Egypt and Saudi Arabia are leading a group of five Arab countries pushing a plan for peace and the post-war rebuilding of Gaza, the Wall Street Journal writes in a deeply reported piece that relies heavily on unnamed Saudi and Egyptian officials.

The pitch: End the war in Gaza and recognize Palestine as an independent nation — and Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel. US diplomats are playing middleman to pitch the Israelis on the idea, which would also see Gulf countries and Egypt taking the lead in rebuilding and securing Gaza when Israel withdraws.

The Netanyahu government is cool to the idea, with the prime minister having said that there’s no way he will recognize a Palestinian state

There’s momentum:

  • Brett McGurk was in Cairo yesterday for talks before flying to Doha. He’s the Biden administration’s top Mideast adviser.
  • Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, led a group of European foreign ministers meeting with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other Arab top diplomats in Brussels yesterday.
  • EU foreign ministers are putting pressure on Israel and do not see eye-to-eye with Foreign Minister Israel Katz. The WSJ says the two sides were “talking past” each other.

Egypt, Egypt, and the other Arab countries won’t take direct responsibility for securing and rebuilding Gaza, but the WSJ expects them to offer the following when they finish putting together their plans in the coming weeks:

  • Help with reconstruction — but not own it;
  • Train Palestinian security forces;
  • Reform the Palestinian Authority;
  • Help organize elections.
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