Reconstruction and rivalries: What to expect from Saudi Arabia's Gaza summit

US President Donald Trump’s call for a mass forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip was meant to “shake up everyone’s thinking”, his envoy said on the eve of a meeting in Saudi Arabia by the US’s Arab allies to discuss Egypt’s plan for post-war Gaza.

"When the president talks about this, it means he wants to shake up everyone's thinking and think about what is compelling and what is the best solution for the Palestinian people," Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Thursday at an investment conference in Miami.

"For instance, do they want to live in a home there or would they rather have an opportunity to resettle in some sort of better place, to have jobs, upside and financial prospects," he added.

The US’s closest Arab partners were thrown into disarray when Trump said he wanted to empty Gaza of Palestinians and take over the enclave. But they have started to move on a counter-proposal. 

In fact, after a meeting between Trump and King Abdullah of Jordan earlier in February, they believe the king successfully convinced Trump to ditch his takeover idea in return for a post-war plan spearheaded by Cairo, an Egyptian official told MEE.

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