File photo: Palestinian workers collect the rubble of Al-Jalaa tower in Gaza City. AFP
Khalaf’s remarks respond to whether the Arab Gaza reconstruction plan could move forward without US support.
"There will be an intention in the next coming weeks that we will have foreign ministers or Arab officials that will be visiting Washington DC, engaging with the US administration," Khalaf stated.
He noted that Egypt and the US share a common goal in reconstructing the Gaza Strip. However, he also underscored the Arab leaders’ rejection of Palestinian displacement, as they are “exceptionally sensitive to attempts to detach them from their homeland.”
During the interview, which took place the day after the Extraordinary Arab Summit, Khalaf explained that Gazans know leaving the strip would be a “one-way ticket.”
When asked whether Hamas’s refusal to disarm meant it would still hold real power in Gaza despite new governance efforts, Khalaf acknowledged the challenge, stating that "there is no perfect solution, but there are reasonable solutions."
Furthermore, he cited leaders’ endorsement of the Gaza Administration Committee, an independent committee composed of technocrats and non-partisan figures and supervised by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which will manage the affairs of the strip during a six-month transitional period. On Sunday, Hamas announced it also endorses this solution.
The primary objective of the Gaza Administration Committee is to enable the full return of the PA to the strip and facilitate governance during the transition.
Addressing the proposed plan’s $53 billion budget, Khalaf attributed the high cost to the "extensive damage that the Israelis have done over the past 16 months," adding that Gazans endured an "unspeakable humanitarian tragedy."
He emphasized that a key outcome of the summit was the agreement to organize an international conference in collaboration with Palestine and the United Nations, to establish a trust fund managing the financial commitments from donor countries and financial institutions.
"Palestinians need it, [...] and therefore we are going to work extensively to try to achieve this objective,” Khalaf said.
Gaza reconstruction plan
On Tuesday, the Extraordinary Arab Summit in Cairo adopted Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan, presenting a unified Arab stance against US President Donald Trump's colonialist proposal to “takeover” the Gaza Strip and displace its native population.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and several countries, including the UK, France, Italy, and Germany, have backed the plan, while the US position remains unclear.
Khalfaf clarified that the plan, developed by experts and urban planners, consists of three main phases. The first begins with a six-month early recovery phase focused on removing 50 million tons of rubble, clearing unexploded ordnance, and providing temporary housing for 1.2 million Palestinians.
The first phase, scheduled for 2025-2027 with a $20 billion budget, will ensure complete debris removal and use of the recovered materials for land reclamation in the strip’s coastal areas.
This phase will focus on constructing essential infrastructure networks, developing 200,000 housing units, and repairing 60,000 homes to accommodate 1.6 million people.
The second phase, which is set for 2027-2030 and has a $30 billion budget, will focus on expanding infrastructure networks and constructing an additional 200,000 housing units to accommodate 1.2 million people, bringing the total to 460,000 units for 2.75 million natives.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza caused $29.9 billion in material damage and $19.1 billion in economic and social losses.
More than two million Palestinians have been displaced, facing a brutal besiegement and struggling with the lack of water, food, shelter, medical care, and fuel.
The war also killed over 47,000 Palestinians, including 17,000 children and 7,200 women, and has left 111,000 injured as of January 2025.
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