Egypt’s alternative proposal to President Trump’s transfer plan allows Palestinians to remain in Gaza as Palestinian administration that is not aligned with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority is established to run the Gaza Strip and oversee the reconstruction efforts, Egyptian officials said

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Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.

Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas,” equipped with mobile houses and shelters, within Gaza, where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate infrastructure.

The plan calls for a three-phase reconstruction process that will take up to five years, two Egyptian officials said.

Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats. They are also discussing ways to fund the reconstruction, including in an international conference on Gaza’s reconstruction, said one of the Egyptian officials and an Arab diplomat.

The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still being negotiated.

Central in Egypt’s proposal is the establishment of a Palestinian administration that is not aligned with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run the Gaza Strip and oversee the reconstruction efforts, according to the two Egyptian officials involved in the efforts.

Palestinians camp amid the ruins of their houses in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday. Credit: Bashar Taleb / AFP

The proposal also calls for a Palestinian police force, mainly made up of former Palestinian Authority policemen who remained in Gaza after Hamas took over the enclave in 2007, with reinforcement from Egyptian- and Western-trained forces.

Asked about the possibility of deploying an Arab force in Gaza, one Egyptian official and the Arab diplomat said Arab countries would only agree if there were a “clear path” for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected any Palestinian state, as well as any role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza. Israel demands the elimination of Hamas as a political or military force in the territory, and international donors are unlikely to contribute to any rebuilding if Hamas is in charge.

Hamas has said it is willing to give up power in Gaza. Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on Sunday that the group has accepted either a Palestinian unity government without Hamas’ participation or a committee of technocrats to run the territory. The Palestinian Authority, which governs pockets of the West Bank, has so far opposed any plans for Gaza that exclude it.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday in a tour of the region, has said the United States was up to hearing alternative proposals to President Trump’s plan. “If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great,” Rubio said Thursday on the U.S. radio program “Clay and Buck Show.”

Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal is designed to “refute American President Trump’s logic” and counter “any other visions or plans that aim to change the geographic and demographic structure of Gaza Strip.”

As part of the Egyptian plan, more than two dozen Egyptian and international firms would take part in removing the rubble and rebuilding infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The reconstruction would provide tens of thousands of jobs to Gaza’s population, the Egyptian officials said.

Around a quarter million housing units have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza, according to UN estimates. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the roads and more than 80 percent of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Damage to infrastructure has been estimated at some $30 billion, along with an estimated $16 billion in damaged to housing.