ALBAWABA - As part of a larger plan to set up temporary communities for displaced Palestinians in the south, starting with Rafah, the United States is pushing for a plan to split the Gaza Strip into clearly defined zones of control. One zone would be controlled by the Israeli military and the other would stay under Hamas control.
The Wall Street Journal says that the plan is a big change in Washington's strategy for "dismantling Hamas," which is one of the goals of the second phase of the American 20-point peace initiative. However, U.S. officials admit that reaching that goal is unlikely in the near future.
The plan says that areas controlled by Hamas would be marked in red and areas controlled by Israel would be marked in green. Washington wants to build "alternative safe communities" in the green zones. These will be temporary homes for families who have had to leave their homes and will have schools, medical centers, and basic services.
Officials in the U.S. say that engineering teams are already in Gaza to look at how to remove debris and clear unexploded ordnance so that these communities can be built. Even though construction hasn't started yet, the temporary sites are expected to work until a permanent reconstruction plan is made for the war-torn area.
American and Israeli sources say that Rafah is the best choice to test the new model, even though Hamas's tunnel system is still fighting underground.
Uncertain Security Plans
One of the biggest questions that still needs to be answered is how security will be kept up in the temporary communities. The Wall Street Journal says that it is still not clear how the U.S. and Israel plan to keep Hamas members out of these areas or from having an effect on them.
One of the ideas going around is to use local armed groups that Israel supports, like the Yasser Abu Shabab group, which runs schools and small businesses in areas where it has power.
But Washington doesn't like this idea. Some U.S. officials think that some of these groups are undisciplined and that some of their members might even be criminals, which makes them worried about stability and governance.
Sources say that the American plan calls for Hamas's areas of control to gradually get smaller, making room for an international stabilization force mandated by the UN and a local Palestinian police force.
During the transition period, a proposed "Peace Authority," which is part of President Donald Trump's plan, would be in charge of civil administration and rebuilding. After that, a Palestinian governing body would take over.
Hamas Says No to the Proposal
Hamas has completely turned down the U.S. plan, calling it a kind of "international guardianship" meant to keep Gaza separate from the Palestinian people.
The movement also spoke out against the recent UN Security Council resolution that supports sending in international troops. They said it tries to force a system on Palestinians that is driven by outside forces and takes away their right to resist the occupation and decide their own future.
