Arab leaders are terrified of Trump's Gaza vision – Here's their alternative

In a chandeliered hall overlooking the Nile, Arab leaders converged on Tuesday for an urgent summit, racing to counter President Donald J. Trump’s radical proposal to resettle Gaza’s population beyond its battered borders.

Egypt, wielding a $53 billion reconstruction plan as both shield and spear, hosted the gathering—a bid to reclaim a narrative upended by Trump’s vision of a Gaza remade under American stewardship. Yet beneath the diplomatic fanfare, a stark truth lingered: no one agrees on what comes next. “There’s no real plan yet—just ideas,” a former diplomatic source said, speaking anonymously amid the fray. “Until Hamas’ fate is resolved, we’re all just talking in circles.”

The summit, framed by grainy broadcasts of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi greeting Jordan’s King Abdullah II, marked a pivot. For years, Arab states showed tepid interest in Gaza’s plight—its crumbled homes and choked streets a distant ache.

But Trump’s gambit, unveiled weeks ago with vows to “take over” and rebuild the enclave, jolted them awake. Egypt, adamant that it won’t absorb a million displaced Palestinians citing national security, now offers a counterpoint: a four-and-a-half-year overhaul, split into a $20 billion first phase and a $30 billion second, aimed at reviving residential zones gutted by war. No exodus, it insists—just Palestinian-led renewal, with the Palestinian Authority training a police force alongside Egypt and Jordan.

The price tag is steep, and the politics steeper. Hamas, the terror group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, swiftly rejected the plan. The Palestinian Authority, wary of rebuilding atop Hamas’s rubble, refuses to engage while the group holds sway. “The Saudis will fund Gaza if there’s a path to a Palestinian state and Hamas is gone,” said Ghaith Al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a veteran of Palestinian negotiations. But Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar—want concessions from Israel: an end to the war, security pacts, a nod to the Authority, however symbolic. Israel’s current government, hardened by 17 months of conflict, shows little appetite for such terms.

Egypt’s blueprint skirts the Hamas question with diplomatic finesse. “Qualified Palestinian security forces will maintain order with Egyptian backing,” it reads—a euphemism, analysts say, to dodge the group’s fate and secure consensus. “The Emiratis are even more extreme—no militarized Hamas can stay,” Danny Zaken, a commentator for Israel Hayom, noted. Yet without Gulf cash, the plan’s a mirage. “The Saudis worry Egypt wants it all—money, oversight, contracts,” Zaken added, hinting at corruption fears echoing from a former U.S. official: “The Gulf’s tired of funds vanishing into Egypt’s power structure.”

Trump’s talk of “leveling” and rebuilding Gaza stirs unease. Palestinians, some whispering to the Center for Peace Communications of a wish to flee, reject foreign rule. Egypt proposes a six-month transitional committee, but Gaza’s voices demand Palestinian control, no outsiders. Jordan, fresh from King Abdullah’s White House sit-down with Trump, sidesteps the fray, relieved the pressure to take refugees has eased. “They’re happy to let Egypt carry this,” Al-Omari said.

For now, the summit’s a chessboard—each player angling to shape a future no one can define. “Arab League meetings are posturing,” Al-Omari observed. “Who handles security? The P.A.’s too weak, and no Arab state’s sending troops.” Egypt’s construction firms stand ready, a diplomatic source boasted—“Three years, if Israel and the U.S. will it”—but political will is the phantom here. Trump’s unpredictability looms largest; Arab capitals, Al-Omari noted, quietly hope to nudge him from depopulation to something less seismic.