INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates
Proposals may involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas, five of the people said.Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies
rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilising.The dismay in Saudi Arabia was aggravated, sources said,
against Iran.Reuters spoke to 15 sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere to build a picture of the hurried efforts by Arab
states to pull together existing proposals into a new plan they can sell to the U.S
involves international or domestic sensitivities and they were not authorised to speak in public.One Arab government source said at least
Gaza without Hamas involvement, international participation in reconstruction without displacing Palestinians abroad, and movement towards a
two-state solution, three Egyptian security sources said.Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian
representatives will review and discuss the plan in Riyadh before it is presented at a scheduled Arab summit on February 27, the Arab
Americans we have a plan that works
Our meeting with MbS is going to be critical
increasingly central to Arab ties with the United States during the new Trump era.Long a major regional partner for the United States, the
holding a conference in Miami this month that Reuters revealed Trump is expected to attend
Riyadh is also expected to host his coming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the Ukraine war.The White House did not
respond to several requests for comment on this story.U.S
like it - but the only plan is the Trump plan
reconstruction.Israel has already rejected any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza, or ensuring security there
Arab countries and the United States have also said they do not want to put troops on the ground to do that.Gulf states, which have
historically paid for reconstruction in Gaza, have said they do not want to do so this time without guarantees that Israel will not again
Saudi Arabia and Egypt on a Gaza plan that would work, a Jordanian official said.Abdullah said in televised comments after the meeting that
Egyptian security sources relating to reconstruction and financing appear advanced.A buffer zone and physical barrier would be erected to
As soon as rubble is removed, 20 areas would be established as temporary living zones
Around 50 Egyptian and other foreign companies would be brought in to carry out the work.Financing would involve international and Gulf
money, said a regional source with knowledge of the matter
A potential fund could be named the Trump Fund for Reconstruction, the Arab government official said.However, the most difficult issues
critical, said the Arab official and the three Egyptian sources.Hamas has previously said it is willing to cede government in Gaza to a
national committee, but it would want a role in choosing its members and would not accept the deployment of any ground forces without its
Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.That stance hardened as Saudi public anger grew at the
destruction and death in Gaza
In November, the crown prince publicly accused Israel of genocide during an Islamic summit and doubled down on the need for a two-state
solution.Frustration was running high in the kingdom over the ongoing war, two regional intelligence sources said.Washington appeared ready
The day before his Gaza announcement, Trump was asked whether a normalisation deal could go ahead without a two-state solution
Two senior diplomats said Witkoff laid out a three-month timeline for the normalisation process.But Saudi frustration quickly turned into
surprise and then anger when Trump announced his Gaza idea
state media broadcasts - which analysts say are often a measure of official Saudi viewpoints - with television news reports personally
thinking, describing the mood among senior Saudi officials
setting out an extreme position as an opening gambit for negotiations
During his first term, he often issued what were widely seen as over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which never came to
fruition.Still, it has complicated the normalisation talks.Former Saudi intelligence head Prince Turki al-Faisal, who holds no current role
