American Newspaper: Washington Promotes Plan to Establish a Green Zone Free of Hamas in the Gaza Strip

SadaNews - The United States is advancing plans to create residential complexes for Palestinians within areas controlled by Israel in the Gaza Strip, in an effort to move civilians out of territories under Hamas control, according to American, Israeli, and Arab officials, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Preparations are being made through the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel, where the U.S. military is leading multinational efforts for post-war stabilization in Gaza and developing a vision for its future.

According to American officials, engineering teams have begun planning, clearing debris, and removing unexploded ordnance, although actual construction has yet to commence.

This step comes as an implicit acknowledgment that disarming Hamas and removing it from power, as stipulated in the twenty-point peace plan proposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump for the strip, will not be realized in the near term. To maintain momentum for the plan, Washington is devising plans for what it calls "alternative secure communities" within the areas controlled by Israel in Gaza, known to American officials as the "Green Zone."

According to the American plan, these communities will be designated to provide housing, schools, and hospitals for Palestinians who have been displaced due to the war until conditions are created for broader reconstruction.

Washington hopes that these complexes will serve as a prototype for the rebuilding process and will attract residents away from areas still under Hamas control.

Although the popularity of the movement has increased since the ceasefire agreement due to campaigns against crime and its support for confrontation with Israel, sectors of Gaza's population still look to rid themselves of its rule.

The city of Rafah, located on the border with Egypt, is the first targeted area in the plan, having come under complete Israeli control since May, following extensive destruction during military operations. Israeli and American officials state that the Rafah plan is still in its early stages.

The control of Gaza was roughly divided in half in October under a ceasefire agreement brokered by the Trump administration, with the majority of the population concentrated in the western half controlled by Hamas, while Israel controls the other half. The so-called “Yellow Line” dividing the strip is being reinforced through the deployment of troops, tanks, and earth barricades, alongside extending electricity and water networks on the Israeli side in preparation for development projects.

Washington sees its proposal as the only realistic path to beginning Gaza's reconstruction in light of donors' refusal to finance projects in areas controlled by Hamas, but the idea has sparked controversy in several Arab capitals, fearing that it may effectively lead to the division of the strip and place parts of it under the administration of non-Palestinian forces.

Egypt, in particular, has expressed concern over the intensification of Gazans in Rafah, fearing that this may pave the way for attempts to push them into the Sinai Peninsula if conditions change, according to Egyptian officials.

The security file remains the biggest obstacle to the plan. Israel estimates that about 100 Hamas fighters are still holed up in a tunnel network beneath Rafah, and they have clashed repeatedly with Israeli forces since the ceasefire went into effect in October, making the area unsafe for beginning reconstruction operations before the risk of renewed confrontations is resolved.

While Washington and Hamas press Israel to allow fighters to leave the area, Tel Aviv insists on their surrender. The Israeli army announced on Friday that 15 militants emerged from underground in eastern Rafah on the Israeli side of the "Yellow Line," confirming that it killed six of them and arrested five, while four remain at large.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies are working to establish an international security force to secure Gaza, a project that has been approved by the United Nations Security Council, though disagreements over the nature of the force's tasks - between imposing security and disarmament or merely peacekeeping - are hindering its expedited formation.

Controversial ideas are being discussed behind the scenes, including the use of Palestinian militia opposed to Hamas and supported by Israel to secure the new communities, according to Israeli and Arab officials. Groups from these militias have already formed within the "Green Zone" in Gaza, establishing small communities housing hundreds to a few thousand civilians, according to varying estimates.

The origins of these communities date back to the war when they developed in Rafah controlled by Israel, where the leader of one of these groups, Yasser Abu Shabab, stated that they are ready to cooperate with "any parties seeking peace and stability in Gaza." Israel has supplied these groups with weapons, supplies, and intelligence information, and intervened in some cases to protect them from Hamas attacks.

However, resorting to these militias has drawn widespread criticism. To many in Gaza, these groups are deemed "criminals" lacking legitimacy, while Western officials see them as a potential destabilizing factor, especially since Hamas quickly eliminated several of its armed opponents after the ceasefire. An American official confirmed that Washington is not considering cooperating with these militias inside Gaza.

According to the American vision, areas under Hamas should gradually diminish until they disappear, with an international stabilization force along with the Palestinian police assuming responsibility for security, while the "Peace Council" proposed by the Trump administration oversees civil administration and reconstruction before powers are transferred to a Palestinian government at a later stage.

However, Hamas rejects this vision and insists on its weapons, claiming that the American project undermines the political rights of the Palestinian people and aims to impose security and administrative arrangements that do not reflect their will.