Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called on the international community to adopt a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing Palestinians. His statement comes in response to former US President Donald Trump's proposal for the future of the enclave, which has sparked discontent among Arab countries, "Reuters" reported, quoted by BTA.
„We stressed that it is important for the international community to adopt a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing Palestinians. "I repeat: no eviction of the Palestinians from their lands," al-Sisi said at a press conference in Madrid after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Trump's proposal includes transforming Gaza into an international seaside resort after the Palestinians are evicted and taken in by Jordan and Egypt. The plan was categorically rejected by those countries, as well as by other Arab nations, which said they would develop an alternative, but so far there has been no significant progress.
Al-Sisi also stressed that the UN agency for Palestine refugees is indispensable in its humanitarian mission. Its work in Gaza and the West Bank is under threat after Israel passed a law banning its activities on its territory, including East Jerusalem.
The opposition to the displacement of Palestinians was also confirmed by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, local media reported.
The leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Qatar are expected to discuss the issue in Riyadh this month before it is formally presented at the Arab League summit in Cairo in March.