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US President Donald Trump appeared to be softening the tone of his proposal to relocate Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan before turning the enclave into a US-controlled glitzy resort.
Mr Trump on Wednesday said that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from Gaza in response to a question during a White House meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.
His remarks take on added significance after talks between US officials and Hamas leaders. They also came as his Middle East envoy met Arab foreign ministers in Qatar on Wednesday night.
Sources briefed on the meeting said the discussions between Steve Witkoff and the Arab ministers focused primarily on a Gaza reconstruction plan drafted by Egypt and endorsed by Arab states on March 4. The plan was conceived as a counterproposal to Mr Trump's plan, which drew global opposition, with rights groups saying it amounted to ethnic cleansing.
"The talks with Witkoff have moved beyond persuading the Americans to accept the plan. They were about securing the funds to implement it," one of the sources said. "But the Americans remain adamant that Hamas stays out of the reconstruction drive, the distribution of humanitarian assistance and political governance."
Egypt, which borders Israel and Gaza, said on Thursday it appreciated the apparent change of heart by Mr Trump.
“This position reflects an understanding of the importance of not worsening the humanitarian conditions in the [Gaza] strip and the need to find a just and sustainable resolution of the Palestinian issue,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
Hamas said it welcomed Mr Trump's statements on Wednesday if they represented "a retreat from any idea of displacing the people of the Gaza Strip”.
“We call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
Egypt's proposal for Gaza is a five-year undertaking that will cost $53 billion. Its first stage provides for defusing unexploded ordnance, as well as removing the rubble of destroyed buildings. it also includes the supply of 200,000 tents and caravans to house Palestinians whose homes were destroyed in the fighting and aims to restore an estimated 60,000 damaged homes.
A joint technical committee comprising experts from Egypt, the UN and the Palestinian Authority are due to meet next week in Cairo to finalise details of the first phase. Egypt will also host an international donors conference next month to raise funds for reconstruction.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said ministers from Cairo, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar briefed Mr Witkoff on the plan during their meeting in Doha. They also "agreed with the American envoy to continue consultations and co-ordination on the plan as the basis for the reconstruction of Gaza", it added.
Hussein Al Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, attended the talks.
“The Arab ministers emphasised their commitment to maintaining dialogue to reinforce the ceasefire and to work jointly to establish security, stability and peace in the region,” added the Egyptian statement.
Hamas and the US have both confirmed holding unprecedented, direct talks in Doha in recent weeks, focusing on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the group in Gaza. The discussions with Mr Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler broke a decades-old Washington policy against negotiating with groups the US labels as terrorist organisations.
Mr Boehler described Hamas as “nice guys”, while the direct talks reportedly infuriated Israeli officials.
His comments raised fears in Israel that the US, the country's chief benefactor and most important ally, which has played a major role in hostage negotiations and supporting the country throughout the Gaza war, could become a more unpredictable partner under Mr Trump.
The war in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people. The assailants also took about 250 others hostages, of whom 59 remain in captivity – 24 presumed alive and 35 confirmed dead, according to Israel's military.
The attack drew a relentless bombing campaign by Israel that has killed more than 48,500, mostly women and children, the Health Ministry in Gaza says. The vast majority of Gaza's residents has also been displaced, with large parts of the enclave's built-up areas, including hospitals, universities, schools and homes, laid to waste.
The intensifying talks on the reconstruction of Gaza, and Israel's halt of the electricity supply and deliveries of humanitarian aid to the enclave, add significance to ceasefire negotiations in Doha involving Israel, Hamas and mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt.
The talks are focused on deciding the fate of an Israel-Hamas truce deal after the six-week first phase ended on March 1 without agreement on subsequent stages. Israel said it wanted to extend the first phase, but Hamas insists on negotiations over an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Both sides have so far refrained from resuming all-out hostilities, although Israel has conducted strikes on Gaza in recent days.
The sources said Mr Witkoff, who also took part in the ceasefire negotiations, advocated an extension of the truce, with Israel releasing more Palestinian detainees than it previously agreed to in return for Hamas freeing half of its living hostages. He has also promised a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the enclave.
