Arab leaders were set to gather in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss an alternative to a plan from US President Donald Trump in which the United States would assume control of war-battered Gaza and displace its Palestinian population.

The Arab League summit on the territory’s reconstruction comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again gave his backing to Trump’s plan, calling it “visionary and innovative.”

Palestinians, along with the Arab world and many allies of Israel and the US, have condemned Trump’s proposal, rejecting any efforts to expel Gazans.

UN estimates have put the cost of Gaza’s reconstruction at more than $53 billion amid the devastating war triggered by the Hamas terror group’s brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel.

Arab foreign ministers met in the Egyptian capital on Monday for a closed-door preparatory session centered on a plan to rebuild the territory without displacing its people, a source at the Arab League told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The plan would sideline Hamas, which rules Gaza, and replace it with interim bodies controlled by Arab, Muslim, and Western states, according to a draft seen by Reuters. It does not specify whether the proposal would be implemented before or after any permanent deal to end the war in Gaza.

The proposal also does not detail a central role for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which has sought to lead Gaza’s reconstruction — a nonstarter for Israel, which has accused the body of backing terrorism. Nor does the draft proposal say how Hamas would be pushed aside, how the Strip would be rebuilt, or who would pay to rebuild it.

The source said the plan “would be presented to Arab leaders at Tuesday’s summit for........

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