CAIRO: Representing HH the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah called for a unified Arab stance against Palestinian displacement at the Extraordinary Arab Summit in Cairo on Tuesday. He emphasized the importance of a unified Arab position against any attempts to displace Palestinians and firmly rejected placing responsibility on regional countries, particularly Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
HH the Crown Prince called for a comprehensive plan to reconstruct Gaza and compensate the Palestinian people for the destruction caused, while holding the Zionist occupation accountable for rebuilding what its forces have destroyed. He underscored the need for legal action against the Zionist entity through international law, humanitarian law and key global bodies, including the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, and the International Court of Justice.
Kuwait also reiterated its commitment to the two-state solution, calling for a concrete and realistic approach through the international conference scheduled for June to implement it.
HH the Crown Prince urged all UN member states that have not yet recognized Palestine to do so and to support Palestine’s bid for full UN membership.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of uniting Palestinian ranks, strengthening governance in Gaza, and reinforcing Arab unity to protect regional security. Kuwait also called for increased financial and political support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and rejected any attempts to diminish its role.
His Highness reaffirmed Kuwait’s unwavering stance that a just, lasting and comprehensive peace can only be achieved through internationally agreed-upon resolutions, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Arab leaders endorsed on Tuesday a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority, presenting an alternative to US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take over the territory and displace its people. The prospect of the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing Gaza remains far from certain, however, with the Zionist entity having ruled out any future role for the body, and Trump having closed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) liaison office in Washington during his first term while stepping up support for the Zionist entity.
Trump triggered global outrage by suggesting the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan. Tuesday’s Arab League summit in Cairo — a day after Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his support for Trump’s proposal — offered an alternative with the adoption of a “comprehensive Arab plan”.
It announced the establishment of a trust fund to pay for the territory’s reconstruction and urged the international community to back it. “All these efforts are proceeding in parallel with the launch of a political track” towards Palestinian statehood, it added, an ambition that Zionist leaders have opposed. The statement welcomed “the Palestinian decision to form a Gaza administration committee under the umbrella of the Palestinian government”.
The summit also called on Palestinian representation to be unified under the PLO, an umbrella group that is the dominant political force within the Palestinian Authority — and which excludes Hamas. The PA had previously governed Gaza before losing power there in 2007 to Islamist Hamas. Hamas said it welcomed the summit’s plan and the proposed formation of a temporary committee “to oversee relief efforts, reconstruction and governance”. But it was unclear how willing Hamas would be to relinquish control of Gaza.
“The current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance,” White House spokesman Brian Hughes said when asked whether Trump would support the Arab leaders’ plan. “President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas,” he said.
The Zionist entity meanwhile said the Arab leaders’ proposal failed “to address the realities” and criticized its reliance on both the PA and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Palestinians, Arab states and many European governments have rejected Trump’s proposal for US control of Gaza, opposing any efforts to expel its people. Trump has recently appeared to soften his stance, saying he was “not forcing” the plan, which experts have said could violate international law.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said the plan would ensure Palestinians “remain on their land”, but was careful not to criticize Trump. The summit’s final communique warned against “sinful attempts to displace the Palestinian people”, saying they would “usher the region into a new phase of conflicts”.
For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the “Nakba”, or catastrophe — the mass displacement in the war that led to the Zionist entity’s creation in 1948. Sisi said Tuesday that the new management committee, composed of Palestinian technocrats, was aimed at “paving the way for the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Strip”.
Veteran Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, also addressing the summit, said a working committee had been formed to prepare for the PA resuming its role in Gaza. UN chief Antonio Guterres endorsed the initiative in Cairo to rebuild Gaza, adding the world body was prepared to “fully cooperate”.
The Zionist military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 48,405 people, mostly civilians. The war has devastated Gaza and created a dire humanitarian crisis. A fragile ceasefire since January saw an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, before the Zionist entity on Sunday announced it was blocking deliveries until Hamas accepted its terms for an extension of the truce. – Agencies