Muslim nations meet on Arab alternative to Trump Gaza plan

JEDDAH, Mar 07 (Agencies): The Muslim world will be asked to throw its weight behind an Arab counter-plan to US President Donald Trump's widely condemned proposal to take over war-torn Gaza at an emergency meeting on Friday.
Foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will meet at its headqUSrters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League endorsed Egypt's alternative plan for Gaza.
At Tuesday's summit in Cairo, Arab leaders backed the proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.
However, the plan, which does not outline a role for Hamas, which controls Gaza, was rejected by both the United States and Israel.
The proposal "does not meet the expectations" of Washington, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff gave a more positive reaction, calling it a "good-faith first step from the Egyptians".
Trump triggered global outrage by suggesting the US "take over" the Gaza Strip and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said his country, a mediator in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks, would seek OIC support to make the counter-proposal "both an Arab plan and an Islamic plan".
Endorsement by the OIC would, at the very least, signify unified opposition to Trump's proposal, analysts said.
"Egypt needs broad support" for its plan, said Rabha Seif Allam of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.
"This is an attempt to build a broad coalition that refuses the displacement" of Palestinians from Gaza, she said.
Trump's plan has united Arab countries in opposition, with Saudi Arabia also hosting Arab leaders two weeks ago to discuss alternatives.
The Jeddah meeting will "further signal the unity within the Islamic world", said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham.
"Bigger Muslim countries like Indonesia, Turkey and Iran will be there and their endorsement will further (strengthen) the Arab plan," he said.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump's repeated threats against Hamas constitute support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to evade the terms of the Gaza ceasefire and intensify the siege of the strip, the Palestinian armed group says.
"Trump's repeated threats against our people represent support to Netanyahu to evade the agreement and tightens the siege and starvation against our people," Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanou said on Thursday. "The best track to release the remaining Israeli prisoners is by … going into the second phase and compelling it [Israel] to adhere to the agreement signed under the sponsorship of mediators," he said.
Al-Qanou's comments came after Trump issued a flurry of social media posts on Wednesday, demanding Hamas "release all of the hostages now, not later," including the remains of dead captives, "or it is OVER for you."