US appears to back plan to divide Gaza, rebuild Israeli-controlled side

The United States Department of State has supported plans to establish what it calls "alternative safe communities" (ASC) in Gaza, as part of an American-Israeli plan that appears to divide the Palestinian enclave into two. A spokesperson for the State Department confirmed to Al Jazeera that it supports the ASC approach, stating that it is "considered the most effective way to achieve" the goal of "moving people to safe housing as quickly as possible." The ASC plan has emerged in recent weeks as part of broader discussions that would see Gaza divided into a "green zone" controlled by Israel and a "red zone" controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas. There has been little clarity on how the plan would work, and the details seem to still be evolving, but the broad outline, according to reports in the New York Times and other media, is that reconstruction in Gaza would only take place in areas controlled by Israel and not in those where Hamas still operates. This means that the areas where the majority of Gaza's 2.2 million residents still live, including Gaza City and central regions like Deir el-Balah, would see no reconstruction despite the desperate situation in which Palestinians continue to live. "Addressing the immediate need for secure housing in Gaza is our central concern," the State Department spokesperson said. "American efforts are directed toward reconstruction in the parts of Gaza where the majority of the population currently resides," the spokesperson added, although it is unclear whether this meant that reconstruction would also take place in areas not controlled by Israel under the ASC plan or if the U.S. hoped that the majority of Gaza's population would move to areas controlled by Israel. Some reports have suggested that the ASCs would consist of complexes housing 20,000 or 25,000 people in container-sized units, similar to those currently used in humanitarian aid. It is currently unclear how these complexes could be expanded to accommodate all Palestinians in Gaza. "If they [the U.S. and Israel] could establish an adequate situation, people could move there, but that is not feasible," said Hussein, a Palestinian from Gaza City, regarding the American plans. "What will they establish, with what infrastructure? There would need to be water, electricity. It would take years." Israel's genocidal war in Gaza has killed over 69,700 Palestinians. Now, more than a month after a ceasefire officially began in Gaza, questions remain about what the next phase of the agreement will bring and when large-scale reconstruction will begin. In the meantime, Israel continues to periodically attack, killing at least 347 people since the ceasefire began on October 10. For those still alive, life is incredibly difficult. At least 1.9 million people in Gaza are displaced. Many of them have had to flee multiple times. Ninety-two percent of Gaza's housing stock has been damaged or reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands living in tents, a particularly precarious situation as winter approaches. The destruction of buildings in Gaza is the result of Israeli airstrikes and shelling as well as a systematic campaign to deliberately demolish vast swathes of territory. Officials cited in the New York Times have stated that the first ASC complex is still months away from completion. Israeli soldiers were supposed to begin clearing an area around what remains of Rafah in the south this week. But this work could be delayed if tunnels, unexploded munitions, or human remains are encountered. Two people involved in the project estimated that the cost of the initial complex alone could reach tens of millions of dollars. Overall, the cost of reconstructing Gaza is expected to be at least $70 billion and take several decades. Where the funding for the reconstruction will come from is uncertain. Who will pay for the proposed ASCs is also ambiguous. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly excluded funding for their construction, while Israeli politicians have yet to confirm their final position. The U.S. State Department spokesperson did not comment on funding, and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment. Although few Palestinians currently live in the Israeli-controlled area of Gaza, American hopes rest on the idea that development, security, and likely access to medical care and social assistance would be sufficient to attract people from other areas of Gaza. But complicating American ambitions, access to the "green zone" is heavily restricted for Palestinians, a situation that is expected to continue in the future. According to the New York Times, Israeli security services are expected to conduct background checks on Palestinians seeking refuge in the new complexes, giving Israel a veto over who will be allowed to enter. The media added that European diplomats have expressed concerns that the eventual criteria could exclude a large number of Palestinians, including officials such as police and medical personnel who have worked under Hamas administration for 18 years in the enclave, as well as their family members. And aid agencies have stated that the idea of providing assistance only to people in certain areas to the exclusion of others goes against humanitarian principles. "We deliver aid where people are," said Tamara Alrifai, the director of external relations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). "We do not provide services where we would like people to be. That goes against the entire philosophy of aid and development." "It is about providing the services that people need where they are, not creating an artificial village and imposing the services you think people need on them," she said. Arab and European officials, as well as agencies such as Refugees International, have expressed concerns that dividing Gaza into red and green zones could pave the way for permanent partition. The idea has also been compared to the occupations of Baghdad and Kabul, where green zones became effective Western enclaves. However, the suggestion to divide Gaza is not entirely new. In April, Netanyahu spoke of plans to "divide" Gaza by building a new security corridor controlled by Israel between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting that Israel was preparing to separate the two cities. As early as September, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich referred to Gaza as a "real estate rush," telling an audience that he was already negotiating with Americans on how to divide the enclave after the war. Smotrich and other Israeli settler leaders have consistently called for Israel to create illegal settlements for Jewish Israelis in Gaza and essentially force the Palestinian population out in what would amount to ethnic cleansing. "How can you divide it?" rhetorically asked Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House. "You cannot cram 2 million people into an even smaller space than they are already in." "Imposing an Israeli or American solution on Gaza simply will not work. If you even want to try to achieve something sustainable, you need to start with an understanding of Gaza's history, culture, and trauma," Mekelberg added. "Palestinians must be part of any settlement; otherwise, it will never be stable." In Gaza, news of American and Israeli plans for the future of Palestinians offers little reassurance to a battered and displaced population after two years of Israeli assaults. "No one has talked to us. No one has thought about what people here need," Hussein said. "What about people's homes and land? Do they just have to abandon them to go live in a container?