The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said yesterday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave.
“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
The plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders on Tuesday, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald Trump, who has presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a “Middle East Riviera”.
The Egyptian proposal envisages the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war.
The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.
The statement issued by the four European countries said they were “committed to working with the Arab initiative,” and they appreciated the “important signal” the Arab states had sent by developing it.
Earlier yesterday, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) formally adopted the Arab proposal, calling on the international community to support the regional initiative.
The decision by the 57-member grouping came at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The OIC “adopts the plan ... on the early recovery and reconstruction of Gaza”, a communique said.
The body urged “the international community and international and regional funding institutions to swiftly provide the necessary support for the plan”.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty welcomed the OIC endorsement and said he now hoped to gain support from the wider international community, including the US.
“The next step is for the plan to become an international plan through adoption by the European Union and international parties such as Japan, Russia, China and others,” Abdelatty said.
“This is what we will seek and we have contact with all parties, including the American party.”
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