Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip to the Middle East as the top US diplomat. He is expected to urge the region to put forward its own proposal if countries are concerned that the US will take control of Gaza and displace its residents,

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies were aghast at Trump's plan to "clean out" Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt, an idea immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilising.

The kingdom has increasingly emerged as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, leveraging ties with both sides as well as with President Trump.