Donald Trump rejects Egypt's Gaza plan

President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected Egypt's alternative plan for rebuilding the Gaza Strip without removing the dislocated Gazan population, saying that he's sticking with his own vision for the region, according to CNN.

"The current (Egyptian) 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,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement last night (Tuesday), as quoted by CNN. “President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas. We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region."

The Egyptian plan for reconstructing the Gaza Strip, presented to and approved by a large number of Arab states at a meeting in Cairo yesterday - including the Palestinian Authority and remotely by Hamas - is based on the following principles, according to Kann News:

The foundation of the Egyptian plan is a government of "independent" technocrats and experts which would govern Gaza, one whose members would be without ties to either Fatah or Hamas.

This governing committee would rule the Strip for half a year, and would prepare the ground for a return of the Palestinian Authority to govern the Strip, as it did before it was forced out in a violent coup by Hamas in 2007.

Meanwhile, Egypt and Jordan, the two original destinations for the relocation of Gazans according to the Trump plan, would train Palestinian police officers to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip.

At a broader level, the UN Security Council will have the option of deploying an international peacekeeping force, and armed groups outside of the PA would be dealt with via a "diplomatic process" aimed at resolving the Palestinian question.

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would take over five years and cost over $50 billion - without removing a single Gazan from Gaza.

Israel has not come forward with a plan of its own for the "day after" in Gaza, but it has rejected any proposal for governing Gaza based on either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

The government has also expressed its support for President Donald Trump's plan to relocate displaced Gazans to other countries, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz reserve this idea for Gazans who wish to relocate voluntarily.