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.



Trump Says there Could Be a Gaza Deal Next Week

US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One on the way to New Jersey, US, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One on the way to New Jersey, US, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
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Trump Says there Could Be a Gaza Deal Next Week

US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One on the way to New Jersey, US, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One on the way to New Jersey, US, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

President Donald Trump said on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in "a positive spirit" to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal.

He told reporters aboard Air Force One there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations.

Hamas announced on Friday that it has completed its internal consultations, as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces, regarding the latest ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators to end the assault on the Gaza Strip.

In a press statement, the movement confirmed that it had submitted its response to the mediators, describing it as positive. Hamas also expressed its readiness to immediately engage in serious negotiations on the mechanism for implementing the proposed framework.

A Palestinian official familiar with the matter told Reuters that Hamas had submitted its response to the US-brokered ceasefire proposal, describing it as positive and likely to facilitate reaching an agreement.