Arab Countries Prepare to Hold Summit against Gaza Displacement Plan

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
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Arab Countries Prepare to Hold Summit against Gaza Displacement Plan

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses along a street in Al-Shatea refugee camp amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 07 February 2025. (EPA)

Consultations are underway to hold an emergency Arab summit to counter US President Donald Trump’s plans to displace the residents of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

An informed diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that contacts are underway between members of the Arab League to hold the summit in Cairo.

The summit aims to coordinate Arab stances to confront the Palestinian displacement proposal and to draft reconstructions plans for Gaza.

The source said talks are underway to set a date for the summit.

Egypt said on Friday it had been in contact with Arab partners including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to firm up the region's rejection of any displacement of Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had been in communication with counterparts from 11 nations, a statement said.

Those had emphasized "the constants of the Arab position on the Palestinian cause, rejecting any measures aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land, or encouraging their transfer to other countries outside the Palestinian territories," it said.

Trump has suggested the US take control of Gaza from Israel and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere including Egypt and Jordan. But Arab nations want to see a two-state solution with a separate Palestinian homeland alongside Israel.

Moving Palestinians would represent "flagrant violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, a threat to security and stability in the region and an undermining of opportunities for peace and coexistence among its peoples," Egypt's statement said.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the need to speed up Gaza’s reconstruction to ensure that life returns to normal in the coastal enclave.

They stressed during a telephone call their rejection of the displacement of the Palestinians and the need for them to remain Gaza. They underscored the importance of international efforts to that end.

Moreover, Sisi emphasized the need for the implementation of the two-state solution that would secure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Sisi and Guterres also tackled Egypt’s efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza. They discussed the prisoner and hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel and the delivery of aid to Gaza.



Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense remove debris as they search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense remove debris as they search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense remove debris as they search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense remove debris as they search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Israel has carried out daily strikes on Gaza since ending its ceasefire with Hamas last month. It has cut off the territory's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March in what it says is an attempt to pressure the militant group to release hostages.
The daily bombardment and widespread hunger is taking a heavy toll on Gaza's most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children.
An airstrike hit a home in Beit Lahiya, killing 10 people, including a Palestinian prisoner, Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, who had been released as part of the ceasefire, The Associated Press reported. His wife, two of their children and a grandchild were also killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies.
Another strike hit a home in Gaza City, killing seven people, including two women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. Two other people were wounded.
Late Sunday, a strike hit a home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 10 people, including five siblings as young as 4 years old, according to the Health Ministry. Two other children were killed along with their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.