This week, Vice President JD Vance and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, both indicated that the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip doesn’t have to be delayed until Hamas is fully disarmed or ceases to be a threat in the region.
Following a recent cease-fire, Gaza is now effectively split by a ‘yellow line.’ This demarcation separates the eastern, inland areas under Israeli military control from the Hamas-governed western half. Both American officials, visiting Israel, suggested that reconstruction could commence swiftly in the Israeli-controlled sectors.
On Tuesday, Mr. Kushner explicitly stated that “No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls.” Instead, he proposed establishing “a new Gaza” on the Israeli-administered side.
This concept is particularly attractive to Israel’s allies, offering the prospect of a model Palestinian community devoid of threats like rockets or tunnels that could endanger Israel’s security.
Critics note that this vision echoes former President Trump’s ambitious, albeit improbable, “Riviera of the Middle East” plan for a Gaza without its Palestinian inhabitants.
However, experts caution that maintaining a Hamas-free zone in any reconstructed part of Gaza would necessitate such stringent security measures that it might effectively resemble a renewed military occupation.
A crucial concern is whether this reconstruction genuinely paves the way for lasting peace, or if it merely serves as a subtle re-establishment of Israeli military occupation. Furthermore, Arab nations are likely to hesitate in supporting any initiative perceived as legitimizing such an occupation.
After two years of conflict, the majority of Gaza’s two million residents have faced repeated displacement. For many, the promise of a new beginning in a freshly built community simply cannot override their deep connection to their original homes and land in Gaza.
Mohammed Fares, 25, whose family home in Gaza City was destroyed, expressed frustration from his current residence in Deir al Balah: “Too many people talk about us like we’re chess pieces. They think we can just be moved from one space to another.”
Understanding the ‘Yellow Line’ and Israeli-Controlled Territories
The recent cease-fire led to the Israeli military withdrawing to an area covering approximately 53 percent of the Gaza Strip, constituting its eastern portion. Palestinians have been explicitly warned to avoid this zone, with tragic consequences for some who have either disregarded or misunderstood the boundary. Israeli forces have started demarcating this territory using yellow-painted concrete blocks.
Upon the cease-fire’s implementation, the Israeli military reported approximately 30,000 Palestinians residing in Israeli-controlled sections of Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza. While these Palestinians are permitted to move into Hamas-controlled territories, they are explicitly prohibited from returning to Israeli-held zones.
Apart from these restrictions, officials describe much of the Israeli-controlled territory as a desolate wasteland, with Israeli soldiers being the only human presence for miles around.
The U.S. Perspective: Why American Officials Support This Plan
During his visit to Israel, Mr. Vance expressed robust support for this reconstruction proposal.
“This is all still pretty early, but that’s the basic idea,” Mr. Vance elaborated on Thursday. “Take the areas where Hamas is not operating, start to rebuild very quickly, start to bring in the Gazans so they can live there, so they can have good jobs and hopefully some security and comfort, too.”
The initiative to reconstruct areas no longer under Hamas’s influence garners significant political support among Israel’s proponents, even some who have previously critiqued its wartime actions. Michael Koplow of the liberal Israel Policy Forum, for instance, described it as a valuable “do-over opportunity.”
In a recent newsletter, Mr. Koplow argued: “Had Israel treated the areas that the I.D.F. cleared out over the course of the war as opportunity zones to create a functional day after, it would have prevented Hamas from re-establishing itself in those places once the I.D.F. left — which is why the I.D.F. kept on entering the same neighborhoods three or even four times.”
Potential Pitfalls and Challenges
Tamir Hayman, former chief of Israeli military intelligence, distinguished between rebuilding east of the yellow line and the far more complex task of allowing Palestinians to return while simultaneously excluding Hamas elements.
He warned, “You will need to screen, 24/7, every bad-entity individual that passes through. You’ll need outposts and checkpoints. And if you call it a new form of occupation of Gaza, you might be right. And I think Hamas will try to disrupt it. It will try to infiltrate, to create attacks inside this new area, as a resistance to the occupation.”
Palestinian Perspectives on the Proposal
Ayed Abu Ramadan, chairman of the Gaza Governorate Chamber of Commerce, suggested that the American government appears to misinterpret Gaza’s geographical reality. He questioned, “Israel is mostly occupying agricultural and industrial lands. So they’re going to build residential structures there? That isn’t logical.”
Mr. Abu Ramadan viewed Mr. Kushner’s statements less as a viable proposal and more as a direct threat to Hamas. He stated, “They’re trying to tell Hamas that it needs to work with Trump’s plan.”
Considering the proposal seriously, Mr. Abu Ramadan expressed worries about the criteria for residency in these new Gaza communities and the reasoning behind such decisions.
He elaborated on his concerns, fearing, “They’ll end up separating families. They’ll say certain people can’t go because there are question marks about them. They’ll be denied entry because they called the wrong person one time to offer condolences, they shook the wrong person’s hand in the street or their cousin is the wrong person.”
Mr. Fares, the displaced resident, reiterated his commitment to repairing his war-damaged home in Gaza City, stating he had no desire to relocate.
“I don’t see any benefit to this program,” he asserted. “We want to rebuild our homes in Gaza City. My roots are there.”