JEDDAH: The Muslim world will be asked to throw its weight behind an Arab counter-plan to US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take over war-torn Gaza at an emergency meeting on Friday.

Foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will meet at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League endorsed Egypt’s alternative plan for Gaza.

At Tuesday’s summit in Cairo, Arab leaders backed the proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

However, the plan, which does not outline a role for Hamas, which controls Gaza, was rejected by both the United States and Israel.

US president’s controversial proposal has already drawn international condemnation

The proposal “does not meet the expectations” of Washington, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff gave a more positive reaction, calling it a “good-faith first step from the Egyptians”.

Trump triggered global outrage by suggesting the US “take over” the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said his country, a mediator in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks, would seek OIC support to make the counter-proposal “both an Arab plan and an Islamic plan”.

“The meeting’s main goal is to endorse the Arab plan,” a Pakistani diplomat, who did not want to be named, told AFP. “It’s a crucial time and the Islamic world need to appear united as much as we could against the American plan.” The Jeddah meeting will “further signal the unity within the Islamic world”, said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham.

Rabha Seif Allam, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said “Egypt needs broad support” for its proposal.“This is an attempt to build a broad coalition that refuses the displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza, she said.

Trump’s plan has already united Arab countries in opposition, with Saudi Arabia also hosting Arab leaders two weeks ago to discuss alternatives.

“Bigger Muslim countries like Indonesia, Turkiye and Iran will be there and their endorsement will further (strengthen) the Arab plan,” he said.

The Arab League summit also announced the establishment of a trust fund to pay for Gaza’s reconstruction, and urged the international community to back it.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2025