Egypt has proposed its alternative to President Donald Trump’s idea of annexing Gaza and moving its inhabitants: spend $53 billion to remove the rubble and rebuild Gaza, in the same place, with the same people, next to Israel.
Reuters reported that Egypt is to present its plan, an alternative to “Trump’s ‘Gaza Riviera,’” at an Arab Summit:
Arab leaders meet in Cairo on Tuesday with Egypt to present a plan for Gaza that would sideline Hamas and create interim bodies run by Arab, Muslim and Western states in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of a “Middle East Riviera”.
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The Egyptian plan does not say who would pay to rebuild Gaza at a U.N.-estimated cost of more than $53 billion. Two sources told Reuters that Gulf and Arab states would need to commit at least $20 billion in the initial phase.
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Egypt’s proposal envisions that states on a steering board could establish a fund to support the interim governing body and arrange donor conferences to seek contributions for longer-term reconstruction and development plan for Gaza.
Ahram Online published further details:
The first phase, scheduled for 2025-2027 with a $20 billion budget, will ensure complete debris removal and use of the recovered materials for land reclamation in the strip’s coastal areas.
This phase will focus on constructing essential infrastructure networks, developing 200,000 housing units, and repairing 60,000 homes to accommodate 1.6 million people.
The second phase, which is set for 2027-2030 and has a $30 billion budget, will focus on expanding infrastructure networks and constructing an additional 200,000 housing units to accommodate 1.2 million people, bringing the total to 460,000 units for 2.75 million natives.
It is unclear how Egypt intends to complete debris removal over such a large area in such a short period of time. Israel has also ruled out the Palestinian Authority returning to power in Gaza, since it supports terrorism against Israelis.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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