Saudi Arabia to host Arab leaders on Feb 20 to discuss Trump\u2019s controversial US takeover plan for Gaza
\nRIYADH
\nSaudi Arabia will host the leaders of four Arab countries at a summit on February 20 to discuss President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal for a US takeover of Gaza, a source with knowledge of the preparations said on Friday.
\nThe leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will attend the summit, to take place ahead of an Arab League meeting in Cairo one week later on the same issue, the source said.
\nSpeaking on condition of anonymity, another source said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas would also attend.
\nTrump sparked a global outcry with his proposal for the United States to \u201ctake over\u201d the Gaza Strip and to move more than two million Palestinians out of the war-devastated territory, citing Egypt or Jordan as possible destinations.
\nTrump made the proposal during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.
\nArab countries have come together in a rare united front, outraged by the idea of displacing the Palestinians en masse.
\nFor Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the \u201cNakba\u201d, or catastrophe — the mass displacement of their ancestors during Israel\u2019s creation in 1948.
\nBut Trump has floated the possibility of cutting off aid to longstanding allies Jordan and Egypt should they refuse his plan. Jordan is already home to more than two million Palestinian refugees. More than half of the country\u2019s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin.
\nEgypt put forward its own proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza under a framework that would allow for the Palestinians to remain in the territory.
\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the United States was eager to hear new proposals on Gaza from Arab governments but that, \u201cright now the only plan — they don\u2019t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan\u201d.
\nIn January, Rubio\u2019s predecessor Antony Blinken outlined a roadmap for post-war Gaza and warned it required Israel\u2019s acceptance of a path to a Palestinian state — something the Israeli government strongly opposes.
\nRegional states including Saudi Arabia have repeatedly called for a Palestinian state, existing alongside Israel.
\nRubio was on his way to Europe on Friday.
\nHe was set to join Vice President JD Vance in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after Trump spoke by phone with his counterpart Vladimir Putin and said he would pursue talks to end the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
\nAfterwards Rubio is set to fly on to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire in effect since January 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saudi Arabia to host Arab leaders on Feb 20 to discuss Trump\u2019s controversial US takeover plan for Gaza RIYADH Saudi Arabia will host the leaders of four Arab countries at a summit on February 20 to discuss President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal for a US takeover of Gaza, a source with knowledge of the preparations said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-461787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n