be achieved," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said earlier that it had adopted a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods.
Abdelatty said after Tuesday's summit, foreign ministers of member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation would hold an urgent meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to present the plans.
"We will ensure that the results of the Arab summit are presented to the world in the best possible way," he said.
By Jana Choukeir and Muhammad Al Gebaly
Human Rights Watch has accused an Abu Dhabi-based security company of recruiting Colombian private military contractors and deploying them to fight alongside Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) between 2024 and 2025, adding to what the rights group describes as a growing body of evidence of Emirati military support for the paramilitary group.
Farmers across Sudan say the hike in global fuel and fertilizer costs resulting from the Iran conflict will force them to cut back on planting this summer, restricting food production in a country where war has caused acute hunger.
In a post published Monday on Truth Social, President Donald Trump issued what amounts to a sweeping diplomatic ultimatum to the Arab and Muslim world: normalise with Israel through the Abraham Accords, or forfeit any role in the Iran agreement he is working to finalise.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.