UAE to chair League session in Cairo focussing on Palestine

 The United Arab Emirates will chair the 164th ordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the level of permanent representatives, which will be held tomorrow, Monday, at the headquarters of the Arab League General Secretariat in Cairo. This comes as part of preparations for the meeting of Arab foreign ministers scheduled for next Thursday.

The meetings will discuss a number of key Arab issues, foremost among them the developments of the Palestinian cause, efforts to gain recognition of the State of Palestine, and ways to stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. They will also address reconstruction plans and means of supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people politically, economically, and socially.

The discussions will also cover the latest developments in several Arab countries, in addition to examining mechanisms to address current regional challenges in a way that ensures the strengthening of Arab national security and the protection of shared strategic interests.

The meetings are also expected to review files on Arab economic and social cooperation, including support for the Palestinian economy and strengthening economic integration among Arab states. Recommendations and resolutions will then be submitted to the ministerial meeting for adoption within a comprehensive Arab vision to enhance joint Arab action in confronting regional and international challenges.

On the other hand, a post-war plan for Gaza is circulating within President Donald Trump’s administration that would see the US administer the war-torn enclave for at least a decade, the relocation of Gaza’s population and its rebuilding as a tourist resort and manufacturing hub, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The Washington Post said that according to a 38-page prospectus it had seen, Gaza’s 2 million population would at least temporarily leave either through “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted areas within the territory during reconstruction. Reuters previously reported there is a proposal to build large-scale camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside - and possibly outside - Gaza to house the Palestinian population. That plan carried the name of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, a controversial US-backed aid group.

Anyone who owns land would be offered a “digital token” in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, the Post reported, adding that each Palestinian who left would be provided with $5,000 in cash and subsidies to cover four years of rent. They would also be provided with a year of food, it added.

The Post said the plan is called the “Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, or GREAT Trust,” and was developed by the GHF.

GHF coordinates with the Israeli military and uses private US security and logistics companies to get food aid into Gaza. It is favored by the Trump administration and Israel to carry out humanitarian efforts in Gaza as opposed to the U.N.-led system which Israel says lets militants divert aid. In early August, the UN said more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the plan to rebuild Gaza appears to fall in line with previous comments made by Trump.

On February 4, Trump first publicly said that the U.S. should “take over” the war-battered enclave and rebuild it as “the Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling the Palestinian population elsewhere.

Trump’s comments angered many Palestinians and humanitarian groups about the possible forced relocation from Gaza. Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.

The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks. On Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone”.

Israel said Sunday its forces had killed the spokesman of Hamas’s armed wing in a strike on Gaza a day earlier, the latest fatality in the group’s senior ranks in the nearly two-year war.

“Hamas terror spokesperson Abu Obeida was eliminated in Gaza,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said he had been targeted in a strike.

Israel has decimated Hamas’s leadership during 23 months of devastating fighting in the Gaza Strip, saying it seeks to eradicate the armed group and return hostages seized by Palestinian militants in their October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Later, Israel’s army chief of staff Eyal Zamir promised to continue targeting Hamas’s leadership, most of which he said was now abroad.

WAM/ Agencies