MUNICH: Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki al-Faisal while rejecting President Donald Trump’s proposal to forcibly relocate Palestinians has suggested new plan for Gaza.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the former Saudi intelligence chief dismissed Trump’s proposal as unworkable and instead urged Washington to help with the reconstruction of Gaza while allowing its people to remain in their homeland.
“There is the Arab Peace Initiative, that’s a very comprehensive alternative that will take into account a final ending to the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors,” Prince Turki said.
“They can think of doing Gaza along the lines of the Marshall Plan in Europe after the Second World War. America rebuilt the whole continent, let alone this small strip of Gaza. And the people stayed in place, they didn’t move the Europeans out of Europe in order to build that,” Saudi Prince said.
Prince Turki al-Faisal’s comments come days after Trump declared his plan to ‘take over’ Gaza and expel its Palestinian population.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump suggested turning Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ – without its current inhabitants. “They can move to Jordan or Egypt or other countries,” he said, despite both nations flatly rejecting the idea.
Prince Turki bluntly said, President Trump’s plan is not selling anywhere. “If they are to be moved from Gaza, they should be allowed to return to their homes and to their orange and olive groves in Haifa, Jaffa, and other towns and villages from which they fled or were forcibly driven out by the Israelis.”
The Saudi royal also issued rebuke to Washington’s outrage over Israeli civilian deaths, reminding the US that Palestinians have borne the brunt of the conflict – often at the hands of American-made weapons.
“I wish Americans would also keep in mind that before October 7, and since October 7, the people who died most were the Palestinians with American weapons,” Prince Turki stated.
“So if there is going to be a quid pro quo – Americans died, Palestinians died, and so on – we’re never going to end the situation and reach a final solution. I think we should look forward to the future.”
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