THE ARAB VOICE – FEBRUARY 2026

Perspectives and insights from writers in the Arab media

While there is much skepticism and critique  – mostly across Europe and in the Western press – to Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza, many in the Arab media look more favorably on it, even if viewing it as a last ‘shot’ at peace – pun intended.

Even a stalwart opponent of the US president like Thomas E. Friedman, despite his skepticism of the plan as noted in the article below, has subsequently come round to seeing some merit, writing in the NYT that, “President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip is a smart plan for turning a bomb crater into a launchpad for peace.”

Below are writers from the region – UAE and Turkey  -addressing the issue reflecting a growing loss of confidence in the UN as well as the “tra­di­tional medi­at­ing coun­tries” to “deliver results.”

Whether expectation is a consequence of exasperation, time will tell.

David E. Kaplan
Editor Lay of the Land
February 7, 2026

NO BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO TRUMP’S BOARD OF PEACE
By Rad­wan al-Sayed

Al-Itti­had, UAE, Janu­ary 27

US Pres­id­ent Don­ald Trump announced the form­a­tion of a Board of Peace and suc­ceeded in attract­ing more than 30 coun­tries to the idea before com­plaints and reser­va­tions began to escal­ate. He poin­ted out that a num­ber of major European coun­tries had not yet joined, as some viewed the ini­ti­at­ive as vague and ill-defined.

Among the most prom­in­ent skep­tics was the well-known Amer­ican journ­al­ist Thomas Fried­man, who wrote in The New York Times that under Trump, the US no longer takes into account the interests of its allies nor engages ser­i­ously in nego­ti­at­ing with its oppon­ents.

Yet the cent­ral ques­tion remains:

What pos­sib­il­it­ies and altern­at­ives exist in light of the tragedy that has been unfold­ing for over two years in Gaza and the West Bank?

It is evid­ent that the UN and its vari­ous com­mis­sions have been unable to deliver res­ults, just as the tra­di­tional medi­at­ing coun­tries have failed, leav­ing little on the table other than Trump’s ini­ti­at­ive.

Trump was able to impose a cease­fire through the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Sum­mit and secure the with­drawal of the IDF from half of the Gaza Strip, even if Israeli killing did not cease entirely. With the start of the second phase, two devel­op­ments fol­lowed:

• First, the form­a­tion of a com­mit­tee to man­age civil­ian sec­tors in the Strip, the open­ing of land cross­ings, and the clear­ing of a path for the entry of inter­na­tional forces tasked with dis­arm­ing Hamas and estab­lish­ing secur­ity, allow­ing the Israeli army to gradu­ally with­draw from the entire Strip, amid Israeli and Amer­ican threats over what will hap­pen if Hamas refuses to dis­arm.
• The second devel­op­ment was Trump’s announce­ment of the Board of Peace, to be chaired by him, with the aim of rebuild­ing Gaza, think­ing about its future, and reviv­ing the two-state solu­tion. Once again, Israel agreed to par­ti­cip­ate only reluct­antly and is expec­ted to hes­it­ate and object at every step, however small; Net­an­yahu rejects the deploy­ment of Turk­ish troops in Gaza and refuses any ref­er­ence to a two-state solu­tion within the project.

In light of all this and while the obstacles are sig­ni­fic­ant, no one yet has put for­ward a viable altern­at­ive that Palestini­ans and Arabs could reas­on­ably reject. Furthermore, Trump’s pro­posal for Gaza, des­pite its many gaps and unanswered ques­tions, remains the only con­crete plan on the ground, offer­ing a meas­ure of sta­bil­ity and the pos­sib­il­ity of pro­gress toward cer­tain human and polit­ical rights for the Palestinian people.

In wars of dom­in­a­tion, it is an illu­sion to demand peace and justice sim­ul­tan­eously from the strong. The cease­fire is on the verge of being con­sol­id­ated, the man­age­ment com­mit­tee is step­ping in to sta­bil­ize it, and the Board of Peace prom­ises a dif­fer­ent future for Gaza. This is the oppor­tun­ity that Arab and inter­na­tional par­ti­cipants in both the steer­ing com­mit­tee and the Board of Peace must seize. Let us begin speak­ing about justice under Amer­ican guar­an­tees, for there are no oth­ers avail­able.

Rad­wan al-Sayed

TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN

‘I don’t see an alternative to what’s being proposed. I really don’t,’ says Yousef al-Otaiba.

By Iyad Nabolsi/ Rania Abushamala  

Anadolu Agency, Ankara, Turkey.

Emirati Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba said that he does not see “an alternative” to US President Donald plan for Palestinian displacement from the Gaza Strip.  

Al-Otaiba made the statement during the World Government Summit in Dubai on Wednesday amid regional and international opposition to Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace Palestinians elsewhere.  

During a session at the summit, al-Otaibi was asked by his interviewer if common ground could be found with the Trump administration regarding Gaza, he said Abu Dhabi was “going to try” to find common ground with the US president.  

He termed the US approach to Gaza as “difficult.”  

“But at the end of the day, we’re all in a solution-seeking business, we just don’t know where it’s going to land yet,” the diplomat said.  

When asked if the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working on an alternative plan to Trump’s proposal, al-Otaiba responded: “I don’t see an alternative to what’s being proposed. I really don’t.”
“So if someone has one, we’re happy to discuss it, we’re happy to explore it, but it hasn’t surfaced yet.”  

On Tuesday, Egypt announced that it would propose a plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing the territory’s population.  

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II also emphasized the urgent need to begin Gaza’s reconstruction without displacing Palestinians.  

On Wednesday, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed received a phone call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during which he emphasized the importance of working towards a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, ensuring security and stability for all based on a two-state solution, the state news agency WAM reported. 

Iyad Nabolsi/ Rania Abushamala  

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