UAE plans complex for Palestinians under Israeli control, according to map

The United Arab Emirates has drawn up a plan to build a complex that could host thousands of displaced Palestinians in a part of southern Gaza under Israeli military control, according to a map reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the matter.

The map shows the location of the "Emirati Temporary Housing Complex," planned near Rafah, a city that once had a population of 250,000 but is now almost entirely destroyed and emptied of its residents by Israeli forces.

Rafah, located near the Egyptian border, is seen as the starting point for Gaza's reconstruction under the peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump for the densely populated coastal enclave after two years of devastating war.

Donors are so far reluctant to fund the project, fearing disputes over the disarmament of the Islamist Hamas movement could lead to another large-scale war.

However, there are doubts about the political feasibility of the Emirati project, as most Palestinians may refuse to be relocated to an area controlled by Israel while the majority of the population lives under Hamas administration, diplomats have noted.

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan calls for the creation of a multinational mission led by the United States for Gaza, based in southern Israel.

According to four diplomats familiar with the project, Emirati officials have presented details of their plans to build temporary housing and provide basic services in Rafah.

The map shows the Emirati complex would be situated near the "Yellow Line," defined during the October cease-fire to mark areas controlled by Israel and Hamas.

An Emirati official said, in response to questions about the project, that the country "remains committed to stepping up its humanitarian efforts to support the Palestinians of Gaza," without confirming or denying the construction of the temporary housing site.

'Strangle Hamas'

According to a diplomat, the Israeli army has cleared a large area from the Mediterranean coast toward Rafah to allow for the development of temporary housing projects, like the one envisioned by the Emirates.

The Emirati initiative is similar to a U.S. proposal to build temporary housing for Palestinians in areas of Gaza still under Israeli control. U.S. officials initially described their plan as "alternative safe communities," and more recently as "planned communities," according to diplomats.

The U.S. hoped that building housing in areas under Israeli control could build momentum toward disarming Hamas by encouraging Gazans to leave areas controlled by the Islamist movement and depriving it of its civilian population.

Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East expert at the Soufan Center, a U.S.-based security think tank, explained that the "alternative safe communities" were designed to gradually "strangle Hamas," but such an approach would need to be deployed on a large scale to accommodate several hundred thousand Palestinians.

"A few housing projects aren't enough to weaken Hamas. Action is needed on a larger scale to have real impact," he said.

The Emirates, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 through a deal brokered by Trump, considers Hamas and other Islamist political groups threats to regional stability.

The four diplomats questioned whether Palestinians would move en masse to areas under Israeli control and questioned whether the project risks creating a permanent division of Gaza. However, unlike the U.S. initiative, the Emirates identified a location where no prior housing existed, the diplomats noted.

The Israeli army controls about 53 percent of Gaza, including its southernmost part, with the destroyed city of Rafah.

Hamas controls the rest of the territory, where nearly two million Palestinians live in overcrowded tent camps and among the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods. Foreign diplomats and aid workers believe aid and shelters should be concentrated in high-population areas.

According to them, about 20,000 Palestinians currently live in the areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

This article is a translation of information distributed by Reuters.