(Bloomberg) — An Egyptian proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza, which was backed by leaders of Arab countries, doesn’t meet the Trump administration’s expectations for how the Palestinian enclave should be rebuilt, according to the State Department.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi proposed the plan as an alternative to President Donald Trump’s controversial idea that the US take control of the war-ravaged area and rebuild it as the “Riviera of the Middle East” after expelling its Palestinian population.
While new ideas from the region for long-term peace are welcome, the Egyptian plan “does not fulfill the requirements, the nature of what President Trump was asking for,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, said in a briefing Thursday, without elaborating.
Bruce said separately that “Hamas must not be in power” — a condition demanded by both Washington and Israel as part of a long-term ceasefire — and that as long “as they are a factor in Gaza and exist, there is no way forward.” Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, has welcomed the Egyptian proposal.
The Egyptian plan, which was endorsed this week by the Arab League, includes temporary housing inside Gaza for 1.5 million displaced Palestinians during reconstruction, which is estimated to cost about $50 billion.
The Gaza Strip, home to about 2 million Palestinians, has been devastated by the war that was triggered Oct. 7, 2023, by a Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and captured about 250. More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed since, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities.
A six-week ceasefire expired Sunday, and the two sides have yet to agree on extending it or moving forward with broader negotiations
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