Israeli reports have revealed the outlines of a future plan to isolate Hamas and divide the Gaza Strip, following a media tour conducted by Israeli correspondents in areas of southern Gaza currently under the control of the occupation army.
The Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth stated that “the new Gaza plan aims to defeat Hamas and create a new life for Palestinians”, noting that the tour took place at the “Morag Corridor”, which separates Khan Younis to the north and Rafah to the south.
The newspaper quoted its correspondent Ron Ben Yishai, who said he was struck, on his way there, by piles of white sacks and scattered boxes along the road. One of the officers explained the scene to him saying: “These are bags of flour and boxes of food that fell from the trucks loaded at the Kerem Shalom crossing to be transferred as humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza”.
Temporary neighbourhoods
Ben Yishai described the Israeli plan in Gaza, saying its first phase consists of temporary neighbourhoods, and indicates that the army will remain in the Strip for a long period. The territory is divided into areas under the control of Hamas and areas under Israeli control, which make up 57 percent of its land.
He continued: “This plan, based on the American vision, is called ‘New Gaza’, and Israeli soldiers who are working hard to help Washington implement it as much as possible refer to it as ‘Green Gaza’. It is intended to resettle millions of Gaza residents whose homes were temporarily evacuated, and to rebuild the Strip from its ruins, thereby ending the long process of isolating Hamas, forcing the movement to disarm and cease being a dominant military and political force in the Strip”.
He noted that the plan’s first phase is to be implemented in the Rafah area east of the yellow line, meaning in territory under the control of the Israeli army. Nothing will take place in areas controlled by Hamas. Even humanitarian aid will not enter those areas if the American plan moves to field implementation.
He explained that in the first phase, an international stabilisation force will enter the areas controlled by Israel east of the yellow line in Rafah to oversee and secure the creation of “new temporary neighbourhoods” where civilians from Gaza who are unaffiliated with Hamas will live, on behalf of a civilian “Peace Council”, until rubble removal and construction of the new planned city in Rafah is completed.
He added that the “temporary neighbourhoods” will be established in open areas on the eastern outskirts of Rafah or in sand dune regions that were uninhabited even before the war and which now contain no rubble, unexploded ordnance or mines that might endanger residents of the temporary neighbourhoods.
He pointed out that in the second phase of implementing the “New Gaza” plan, Gaza residents currently living in makeshift huts and plastic tents in the Mawasi area will be invited to move to temporary neighbourhoods built for them with funding from donor states and the United Nations. Housing in these neighbourhoods will consist of caravans and tents arranged in well planned complexes. It is also important that water, electricity and sanitation infrastructure be available, as well as hospitals, clinics, educational institutions and mosques.
According to Yedioth, American officials estimate that residents currently living in the Hamas controlled area in western Gaza and the coastal zone, in almost inhumane conditions, will be eager to move to temporary neighbourhoods, where they will obtain housing and reasonable living conditions, including profitable work in rubble removal and reconstruction projects that will begin simultaneously.
The newspaper noted that to prevent Hamas members from infiltrating the temporary neighbourhoods, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet intelligence service will establish crossings along the yellow line, including checkpoints and inspection points. Through advanced technological means (such as facial recognition and AI based magnetic scanning devices), they will ensure that no Hamas members infiltrate or settle in the temporary neighbourhoods or smuggle weapons into them.
It confirmed that the army has already started planning these barriers and checkpoints that will allow residents of “New Gaza” to be freed from the threat of Hamas and receive direct, free humanitarian assistance from international relief organisations. (The GHF organisation, which operated under Israeli sponsorship and funding, also halted its activities at the request of mediators.)
Rubble removal
It added that simultaneously with the establishment of aid distribution centres and the construction of temporary neighbourhoods, contractors (likely Egyptian) will begin clearing rubble and then constructing New Gaza. The newspaper indicated that the Israeli army has already started assisting American planners in clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in areas where it is already operating.
The newspaper added that if the temporary neighbourhood project succeeds in the Rafah area, American officials intend to continue implementing similar projects, first in Khan Younis, then in the central Gaza camps, and finally in the north, opposite Gaza City.
It stated that “the ultimate goal is for about two million Palestinians to move to the temporary neighbourhoods and then to permanent settlements that the Americans will establish for them with assistance and funding from Gulf states”. It argued that “Tel Aviv seeks, after months or perhaps years, to empty the areas controlled by Hamas of civilians unconnected to the movement”.
It continued: “In this scenario, the Hamas government and its military force will remain in the red enclave, surrounded by the Israeli army with their backs to the sea, without any humanitarian aid. Washington estimates that Hamas leaders will be forced to choose between surrender and disarmament, migration, slow death or fighting to the death”.
The report noted that the Israeli army also has a plan to occupy western Gaza to achieve the same result, relying on agreements between the political leadership and the Trump administration. However, US officers in Kiryat Gat do not believe it is necessary for the Israeli army to occupy areas currently under Hamas control. They consider that Hamas will eventually agree, under pressure from mediators, to lay down its arms and evacuate Gaza once it realises it is isolated and unable to fight effectively.
