When Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes his first official trip to the Middle East as the top US diplomat on Sunday, he’ll be pushing the region to come up with an alternative to President Donald Trump’s controversial plan for the Gaza Strip.

By Pesha Magid, Samia Nakhoul, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan RIYADH/ABU DHABI/AMMAN/CAIRO (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia is spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop a plan for Gaza's future as a counter to U.

Arab states are scrambling to develop a realistic plan for Gaza's future as a counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's vision of the United States taking over the territory and its Palestinian inhabitants being ejected to Egypt and Jordan.

He is facing one of the most challenging moments of his rule, which could reset relations with his country's key Western ally. Egypt is dangling the threat to its peace treaty with neighbouring Israel - long seen as a cornerstone of stability and US influence in the Middle East.

Egypt will produce a "comprehensive vision" for how to reconstruct Gaza that does not include the removal of Palestinians from the enclave.