The United States has reportedly made plans for the long-term division of the Gaza Strip, which will include zones controlled by Israel and an international military, according to an exclusive published by the Guardian on Friday, citing planning documents and informed sources.
The Israeli and internationally controlled zones, called Green Zones in the report, would be where reconstruction efforts would focus, while Red Zones, not controlled by either, would remain in ruins.
Foreign military forces would reportedly be deployed alongside the IDF in the east of Gaza, with the Yellow Line dividing where the reconstruction would take place, according to US military planning documents seen by the Guardian and sources briefed on American plans.
“Ideally, you would want to make it all whole, right? But that’s aspirational,” an anonymous US official told the British newspaper. “It’s going to take some time. It’s not going to be easy.”
“As things progress and you create conditions for there to be significant progress on reconstruction, you [will] have Gazan civilians moving there beginning to thrive,” the US official said. “People will say ‘hey we want that’, and so it evolves in that direction. No one’s talking about a military operation to force it.”
Quickly evolving US plans for the future of Gaza
The new American plan reportedly comes after the US decided against fenced Alternative Safe Communities (ASC), which would see sporadic reconstructive efforts in the Gaza Strip isolated from potential terrorists.
“That’s a snapshot of a concept that was put forth at a certain time,” the US official said. “They’ve already moved on from that.”
Humanitarian organizations denied on Friday being told of the change of plans, the Guardian reported.
“The US has been very clear they want to set the vision and not pay for it,” said one diplomatic source, noting the US’s reluctance to contribute to the reconstruction efforts.
Another document reviewed by the paper outlined plans for crossing zones, which would divide Israeli-controlled and Hamas-controlled territory as the terror group appears to dig its heels in and remain in control.