Destroyed buildings are seen in the distance amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, 24 February 2025. Israel and Hamas implemented the first phase of a hostage release and ceasefire deal on 19 January 2025. More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since Israel launched a military campaign in the strip in response to a cross-border attack led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on 07 October 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER U.S. President Donald Trump has angered the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace the population of more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza, assert U.S. control over the territory and turn it into an international beach resort.
Egypt will on March 4 host an emergency Arab League summit set to focus on Arab efforts to counter Trump's plan and calls for Egypt and Jordan to resettle displaced Palestinians from Gaza. Both countries reject the proposal, citing national security concerns.
Arab leaders held a meeting on Friday in Riyadh attended by Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan. Sources familiar with the discussions said they tackled a mainly Egyptian proposal that could include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from Gulf and Arab states, but there was no official confirmation.
Palestinians fear a repeat of the "Nakba", or catastrophe, during which hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians were expelled or fled their homeland around the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
(Reporting by Mohamed Hendawy; Writing by Clauda Tanios; Editing by Alex Richardson and Timothy Heritage)