Cairo: Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas met in Cairo on Tuesday with his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of an emergency Arab summit. The two leaders discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories during the meeting, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa said.

According to Anadolu Agency, Abbas emphasized that the Gaza Strip "is an integral and inseparable part of the State of Palestine, which has political and legal jurisdiction over it like the rest of the Palestinian territories." He also highlighted the longstanding relations between the Palestinian and Syrian peoples, expressing his commitment to strengthening ties between the two nations.

The Arab summit is expected to endorse an Egyptian plan aimed at rebuilding Gaza. This initiative seeks to offer an alternative to US proposals for relocating Gaza's population. US President Donald Trump has advocated for transforming Gaza into a tourist hub by resettling its population, a proposal that has been widely condemned as it is perceived as ethnic cleansing by the Arab world and numerous other countries.

The conflict in Gaza since October 2023 has resulted in the deaths of nearly 48,400 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, with over 111,000 others injured. The assault, which devastated the region, was halted by a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement effective from January 19.

In a significant development last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.