Rubio: UAE, Saudi Arabia may offer alternative to Trump’s Gaza plan
Photo: Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
On Sunday, February 16, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip to the Middle East as the top US diplomat. He is expected to urge the region to put forward its own proposal if countries are concerned that the US will take control of Gaza and displace its residents, Bloomberg reports.
According to a State Department representative, during his visits to the Munich Security Conference and stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, Rubio will emphasize that regional countries must put forward a new proposal.
He will specifically urge regional leaders to think creatively and form a coalition of partners to present a new plan that would bring meaningful change for Palestinians after more than a year of war, which has devastated much of Gaza following Hamas' attack on Israel.
"Hopefully they’re going to have a really good plan to present to the president, but 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, you know, now is the time to present it," Rubio said.
He added that partner countries must do more than just finance reconstruction, including taking a stand against Hamas.
Earlier, Donald Trump stated that the US was willing to take control of Gaza and develop the territory. He also did not rule out the possibility of deploying American troops to the region. Trump further said that Washington would ask neighboring countries to accept Palestinians displaced from Gaza.
Previously, the US president proposed a plan for the temporary relocation of Palestinians from Gaza following an agreement between Israel and Hamas to cease hostilities.
