The Trump administration has yet to get the sense that any pan-Arab plan for Gaza is coming together, and it believes that the matter will become clearer after a five-nation meeting on the subject on Friday, JNS learned.

Saudi Arabia is set to host Egyptian, Jordanian, Qatari and Emirati leaders on Friday to work toward a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction while ensuring that Gazans aren’t relocated.

Several Arab countries reacted angrily to U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement earlier this month that he envisioned a U.S. takeover of Gaza to revitalize it after its destruction in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Trump demanded that Egypt and Jordan absorb nearly 2 million Gazans and has acknowledged that they may not be able to return to the Strip.

The Trump administration believes that the Saudis, Jordanians and Egyptians have ideas to bring to the table in offering an alternative to Trump’s plan, which the U.S. president said he would welcome. The White House aims to give the Arabs space to formulate their plan before weighing in further, JNS learned.

The Trump administration believes that there would be no shortage of funders to foot the bill for reconstruction in Gaza under a potential, Arab-formulated Gaza plan. There are many construction companies, engineers and other experts who could handle the large task, the administration thinks.

The biggest sticking point by far, JNS learned, is who would control Gaza. The Trump administration thinks that another war would be inevitable absent a realistic plan to remove Hamas from power.

Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, met on Monday with Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, in part to cement Saudi support for the implementation of the second phase of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Rubio Saudi
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 17, 2025. Credit: Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department.

JNS saw Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East special envoy, meeting on Tuesday with Saudi National Security Advisor Musaid al-Aiban in Riyadh at the American delegation’s hotel. It was unclear whether those discussions addressed Gaza or a potential end to the Russia-Ukraine war—a topic on which the Saudis hosted talks earlier in the day at Diriyah Palace.

Witkoff and al-Aiban were also involved in those discussions.

JNS has also learned that the Trump administration does not believe that Israel has an interest in maintaining even its limited presence in southern Lebanon. A U.S.-brokered Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire extension expired on Wednesday evening.

Israel insists on maintaining troops at five strategic points inside Lebanese territory to ensure that there are no immediate threats from the Hezbollah terror group.

The ceasefire calls for the Lebanese Armed Forces to regain control of the country’s south from Hezbollah and to drive the terror group north of the Litani River, creating a safer buffer zone between the militants and Israeli territory.

The White House is holding out hope that the small presence at those five points alone will not derail the entire ceasefire process, amid pushback from Beirut.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR