In an informal meeting held in Riyadh on February 21 under the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, participants from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt and Jordan discussed the future of Gaza. The meeting also discussed the weird proposal of President Donald Trump to relocate 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan.
Moreover, an Arab League emergency summit is scheduled to be held in Cairo on March 4 (today) to examine how to deal with the situation in Gaza and respond to President Trump's proposal to relocate the Palestinians living in Gaza. The Riyadh meeting focused on two matters: one, reconstruction and rebuilding of Gaza; and two, who should govern the war-devastated territory which has been under the influence of Hamas since the elections of 2005. Israel and the US have made it clear that they will not accept any role of Hamas in the governance of Gaza, undermining the fact that the people of Gaza had endured the Israeli aggression for 15 months on the call of Hamas.
According to UN estimates, the reconstruction of Gaza will cost around 30 billion dollars because 90% of its infrastructure stand destroyed due to the air, ground and sea attacks by Israel. Millions of displaced Palestinians of Gaza are facing a threat to their survival because their homes have been destroyed and they are out in the open in sub-zero temperature. Israel has not fully complied with the ceasefire agreement with Hamas under which it was supposed to allow heavy machinery, mobile homes and other items, including food and fuel, to reach the beleaguered Palestinian population. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also threatening the Palestinians of Gaza with the resumption of attacks which would mean another violent cycle of war.
Can the Arab world reach a consensus on the issue of governing Gaza particularly when there is growing American pressure on Saudi Arabia and Jordan to accept President Trump's proposal to relocate Gazans to neighbouring countries? Why have Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia failed to support Palestinians of Gaza in the last 15 months? Why, at a time when millions of Gazans are facing existential threat, is the Arab world taking so much time to provide relief goods? And why is Egypt, which borders Gaza, not ready to take the risk of offending Israel by fully opening the Rafah crossing and providing relief items to the Palestinians?
When history will be written about the Israeli genocide of Gaza and the West Bank, the indifference of the Muslim world will also be documented. Having lost the wars of 1948 and 1967 against Israel and barely managing to prevent defeat in the 1973 war, the Arab neighbours of Israel exposed their fault lines and reached peace agreement with the Jewish state one by one. Abraham Accords-I reached in 2020 paved the way for the recognition of Israel by the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Had Hamas not launched attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states might have granted recognition to Israel under Abraham Accords-II. Palestinians are the first defence line of the Arab world. By letting the Palestinians down in the Gaza war, the Arabs have provided an opportunity to Israel to implement its 'grand expansionist' designs of 'greater Israel' stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf and the southern tip of Red Sea.
The lack of consensus among the Arabs on the present and future of Gaza needs to be examined from three angles.
First, the transformation of traditional Arab stance to establish an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem and their veiled acceptance of Israel's grand plan to absorb West Bank and Gaza along with Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. It means there is a consensus among the neighbours of Israel – particularly Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – not to accept an independent and a viable Palestinian state because it may be a threat to their interests. Other ardent supporters of a Palestinian state – Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran – have been weakened which further encourages the Jewish state to implement its expansionist designs in the Middle East. A consensus between Israel and its Arab neighbours – namely Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – not to accept Hamas as the governing authority in Gaza would be tantamount to rejecting the will of the Palestinian people. Instead of accepting the word from the Gazans whether or not they want Hamas to govern them, Israel and its Arab neighbours seem to develop consensus that Hamas must be eliminated. This is despite that fact that the PLO lacks the capability to govern Gaza and has no support among the Palestinians of Gaza and even in the West Bank. While, under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the PLO is responsible to govern Palestinian territories, Israel is engaged in relentless acts of genocide against Gazans.
Second, in the name of developing consensus to deal with the situation in Gaza, the Arab world has wasted too much time, providing room to Israel to consolidate its position in the West Bank and get away with its genocide in Gaza. Neither the Arab League nor the OIC is capable of taking a cogent stand against the Israeli policy to do away with the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.
Third, it is to be seen to what extent there will be a consensus at the Arab League summit being held in Cairo today. If the Arab League fails to repulse Trump's proposal on Gaza and is unable to agree on who should govern Gaza, then Israel will get more space as regards implementing its expansionist designs in the Middle East. Arab League must understand that its credibility is at stake and it should take a position on Gaza based on principles, instead of appeasing the Trump administration.
Unfortunately, the lack of consensus in the Arab League on how to deal with Israel and the US has not only caused the Palestinians to suffer, but has also enabled the Jewish state to dictate its terms on the Arab world. For Arab states it is like a devil or deep blue sea situation because their lack of consensus would make things miserable for the beleaguered Palestinian community.
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