Antony Blinken is pushing for a plan to rebuild Gaza and establish governance as a ceasefire nears.
Blinken’s been working on this plan for about a year now. He’s going to share it during a speech at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in D.C. He wants to stress how crucial it is to make this plan work, especially after the Biden administration wraps up.
The Gaza plan is just one piece of his speech. He’ll also touch on other Middle East issues, like Iran and the potential for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations.
For months, Blinken and his team have been trying to get Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Gulf Arab nations on board with this plan. It’s all about figuring out how to run Gaza without Hamas in charge and prioritizing what needs to be rebuilt after the war that kicked off in October 2023.
At first, there was a lot of pushback. Israel didn’t want to fully pull out of Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority wanted a bigger role in governance. Plus, Arab nations insisted that a ceasefire had to happen before they’d even think about a “day after” plan. They also want a clear path to a Palestinian state, which Israel isn’t keen on.
But Blinken’s been making the rounds in the region since January, and he’s managed to get some Gulf Arab states on board. They’re likely to help fund the reconstruction, and the plan includes reforming the Palestinian Authority and training their security forces in Gaza.
Now, with President-elect Donald Trump coming into office, there’s a real urgency to keep this plan alive. U.S. officials have even started bringing Trump’s team into the discussions to get their support.
There’s a worry that Trump’s administration might ditch this plan, just like George W. Bush’s team did with a proposal for Iraq after Saddam Hussein was ousted. That plan was supposed to prevent chaos in Iraq, but it got tossed aside.
So, it’s a critical moment for Blinken and his team as they try to ensure this Gaza plan doesn’t meet the same fate.
