MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Arab countries rejected the US’ "New Gaza" plan, Syria’s interim president paid his first visit to the US, and Denmark purchased weapons to broaden its presence in the Arctic. These stories topped Monday's headlines across Russia.
Arab countries have not backed the US’ proposal on reconstructing the Gaza Strip only in areas controlled by Israel, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing anonymous Arab diplomats.
The newspaper’s sources are concerned that such a plan is fraught with a long-term division of the Palestinian enclave. Therefore, potential financial backers so far merely plan to provide funds for the Strip’s partial rebuilding and focus on humanitarian aid for the areas held by the Israeli army.
Boris Dolgov, leading researcher with the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, has not ruled out the possibility of the US’ initiative on Gaza being implemented. According to him, in theory, wealthy Arab monarchies are ready to invest in the enclave if the US and Israel ensure stability in the region and offer them beneficial financial and economic projects on other tracks to compensate for these expenses.
