When Arab leaders gathered on Tuesday in Egypt for an extraordinary summit, the stakes could not have been higher for security and peace in the Middle East. Tensions have been rising again between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as both accuse the other of ceasefire violations. Israeli military operations continue in the southern regions in Syria, as well as sporadic bombardment of Hezbollah’s positions in southern Lebanon. In the United States, the administration of President Donald Trump’s talks of mass displacement plans for Palestinians have quieted but still have the region on edge.
The summit’s unity emphasized the collective political and diplomatic maturing among the Arab countries. The countries’ leaders came together and issued a remarkable pro-peace declaration that displayed solidarity with the Palestinian people while addressing most of Israel’s and the United States’ concerns.
The Leadup
The so-called Palestine Summit was held only a few days after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which Egypt, Qatar, and the United States brokered. Negotiations for the second phase have faced initial difficulties: the Israeli government stopped entry of all humanitarian aid and reconstruction equipment and materials into Gaza, and Hamas rejected a U.S. proposal to extend the first phase for the duration of Ramadan while continuing to release Israeli hostages and Palestinians prisoners.
The summit also followed several rounds of diplomatic consultations between Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates over plans to displace the Palestinian population out of Gaza. In January, Trump debated “cleaning out” Gaza by relocating its residents to Egypt and Jordan—a proposal that was met with fierce rejection across the Arab world for reasons of self-determination, national sovereignty, and regional security. The five Arab governments agreed to reject Trump’s plan. Meeting against the background of rising violence in the West Bank and ongoing measures by the Israeli government to annex more Palestinian territory, the Arab five also demanded an end to all forms of violence and a return to peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians.
Finally, in the days before the summit, the Egyptian government released its reconstruction plan for Gaza. The plan satisfies the conditions set forth by the Arab states: avoid displacement of Palestinians, secure and stabilize the strip by consolidating the ceasefire agreement, and expel Hamas from the governing structures of Gaza. Egypt called the March 4 summit in order to discuss its Gaza plan with all Arab countries and get the needed endorsements and financial pledges to move forward.
The Summit
The Palestine Summit’s unanimous declaration, issued after several hours of deliberations, showed a clear strategic choice by Arab leaders for peace, security, and conflict resolution. After almost two years of warfare in the Middle East, they have renewed their peace offer to Israel via normalization and security agreements in return for an independent Palestinian state.
The summit declaration included a call for Israel to end all military operations in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. It linked the end of war to launching peace and security talks with all Palestinians. It proposed that once the two-state solution is implemented and the principle of land for peace is applied, normalization talks could begin.
Despite the shock waves caused by Trump’s Gaza displacement proposals and his statements in favor of Israeli annexation in the West Bank, the Arab countries called on the United States to partner with them in promoting peace and security in the Middle East. Instead of engaging in mere rebuttals, the summit declaration constructively sought to enlist the power of the United States as a peacemaker in a critical moment in the region. The Israeli and U.S. governments promptly rejected the declaration.
Egypt’s Gaza Plan
Ultimately, the declaration adopted the Egyptian plan for Gaza, which advances reconstruction in phases over five years, with the total cost of $53 billion. To achieve this, the Arab countries note, Israel must allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the strip, along with reconstruction equipment and materials. Israel must also work constructively with Arab partners in facilitating basic service delivery to Palestinians. Reconstruction efforts would begin with rubble removal and providing mobile housing and healthcare units. The plan also calls for designating seven zones in Gaza to which the population would be temporarily transferred, to allow for the rebuilding of homes, infrastructure, and facilities—first in the south of Gaza, followed by the middle and northern sections.
Key pillars of the Egyptian plan are achieving security on the ground in Gaza and creating a government, alongside expanding the ceasefire gradually into peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Some in Israel and the United States have called for Arab countries to deploy troops to Gaza and to take over governing during the transition period. The plan rejects both ideas.
Instead, it proposes that Egyptian and Jordanian security agencies train Palestinian government security troops, who then patrol in Gaza. Hamas and other militant Palestinian factions would be subject to the supervision of those Palestinian security forces. The plan calls for the creation of a Palestinian governing committee for Gaza—with no Hamas participation, populated by independent technocrats, and under the supervision of the Palestinian government in Ramallah. It also calls on the United Nations to authorize the formation and deployment of peacemaking troops for Gaza and the West Bank to reduce violence and provide security. It demands the return of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees to help alleviate civilians’ suffering during reconstruction.
Next Steps
In ticking all of these boxes, the Arab summit has attempted to address the policy and security concerns of Israel and the United States while reaffirming the countries’ solidarity with Palestine. The Arab leaders offer more than a solid basis for negotiations with Israel regarding a second phase of the ceasefire, reconstruction in Gaza, and reducing violence in the West Bank. They offer the Trump administration a way out of the displacement and annexation proposals and a possible return to peacemaking in the Middle East.
Although these items will make headlines, the fact that the summit renewed the Arab peace offer to Israel by recentering the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative should not go unnoticed. The Arab states once again conditioned normalization on an independent Palestinian state, spelling out a clear strategic choice for peace and conflict resolution and calling on the United States to partner with them.
There is a real opportunity for peace in the Middle East without more tragedies of war, mass displacement, and destruction. The missing elements from their plan—such as how to disarm Hamas, democratically legitimize Palestinian governing structures, and fund the reconstruction phases—can all be discussed in peace talks. For those talks to be initiated, the Arab countries need to find peace partners in Israel and the United States. The Arabs are collectively ready. Are the others?
