By Amer Solyman and Rania Abu Shamala
CAIRO (AA) – The Egyptian and Palestinian foreign ministers discussed preparations on Monday for an upcoming emergency Arab summit on the Gaza Strip.
Badr Abdelatty and Mohammad Mustafa, who is also a prime minister, conferred about arrangements for Tuesday’s summit, particularly “the reconstruction of Gaza while ensuring Palestinians remain on their land,” a Foreign Ministry readout said.
They also discussed “efforts to solidify a ceasefire in Gaza and reaffirmed Arab support for the Palestinian cause.” The two officials also exchanged views about the current situation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the ministry said.
Discussions also addressed plans for an international reconstruction conference for Gaza, which Egypt is expected to host in collaboration with the United Nations.
Abdelatty and Mustafa emphasized the importance of international support for early recovery and reconstruction projects in Gaza to ensure that the Palestinian people remain on their land and establish an independent state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the ministry said.
Egypt is set to host an Arab summit on Tuesday to formulate a unified Arab stance on the Palestinian issue and present an Arab counterproposal to US plans for the displacement of Gaza's population.
Last month, US President Donald Trump proposed to “take over” Gaza and resettle its population to develop it into a tourist destination, an idea vehemently rejected by the Arab world and many other nations, who say it amounts to ethnic cleansing.
More than 48,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 111,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023. The onslaught, which left the enclave in ruins, was paused under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on Jan. 19.
Israel, however, halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday, hours after the expiry of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.