Riyadh: Leaders of Arab countries are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss countering US President Donald Trump’s move to control the war-torn Gaza Strip and expel its people, Al Jazeera reported, citing government sources.
Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had invited the leaders of Gulf Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, for the meeting here on Friday. SPA reports that the meeting would be unofficial and is held under the framework of the close brotherly relations that bring together the leaders.
When the opposition to Trump’s declaration of “take over of the Gaza Strip” after displacing its population brought the Arab countries, a consensus is yet to be met among them over what should rule the enclave and how to fund the reconstruction imparted by the war.
An expert on Saudi’s foreign policy, Umer Karim, said that the summit is the “most consequential” in decades for the larger Arab world as well as the Palestinian conflict.
A global backlash arose after Trump announced the US’s “take over” of Gaza and 2.4 million people will be relocated to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
According to SPA, an emergency summit has been planned for March 4 to discuss Israel and Palestine. The summit, which is to be held in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the joint Arab action, and the decisions issued regarding Palestine will be on the agenda.
US President Donald Trump, whose proposal to take over Gaza drew much acceptance among right-wing Israelis, stood firm with his words, saying “he will own it” and “more than 2 million Palestinians have no right to return, that they have no alternative but to leave,” which was his response to a query about the fate of Palestinians' habitat.
Trump’s proposal to turn Gaza into a real estate destination, along with his request for neighbouring Arab countries to accommodate more than 2 million Palestinians, faced strong criticism not only from Palestinians and Arab leaders but also from global leaders, including those from Germany, the UK, Australia, and France, with the UN warning that there is no international law to justify it and that it would be considered a crime.