The members of the Arab League will meet in Cairo on March 4 to counter the threats of the President of the United States to take over Gaza, to expel the Palestinians from their land and the will of the Israeli Prime Minister to destroy the ceasefire and to resume a genocidal war against Gaza.
The summit, summoned by Egypt, is intended to offer a United Arab response which offers an alternative that respects the rights of Palestinians and makes Gaza again habitable.
Here is what led to this emergency summit and what we can expect.
What led to this emergency summit?
On February 5, American President Donald Trump said he wanted to “take control” from Gaza, reinstalling the Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan, and implementing a “redevelopment plan” which would transform the enclave into “the riviera of the Middle East”.
Egypt rejected the idea and said that it would present “a complete vision of the reconstruction of Gaza while ensuring that the Palestinians remain”, and that it would welcome an Arab summit to discuss the vision.
On February 21, Egypt, Jordan and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (CCG) gathered in Riyadh to prepare the agenda for the Tuesday summit in Cairo.
What’s going on in Gaza now?
Early Sunday, the second day of Ramadan, Israel blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying that Hamas “raped” a last-minute American suggestion to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza throughout Ramadan and Passover.
Israel had indeed blocked negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire – which was to start on March 1 – because it would have involved withdrawing its troops from Gaza.
Hamas had already rejected the extension of the first phase into a press release, demanding that Israel complies with the ceasefire agreement and calling on the international community to help apply the pressure.
On January 19, a ceasefire started in the Gaza Strip after 15 months of intense murder and bombardment. The agreement involved a cessation of hostilities and three progressive phases to lead to a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
What will be discussed on March 4?
Developing in terms of the former Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Hegazy said he would probably cover three to five years, divided into three technical phases:
- Early recovery;
- reconstruct the utility infrastructure; And
- Reconstruction of housing, provision of services and establishment of a “political route to implement the two -state solution”.
Experts say that the difficulty with the Egyptian plan lies in funding, the United Nations, recently saying that more than $ 50 billion would be necessary to rebuild Gaza.
It will be discussed at the top. Many assume that CCG countries will play a leading role in the reconstruction of funding, but there is no clarity on the quantity of lifting.
What should countries bring to discussion?
Egypt has tried to mobilize Arabic and international support to its Gaza plan, and as head of the summit and author of the reconstruction plan, it will lead a large part of the discussion.
Jordan will be an important actor, his King Abdullah II who rejected any displacement and supporting the proposal of Egypt. The Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, also warned Israel against the climbing of occupied West Bank tensions, who shares a border with Jordan.
Syria is expected to discuss Israeli air attacks against “targets” in its south and outside Damascus.
CCG countries will be essential, in particular with regard to the guarantee of financing and good will to implement the Egyptian idea.
Have the past Arabic summits made a difference in the conflict of Israel-Palestine?
Certain summits of the Arab League have been symbolically important in the history of the Palestinian cause.
The Palestinian National Council, which created the Liberation Organization of Palestine (PLO), was created by a summit of the Arab League in 1964.
Ten years later, another summit recognized the PLO as the only representative of the Palestinian people, raising their diplomatic weight in the peace negotiations that led to the Oslo agreements.
In 2002, led by Saudi Arabia, a summit adopted the Arab peace initiative after the failure of Oslo.
They agreed to normalize with Israel if he withdrew to the borders before 1967, allowed the creation of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem as a capital and provided a solution just to the Palestinian refugees.
As for reconstruction, an Arab summit in 2014 promised $ 5.4 billion to rebuild Gaza after Israel waged a 50 -day war.
What’s going on after the summit?
After the Arab countries agreed with their position and plan to direct the after-war reconstruction efforts in Gaza, more discussions should tackle specific financial and logistical aspects.
However, with the ceasefire of Gaza in the air-as well as the fate of the Palestinians who can die of hunger in the besieged enclave-the reconstruction may have to be placed on the rhythm-rodin while the main mediators of Qatar and Egypt try to ensure that the War of Israel against Gaza will not resume.
