Gaza Strip Ramadan Rebuilding PLan. A Palestinian child rides a bicycle near a fallen minaret of a destroyed mosque during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 7, 2025. Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
Major European nations have supported a plan proposed by Egypt and backed by their Arab counterparts that would lay out a $53 billion rebuild plan for the Gaza Strip and avoid displacing the Palestinian population.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. State Department and Egyptian embassy for comment by email on Saturday morning.
Why It Matters
The U.S.-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to unfold following the Palestinian militant group's surprise attack on Israel on October 2023 that resulted in war, allowing leaders to focus their efforts on rebuilding plans. President Donald Trump has controversially proposed building a "Middle East Riviera" on the strip instead that would displace millions of Palestinians.
The president has stressed that his plan would remove any trace of Hamas from the area and allow a true clean break for the area.
The conflict has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, uprooted and separated families, and devastated health care systems in the territory. At least 1.9 million Palestinians, about 90 percent of the population, have been internally displaced due to Israeli bombardments, according to the United Nations (U.N.).
What To Know
Egypt led discussions in Cairo this week, resulting in a plan that Arab leaders backed. Israel and the U.S. rejected the plan, doubling down on Trump's proposal to redevelop the area into a luxury destination.
Analysts have said the lack of U.S. and Israeli support would prove problematic for any hopes to advance the plan, but European backing may substantially change that picture.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday on behalf of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, officials praised the plan as "a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises—if implemented—swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza."
"Recovery and reconstruction efforts must be based upon a solid political and security framework acceptable to both Israelis and Palestinians, which provides long term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians alike," the statement said. "We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more. We explicitly support the central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda."
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes earlier this week claimed that the proposal "does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable, and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered with debris and unexploded ordnance."
Egypt's plan would include an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted to govern the area after the war between Israel and Hamas has properly concluded, according to Reuters.
The plan would only succeed with heavy financial backing from the Gulf Arab states, who have stressed the need for the complete disarmament of Hamas, although the leaders of those states disagree on how immediately such a disarmament would take.
However, Hamas has previously rejected calls to disarm as part of the negotiation process, arguing that its right to resist is non-negotiable.
What People Are Saying
The Joint Statement from the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany said: "We commend the serious efforts of all involved stakeholders and appreciate the important signal the Arab states have sent by jointly developing this recovery and reconstruction plan. We are committed to working with the Arab initiative, the Palestinians and Israel to address those issues together, including security and governance. We urge all parties to build on the plan's merits as a starting point."
Arab President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi saidearlier this week: "I appreciate the consensus among the Arab countries to support the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip, which allows the Palestinian people to stay on their land without displacement."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry saidearlier this week: "With President Trump's idea, there is an opportunity for the Gazans to have free choice based on their free will. This should be encouraged! Instead, Arab states have rejected this opportunity, without giving it a fair chance, and continue to level baseless accusations against Israel."
What Happens Next?
Negotiations will continue as regional partners and Western allies all seek to achieve a deal that will see an end to Hamas and the establishment of a new Gaza Strip and how to handle the Palestinian population that call the region home.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 12:52 PM.