The spotlight is on Cairo

An Emergency Meeting of the Arab League takes place this week in Cairo on 4^th March. Arguably this will be one of the most important meetings of the League in decades. It follows from a recent meeting in Riyadh to discuss a plan for the re-construction of Gaza which was held at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and was attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Kuwait’s Emir Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also participated.

Significantly, Syria's new President Ahmed al-Sharaa has received an invitation from his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to attend the Emergency Arab League meeting in Cairo. This marks a significant development as countries in the region seek to re-build relations with Syria following the fall of President Bashar Al-Assad. 

The League has faced criticism for being both slow and for failing to bring its influence to bear on fast moving developments in the Middle East and in Gaza in particular. The Emergency Meeting has been convened at the behest of Egypt and Saudi Arabia who are determined to see off President Trump’s seemingly wild-eyed plan to clear Gaza of its 2 million inhabitants and turn the strip into both a US protectorate and series of luxury golf courses and condominiums, with no timeline for Palestinians to return to the rubble of their homes. The Far Right in Israel, having been caught on the back foot by Trump’s impromptu announcement, know that they have little time to see all of this become a glimmer of a reality. This week leaflets were dropped telling Palestinians to prepare to leave because ‘neither the Europeans nor the Americans care about you’.

Some believe that Trump is not being serious. Others believe that he is waiting for the Saudis and Egyptians to come up with a ‘better deal’ (which might also involve Trump owned golf courses in Gaza). Either way this week will see the unveiling of an alternative plan to govern and re-build Gaza – without any involvement from Hamas. It is also believed that the plan will be tied into the long-term commitment of the global community to see an independent Palestinian State as part of a two State solution. One complication may be that the Palestine Authority, based in Ramallah, has an alternative plan and one that would see it stepping back in to become the governance of Gaza again. It seems highly unlikely that either the US or Israel will give the second plan a moments consideration. It also seems unlikely that Israel will support either. But with the US it is a different matter. Trump is no real enthusiast for Netanyahu.

It is no exaggeration to say that this week the future of the Palestinians as a people and those in Gaza, is very much in the hands of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. While the Egyptians may be convening the Summit and doing some of the heavy lifting in drawing the plan together, it is the Saudi ruler who has the ear of President Trump; he also has the power and the wealth to make it all happen. 

*Mark Seddon is a former Speechwriter to UN Secretary-General Ban ki moon & former Adviser to the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly