U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening he has not seen the proposal being discussed by Arab leaders as an alternative to his plan to take over Gaza once the war between Hamas and Israel ends.

“I haven’t seen it,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on Air Force One. “Once I see it, I’ll let you know,” he added.

Trump said early this month he wants to forcibly relocate almost 2 million Palestinians from Gaza into neighboring Jordan and Egypt. He said the United States will “own” the territory and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” which prompted rejection by Arab countries.

It’s unclear whether Trump is serious or merely threatening to extract concessions from Arab states. During a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh this week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that it could be the latter, urging regional leaders to make a counteroffer.

Envoys of Egyptian, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will meet Friday in Riyadh to discuss options, including an Egyptian plan to raise up to $20 billion over three years from Arab and Gulf states for Gaza’s reconstruction. Under this plan, Gazans would not be forced out and the strip would be governed by Palestinians.

Saudi connection

Trump spoke en route to Washington after delivering remarks at a conference in Miami, hosted by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, the nonprofit arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund – the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund led by the crown prince.

His speech marked the first time a U.S. president addressed the annual gathering of global financiers and tech executives. It is a testament to how the Saudi crown prince, known by his initials MBS, has leveraged his connection to Trump, Laura Blumenfeld, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, said.

The prince established close ties during Trump’s first term and continued business ties with the Trump organization while the president was out of office, including investing $2 billion to a firm belonging to Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, Jared Kushner.

“Trump believes in the Golden Rule, but not the Golden Rule from Sunday school,” Blumenfeld told VOA. “It's if you're rich, you're right.”

As Riyadh leads the charge to unify Arab nations to support postwar Gaza, there may be signs that Trump is softening his demand. In his remarks, Trump did not mention Gaza beyond repeating what he said was his role on the ceasefire signed January 19, during the last day then-President Joe Biden was in office.

“We've secured a ceasefire in Gaza, and we're bringing in the hostages, and we're bringing them home to their families,” Trump said, adding that some of the hostages “are in pretty bad shape.”

He lauded Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi wealth fund, and Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan. The White House did not immediately respond to VOA’s query on whether Trump met with any of the Saudi delegation during the event.

During his Wednesday remarks Trump thanked the Saudi crown prince for hosting talks between U.S. and Russian officials Wednesday to find a way to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies have decried the meeting as an effort to sideline Kyiv.

Egyptian proposal on Gaza

Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said under the proposal, “secure areas” equipped with mobile houses and shelters will be established as living areas in Gaza while Egyptian and international construction firms rebuild the devastated infrastructure.

The proposal also calls for forming a national Palestinian committee of technocrats and community leaders unaffiliated with Hamas to govern postwar Gaza.

It is unclear whether the plan has the support of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized body that currently rules parts of the West Bank and administered Gaza until it lost the 2006 election to Hamas.

“What is needed now is a political solution to Gaza to make that reconstruction both physically possible and long term sustainable,” said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, U.S. Policy Fellow at the Palestinian Policy Network Al-Shabaka.

The goal is that “we don't return to a situation where Gaza remains under occupation,” he told VOA.

On Monday Hamas indicated a willingness to cede any postwar governance role.

“It is not necessary for Hamas to be part of the political and administrative arrangements in the next phase for Gaza, especially if it serves the interests of our people,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasim told Al Arabiya TV.

Hamas made the conciliatory statement as negotiations toward phase two of the ceasefire is set to begin in days, after weeks of delay. However, it fulfils only part of Israel’s and the United States’ key demand – the elimination of governance and military role for Hamas in postwar Gaza.

So far Hamas has not shown it would disarm. Meanwhile Israel has not defined what it considers an acceptable alternative governing entity to Hamas and has rejected any involvement of the Palestinian Authority.

The Egyptian proposal also does not solve a longstanding issue between the warring parties. Israeli leaders oppose any postwar plans that would pave the way to a two-state solution, while a sovereign Palestine remains a key requirement for Palestinians and Arab countries.

Expedited hostage release

A top Hamas official announced earlier this week that the group will return the remains of four deceased Israeli hostages and free six living ones in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including 47 senior Hamas members. Israel will also allow mobile homes and construction equipment into Gaza.

The six living hostages are the last set to be freed under phase one of the ceasefire that called for the gradual release of 33 hostages, eight of whom are believed to be dead. Hamas took about 250 hostages and killed about 1,200 people in the October 2023 attack on Israel.

Analysts said the expedited exchange of hostages and prisoners could mean that both parties are anxious to secure what they can now, due to concerns the truce will collapse before phase one expires next week.

“What we're looking at now is possibly – possibly a swifter resolution to phase two,” said Mirette Mabrouk, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“But if that happens, then that sort of signals near the end of the conflict,” she told VOA. “And that's something that [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu has said he's not going to want without Hamas being disarmed.”

Hamas is believed to be holding about 70 more captives, half of them living. It insists it will only release them in exchange for a permanent end to fighting and a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel's counteroffensive to the Hamas attack has displaced more than 2 million Palestinians and killed more than 48,200, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants.