Egypt's FM tells Rubio Arab states reject Trump's plan to occupy Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Arab states support Palestinians in rejecting US President Donald Trump's plan to uproot Palestinians from Gaza and take control of the enclave.

In a statement, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed on Monday the importance of expediting Gaza's reconstruction while Palestinians remain there.

Abdelatty, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, said he was looking forward to working with the new US administration to achieve "comprehensive and just peace and stability" in the region, according to the statement.

Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations, and neighbouring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right "historic injustice" and restore their "legitimate and inalienable rights."

Global condemnation

Trump's plan has received global condemnation, with regional and global leaders saying such a move would threaten regional stability.

He said in excerpts from a Fox News interview on Monday that Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.

Trump's plan shares strong similarities to one publicly put forward by his son-in-law Jared Kushner in March 2024, when the president's one-time advisor lauded the Palestinian territory's "very valuable" Mediterranean property.

Israel's carnage in the blockaded enclave has reduced most of it to ruins and displaced almost the entire population.