Arab leaders meet to craft counter to Trump’s Gaza plan
The US president has proposed to ‘take over’ the Palestinian territory and relocate its over 2 million residents to Egypt and Jordan
Arab leaders met in Riyadh on Friday to craft a plan for Gaza’s post-war reconstruction to counter Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over the territory without its Palestinian inhabitants.
Trump’s plan has united Arab states in opposition to it, but disagreements remain over who should govern Gaza and how its reconstruction can be funded.
A photo from the meeting showed the kingdom’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the leaders of other Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan.
A source close to the Saudi government confirmed the meeting had finished. He said he did not expect a final statement to be issued as the “discussion was confidential”.
The official Saudi Press Agency said the “fraternal consultative” meeting saw an “exchange of views on various regional and international issues, especially joint efforts in support of the Palestinian cause, and developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip”.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s office said he had left the Saudi capital after the meeting with the leaders of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.