About a month after the Gaza ceasefire agreement was signed, the Israeli security apparatus was surprised to receive a request from Washington—approved by Netanyahu—to allow construction work on the “New Gaza” to begin. This was reported by Haaretz.
This refers to the reconstruction of towns located in areas under Israeli military control east of the “Yellow Line,” where the army withdrew when the agreement came into force.
The first phase of the “New Gaza” project will be the reconstruction of Rafah, destroyed by the army during the war. The second phase will involve the reconstruction of other towns east of the Yellow Line, including those in the northern Gaza Strip.
After the completion of each area by the mediating countries’ companies, the army will withdraw, effectively dividing the Gaza Strip by the Yellow Line into “New Gaza” in the east and “Old Gaza” in the west, where two million people live under the control of Hamas, which continues to consolidate its power and tighten its control.
A security source described this line as the “Berlin Wall of Gaza,” although it was intended as a temporary border.
The plan has no defined timeline and is expected to last for years. Nevertheless, the United States is pushing for its implementation. However, the Israeli security establishment is more concerned about two fundamental problems: 1. The political leadership is not involving them in the transformations the United States is planning for Gaza. 2. Washington appears to be leaving the Israeli army alone to deal with “Old Gaza,” a Gaza rife with threats, without the capacity for military action, but only for humanitarian action.
The international peacekeeping force, which is supposed to administer the “new Gaza,” will theoretically also be responsible for the “old Gaza,” but Hamas will not allow it to govern without its cooperation, and the mediating countries are unwilling to administer the “old Gaza.”
Egypt, for its part, is seeking to transfer responsibility to the Palestinian Authority or Fatah. The Israeli political leadership rejects this option, but the security establishment prefers Israel to be granted full responsibility for the area.
Senior security officials say there is growing uncertainty about future US plans for Gaza, which the government appears to have approved in secret talks without involving the security establishment.
A security source says the positions of the Chief of Staff and the head of the Shin Bet have become irrelevant and that they are being asked to implement important strategic measures based on decisions made at the political level, without discussing potential security risks.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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