Officials in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have endorsed the $53 billion (€49.75 billion) five-year reconstruction plan for the Palestinian territory put forth by regional leaders Tuesday night at an extraordinary summit of the Arab League. 

At a joint press conference with League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said it would be important to unify Gaza and the West Bank and strengthen the bond between Palestinians in the territories. Mustafa also reaffirmed that the final communique released by the Arab League summit had addressed all aspects of the Palestinian cause, and said efforts would continue with relevant parties to implement the reconstruction plan for Gaza.

The summit was called to counter US President Donald Trump's call to permanently "relocate" Gaza's 2.3 million people and create a holiday resort in the strip. Leaders across the Middle East and around the world have condemned that plan, which UN officials say would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Hamas signaled its approval of much of the agreement reached in Cairo. The group led the October 2023 terror attacks in which nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage and which preceded the now-paused war in which more than 48,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children, have been killed.

"We welcome the summit's call for rebuilding the Palestinian national institutions to represent the aspirations of our people for freedom and independence by holding legislative and presidential elections as soon as possible," a statement from Hamas read. 

The summit came with Israel and Hamas deadlocked on how and whether to extend a ceasefire that began on January 19 and has led Hamas to release 25 hostages and return the bodies of eight others killed during the war in exchange for the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians, including minors and medical workers, held by Israel. The shakiness of the ceasefire is just one of the obstacles toward a long-term plan for a postwar Gaza.

"The question remains: How will the American administration be convinced of the new plan adopted by the Arabs?" Mkhaimer Abu Saada, a political scientist from Gaza's Al-Azhar University, told DW. "Without American approval and support, and given Israel's lack of interest, the plan will not be implemented."

One of the main issues remains the question of who will govern Gaza, which has been under a tight blockade by Israel and Egypt, with Israel controlling the movement of the strip's residents and all goods entering and leaving the territory since Hamas took charge in 2007 after forcing Fatah and the Palestinian Authority out. Israel has always argued that closing Gaza off is necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into the territory.

Under the Arab League's plan, a "committee of technocrats" would administer the Gaza Strip in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority. A police force would be trained by Jordan and Egypt, and international peacekeepers would be deployed.

The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, however, governs only limited parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas officials have indicated that they might be willing to hand over the civil administration to another Palestinian entity.

"It is clear that Hamas recognizes it cannot challenge the Arab regional system," Abu Saada said. "Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah are no longer as strong, and the previous axis no longer exists. Hamas now has no choice but to accept the Egyptian plan, step aside, and hand over the administrative committee to the Palestinian Authority."

A stated goal of the 15-month Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip was the permanent disarmament of Hamas and removal of the group from political power. Despite signs that Hamas is willing to relinquish some of its administrative authority, the group has firmly rejected giving up its weapons.

"Disarming Hamas is a complex issue that will not be easily resolved, and no one at the Arab summit directly addressed this matter," Abu Saada said. "There may be internal discussions, but resolving this issue requires a political solution to the broader conflict, not just the situation in Gaza."

Israeli officials saw nothing to celebrate in the Arab League's statement. The communique "fails to address the realities of the situation following October 7th, 2023, remaining rooted in outdated perspectives," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in its own statement.

"Now, with President Trump's idea, there is an opportunity for the Gazans to have free choice based on their free will," the Israeli Foreign Ministry statement read. "This should be encouraged! Instead, Arab states have rejected this opportunity, without giving it a fair chance, and continue to level baseless accusations against Israel."

The Arab League statement calls for a path to a Palestinian state based on the Saudi-led 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected not only any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but also any idea of a sovereign Palestinian state in the near future.

"There are no answers to these questions: First, who is going to govern Gaza? And who is going to pay for rebuilding it?" Smadar Perry, Middle East editor at the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, told DW. "They don't go into details: What is going to be the role of Hamas? The Egyptian plan says that Hamas is not going to be part of the civil administration, but what about security? Are they going to accept Palestinians from the West Bank to be present there? What will happen with Hamas' weapons? And all this while Israel is continuing to threaten to go back to war if Hamas is not releasing the hostages." 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose far-right party is key to the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly called for Israel to establish "full sovereignty" over Gaza and build settlements in the strip. He also indicated that his National Religious Party-Religious Zionism would not support the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which would free the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a path toward a permanent ceasefire.

On Sunday, Israel halted food, medicine, fuel and other aid to Gaza. Netanyahu's office announced that Israel had stopped allowing "goods and supplies" into the strip and threatened that Hamas would face "further consequences" if it did not release more hostages and accept the extension of the temporary ceasefire according to a new framework the prime minister had presented early on Sunday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Tuesday that three crossing between Israel and Gaza remained shut for the third consecutive day. 

In Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, which has been largely destroyed during the war, Amal Rifa'i followed the news from the summit on Tuesday, but remained skeptical. "I hope that in five years, we will have a house and that the houses in Gaza will be restored to the way they were," the 33-year-old told DW over the phone. "All they talk about is ink on paper. Only when the work begins can we believe that reconstruction is truly happening."

Another resident of Gaza City, Kamal Kmail texted: "The Egyptian plan gives hope that there might be a future for Gaza and for those living there. However, I am not sure that its implementation will be smooth. I do not know if all parties will agree and abide by it, or if the ceasefire will hold at all. We are lost, and any form of rescue would be welcome."

Hazem Balousha contributed reporting.

Edited by: M Gagnon