FLASH
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They are desperate and trying to show that they are doing something...
US President Donald Trump's Peace Council has said it plans to create a "pilot" zone in southern Gaza to accommodate "tens of thousands" of Palestinians in an area under the control of Israeli troops.
The proposal comes after months of fruitless efforts to advance a US-backed plan to rebuild the devastated Palestinian enclave, which has been left in ruins since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October ended the worst of the fighting.
Israel has continued to occupy more than half the territory, regularly demolishing structures and even building a kilometer-long earthen berg to divide the rest of Gaza, where most of the 2.1 million population lives under Hamas control.
The Peace Board's plan for a "humanitarian and governance zone" in Rafah reflects an idea long pushed by Israeli and American officials to channel verified Palestinian civilians into controlled locations in Gaza under Israeli military supervision, a model denounced by the UN and humanitarian organizations.
This comes at a time when broader talks to advance a peace plan for Gaza have stalled. Hamas has so far refused to disarm, a precondition for reconstruction under the terms of the deal, and billions of dollars in international funding promised to the Peace Board have not materialized.
A planned multinational peacekeeping force for the enclave, known as the International Stabilization Force (ISF), has not yet been set up, while a committee of Palestinian technocrats aiming to take over governance has yet to enter the Strip.
Israel has carried out regular airstrikes in Gaza against what it calls Hamas militants, killing more than 1,000 people since the ceasefire took effect. That has included more than 250 children since June, according to UNICEF. The board said the plan for pilot sites would continue “regardless of the status of broader negotiations” with Hamas and could be expanded to “future areas.”
Two people familiar with the matter said the plans for a pilot program did not herald any real progress on the ground. “They are desperate and trying to show they are doing something,” said one.
However, if implemented, this would "reinforce the division of Gaza," said Amjad Iraqi, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group.
"It's an attempt by the United States... and the Israelis to establish new facts on the ground, in the form of very tight and specific political and security agreements for them to remake Gaza in an image that they prefer," he said.
A board official said it was “a project for Palestinians, by Palestinians” and would be administered by Palestinian technocrats.
"Several elements have progressed in recent days, including the arrival of more ISF personnel, additional equipment and international support ," they said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May ordered the Israeli military to increase its control to 70 percent of Gaza, and troops have pushed further into the territory since the ceasefire, despite the deal's call for a future Israeli withdrawal.
Israel has taken further steps to cement its control, building a dirt embankment along the "yellow line" that divides Gaza in two. The barrier, first reported by the AP, stretches for miles through the enclave and has deepened fears of permanent division.
"The Israelis started digging trenches 10 days ago, then used the soil they removed to build the berm," said a Palestinian, who lives in the Mawasi displacement camp and can see the barrier from several hundred meters away.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after a Hamas cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage. More than 72,000 people were killed in Gaza during the two-year conflict, according to Palestinian officials, with much of the enclave destroyed.
Rafah Governorate has been under Israeli control since May 2024. The town was largely razed by the Israeli army and almost emptied of its inhabitants. A local Palestinian militia armed by Israel operates in the area.
Egypt, which borders Rafah, is wary of the board's plan to create the Rafah area and relocate Palestinians there, seeing it as a possible prelude to their expulsion into its territory, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Peace Board insists that no one will be forced to leave Gaza, but Iraqis said many Palestinians would still be wary of moving to the area.
"There is no guarantee that they will fare better there. It also means that they will take control of the militias, if not the Israeli army itself. Some will worry that it will be some kind of transit or temporary camp that will prepare the ground for their possible expulsion," he said.
Discussions at the Civil-Military Coordination Center, the US military-led body tasked with overseeing the ceasefire, have repeatedly reviewed plans for settlement sites like the one proposed in Rafah, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
The proposals discussed included funding for the first planned site from the United Arab Emirates, according to people and planning documents seen by the FT. The Peace Board said security at the proposed site would be provided by the Indian Security Forces (ISF), which have not yet been significantly staffed.
The board said Morocco had officially joined the ISF and that Moroccan officers were present at the ISF headquarters. Social media photos also showed soldiers from Kosovo who joined this month. The Iraqi noted that wherever the pilot projects are deployed, the Israeli military will remain the primary authority.
"They will continue to control who comes in and who comes out, and they will decide whether they want to act militarily or launch an air strike. Even if the Islamic State Security Forces (ISF) are deployed, they have neither the authority, nor the trust, nor the legitimacy... to advance any kind of real and meaningful calm or ceasefire," he said./ Adapted from "Financial Times"
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