Arab states adopt Gaza plan, says Sisi

Arab leaders adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza on Tuesday that would cost $53bn and avoid resettling Palestinians, in contrast to US President Donald Trump's "Middle East Riviera" vision, according to a copy of the plan.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that the proposal had been accepted at the closing of a summit in Cairo.

Sisi said at the summit he was certain that Trump would be able to achieve peace in the conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

The major questions that need to be answered about Gaza's future are who will run the enclave and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for reconstruction.

Sisi said Egypt had worked in cooperation with Palestinians on creating an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza.

The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip's affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), he said.

The other critical issue is the fate of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, said he welcomed the Egyptian idea and urged Trump to support such a plan that would not involve displacing Palestinian residents.

Abbas, in power since 2005, also said he was ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allowed, adding his PA was the only legitimate governing and military force in the Palestinian Territories.

An architect of the 1993 Oslo peace accords with Israel that raised hopes of Palestinian statehood, Abbas has seen his legitimacy steadily undermined by Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank, which he oversees.

In a speech at the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international guarantees were needed that the current temporary ceasefire would remain in place, and supported the PA's role in governing the strip.

Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been consulting over an alternative to Trump's ambition for an exodus of Palestinians and a U.S. rebuild of Gaza, which they fear would destabilise the entire region.

Egypt's Reconstruction Plan for Gaza is a 112-page document that includes maps of how its land would be re-developed and dozens of colourful AI-generated images of housing developments, gardens and community centres. The plan includes a commercial harbour, a technology hub, beach hotels and an airport.