Tuesday 04 / March / 2025
Cairo: Arab leaders are meeting at an emergency summit in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss plans for the potential reconstruction of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Arab foreign ministers met in the Egyptian capital on Monday for a preliminary session centered on a plan to rebuild the territory without displacing its people, AFP reported citing a source at the Arab League.
That plan will be presented to Arab League leaders, including those of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Tuesday. EU Council President Antonio Costa is also expected to attend.
The plans discussed in Tuesday's summit are meant to counter US President Donald Trump's controversial pledge to own Gaza and redevelop it after "resettling” some 2 million Palestinian people to Arab countries.
Trump had uploaded an artificial intelligence video of turning war-torn Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East," a plan lauded as "visionary” by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and one that sparked outrage across the Middle East and other nations.
According to UN estimates, the cost of rebuilding Gaza is roughly about $53 billion (€50.5 billion).
While the full extent of the damage will only be known once inspectors have full access to the territory, the UN estimated using satellite data that nearly 70% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. This includes over 245,000 homes.
Another UN estimate says that the war has littered Gaza with over 50 million tonnes of rubble — roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
