Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is expected to visit Riyadh on Thursday, according to two Egyptian security sources quoted by Reuters on Tuesday.
During his trip, he is set to discuss an Arab initiative for Gaza that could include up to $20 billion from the region for reconstruction, the report said.
Arab nations are preparing to outline a post-war strategy for Gaza as a countermeasure to US President Donald Trump's proposal, which seeks to redevelop the enclave under US administration and relocate its residents, and which has sparked significant concern among regional leaders.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are scheduled to review the Arab plan in Riyadh before formally presenting it at an Arab summit in Cairo on March 4, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
A gathering of Arab leaders—including those from Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar—is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on Friday. While Saudi Arabia is leading efforts among Arab nations regarding Trump's plan, some sources indicated that the date for the meeting has not yet been confirmed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Egyptian state-run Al-Ahram newspaper provided some details on the Egyptian plan to reconstruct the Gaza Strip without relocating its residents to other countries.
The report said that the plan will temporarily relocate Gazans to “secure areas” in the strip while Egyptian and other foreign construction firms rebuild Gaza.
The Associated Press cited two Egyptian officials who noted that the plan envisions the creation of a "Palestinian administration," unaligned with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, to run the Strip and oversee reconstruction efforts.
The new administration would include a police force mostly consisting of former Palestinian Authority policemen who remained in Gaza after Hamas took over the Strip in 2007, with reinforcement from Egyptian- and Western-trained forces.
Last week, Egypt announced that it intends to present a "comprehensive proposal" for rebuilding Gaza while ensuring that Palestinian Arabs remain on their land.
The country stressed its commitment to working toward a "comprehensive and just" peace in the region and expressed its willingness to collaborate with Trump to achieve that goal.
At the same time, Egypt firmly rejected any proposals that would involve relocating Gaza residents outside the Strip.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week that the United States is open to hearing new proposals from Arab nations regarding Gaza.
"Hopefully they're going to have a really good plan to present the president," Rubio said, referring to Arab nations.
"Right now the only plan -- they don't like it -- but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they've got a better plan, now's the time to present it," he told conservative radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
"All these countries say how much they care about the Palestinians, but none of them want to take any Palestinians. None of them have a history of doing anything for Gaza," Rubio added.
