By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The United Arab Emirates leader on Wednesday told the United States Secretary of State that his country is not in support of any proposal to displace Palestinians from their land, the Emirati state news agency WAM says in a report.
President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s position is in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal that the U.S. would take over Gaza and resettle its Palestinian inhabitants in other locations, including Jordan and Egypt.
Trump, a real estate tycoon, had said he would construct what he called a “Riviera of the Middle East” on the Palestinian territory.
This attracted widespread opposition among Arab countries and Western allies who questioned the motive behind the Trump administration’s proposal, instead backing the rebuilding of Gaza, a city in ruins after Israel’s military onslaught.
Nahyan told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting in Abu Dhabi that it was important to link the reconstruction of Gaza to a path leading to “a comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The UAE’s stance on the conflict is seen as very crucial, as it is one of four Arab countries that normalised ties with Israel during the first Trump administration and because it has played a role in financing reconstruction work after previous conflicts.
Arab diplomacy on Gaza is aimed at developing an alternative to Trump’s plan for the devastated territory after Israel’s 15-month military campaign against Hamas, with nearly all the 2.3 million inhabitants now homeless.
The leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, and Qatar are expected to discuss the plan in Riyadh this month before it can be presented to an Arab League summit in Cairo next month.
