Do Not Count on the Arabs to Rebuild Gaza or Help Palestinians

by Khaled Abu Toameh

• The truth, however, is that most of the Arab countries have always refused to receive Palestinians. Most Arabs view the Palestinians as ungrateful.
• Qatar has funded every Islamist extremist group from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Taliban to Al Qaeda, both with donations and through its broadcasting empire Al Jazeera. Qatar was the only Arab country that provided direct financial aid to the Hamas-rulers of the Gaza Strip over the past two decades. The Qataris did not do so out of love for the Palestinians, but to ensure that Hamas remains in power, in order to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. October 7, 2023 was the result. Now Qatar is negotiating to preserve its client, Hamas.
• The Arab plan, notably, also does not call on Hamas to lay down its weapons. Do the Arab leaders really believe that Western donors would rush to invest tens of billions of dollars in the Gaza Strip while terrorists belonging to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups continue to roam the streets?
• The latest Arab plan does not even include a commitment from the Arab regimes to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Instead, it states that the sources of funding would come from the United Nations, international financial institutions, and donor countries, as well as foreign direct investments and private sector contributions.
• For Hamas, holding onto its weapons is far more important than rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
• For the Arab countries, the new plan just another attempt to avoid responsibility towards their Palestinian brothers and shift the blame onto Israel.
• "The reality is that the Arab emergency summit was also about demonizing Israel and throwing the Gaza hot potato into its court. A closer look at the summit's final statement reveals its true purpose: attacking Israel rather than addressing Gaza's future... Until Hamas is removed, every so-called 'peace plan' will be nothing more than another chapter in an endless cycle of destruction." — Dalia Ziada, Egyptian political analyst, March 12, 2025.

The latest Arab plan does not even include a commitment from the Arab regimes to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The plan, notably, also does not call on Hamas to lay down its weapons. Do the Arab leaders really believe that Western donors would rush to invest tens of billions of dollars in the Gaza Strip while terrorists belonging to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups continue to roam the streets? Pictured: Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (R) meets with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Cairo, Egypt on March 3, 2025. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)

The Arab countries have finally come up with a plan for the Gaza Strip that aims to address the humanitarian crisis, restore essential services and rebuild. The $53 billion plan, announced in early March after an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, did not come out of a genuine desire to help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but as a counterproposal to US President Donald Trump's vision of relocating the residents of Gaza and turning it into the Rivera of the Middle East.

If the Arab leaders really wanted to assist the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, they would have held a meeting immediately after the Hamas-Israel war, which erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Iran-backed Islamist group and thousands of ordinary Palestinians invaded Israel, slaughtering 1,200 Israelis and wounding thousands. Another 251 Israelis were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip, where 59 – alive and dead – are still being held as hostages.

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