JEDDAH: The Muslim world will be asked to throw its weight behind an Arab counter-plan to US President Donald Trump`s widely condemned proposal to take over war-torn Gaza at an emergency meeting on Friday.

Foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will meet at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League endorsed Egypt`s alternative plan for Gaza.

At Tuesday`s summit in Cairo, Arab leaders backed the proposalto rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

However, the plan, which does not outline a role for Hamas, which controls Gaza, was rejected by both the United States and Israel.

The proposal `does not meet the expectations` of Washington, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce toldreporters on Thursday.

Trump`s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff gave a more positive reaction, calling it a `good-faith first step from the Egyptians`.

Trump triggered global outrage by suggesting the US `take over` the Gaza Strip and turn it into the `Riviera ofthe Middle East`, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said his country, a mediator in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks, would seek OIC support to make the counterproposal `both an Arab plan and an Islamic plan`.

`The meeting`s main goal is to endorse the Arab plan,` a Pakistani diplomat, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

`It`s a crucial time and the Islamic world need to appear united as much as we could against the American plan.` The Jeddah meeting will `further signal the unity within the Islamic world`, said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham.

Rabha Seif Allam, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said `Egypt needs broad support` for its proposal.`This is an attempt to build a broad coalition that refuses the displacement` of Palestinians from Gaza, she said.

Trump`s plan has already united Arab countries in opposition, with Saudi Arabia also hosting Arab leaders two weeks ago to discuss alternatives.

`Bigger Muslim countries like Indonesia, Turkiye and Iran will be there and their endorsement will further (strengthen) the Arab plan,` he said.

The Arab League summit also announced the establishment of a trust fund to pay for Gaza`s reconstruction, and urged the international community to back it.-AFP