UK, France, Italy, Germany hail Arab plan to rebuild for Gaza

Britain, France, Germany and Italy on Saturday backed a proposal by Muslim-majority nations to rebuild Gaza as a “realistic path”.

The counter-proposal to US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents “promises — if implemented — swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the foreign ministers of the four countries said in a joint statement.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia, on Saturday formally adopted a plan put forward by the Arab League.

The Egyptian-crafted plan, an alternative to Trump’s widely condemned takeover, proposes to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

Unlike the Trump plan, it aims to do so without displacing the territory’s 2.4 million inhabitants, who have suffered 17 months of war.

Palestinians leave after attending the first Friday prayers in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. AP

The OIC, which represents the Muslim world, in a statement urged “the international community and international and regional funding institutions to swiftly provide the necessary support for the plan.”

“We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more,” they said in their statement.

“We commend the serious efforts of all involved stakeholders and appreciate the important signal the Arab states have sent by jointly developing this recovery and reconstruction plan,” the statement added.

“We are committed to working with the Arab initiative, the Palestinians and Israel to address those issues together.”