Trump\u2019s plan saw the establishment of a US-led, multinational mission for Gaza based in southern Israel, where Emirati officials have shared details of their plans to build temporary housing and provide basic services in Rafah, four diplomats briefed on the initiative said.<\/p>\n
\t The map shows that the UAE housing would sit near the \u201cYellow Line\u201d agreed under an October ceasefire to demarcate Israeli- and Hamas-controlled areas.<\/p>\n In response to questions for this story, an Emirati official said the Gulf country \u201cremains committed to scaling up its humanitarian efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza,\u201d without confirming or denying plans to build the temporary housing site.<\/p>\n One of the diplomats said the Israeli military had cleared a large area leading from the Mediterranean coast toward Rafah for temporary housing projects like the one the UAE was planning.<\/p>\n The diplomats said the Emirati initiative resembled a US proposal to build temporary housing for Palestinians in areas of Gaza that are still controlled by Israel. US officials initially described their plan as \u201cAlternative Safe Communities\u201d and more recently as \u201cPlanned Communities,\u201d the diplomats said.<\/p>\n A US official said the UAE was coordinating on its housing initiative with Washington, with the Board of Peace, a new global body established by Trump to resolve conflicts, and with a US-backed Palestinian committee that is to administer Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to be impressed with the UAE\u2019s efforts for bringing a better life for Gazans in Gaza,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n American officials had hoped that building housing in the Israeli-controlled areas could generate momentum toward Hamas\u2019s disarmament, encouraging Gazans to leave Hamas-controlled zones and depriving the terror group of a civilian population.<\/p>\n Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East expert at The Soufan Center, a US-based, security-focused think tank, said the \u201cAlternative Safe Communities\u201d were designed as a way of gradually \u201cchoking Hamas off,\u201d but for it to be effective, it would have to be built at scale, housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly a couple of housing projects is not going to defeat Hamas. You need to do a lot\u2026 to have an effect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t The UAE, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 under a Trump-brokered accord, sees Hamas and other political Islamist groups as threats to Middle East stability.<\/p>\n The four diplomats doubted whether Palestinians would move in large numbers to areas under Israeli control and questioned whether the proposals risked a permanent division of Gaza.<\/p>\n But unlike the US initiative, the Emiratis had identified a site where no homes previously existed, the diplomats said.<\/p>\n The Israeli military controls about 53 percent of Gaza, including its southernmost area that encompasses the ruined city of Rafah. Hamas controls the rest of the territory, where nearly all of Gaza\u2019s two million Palestinians are living in crowded tent camps and amid the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods.<\/p>\n Foreign diplomats and aid workers say that humanitarian aid and shelter should be directed to areas where there are many people. About 20,000 Palestinians are thought to be inhabiting areas of Gaza under Israeli military control, diplomats say.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIllustrative: Tents at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on April 30, 2024. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F251011ALH001-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tHamas police forces deploy in Gaza City on October 11, 2025. (Ali Hassan\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n
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