‘New Gaza’: US-Israeli partition plot disguised as reconstruction?

📌 Arab countries are reportedly “pushing back against” a US-backed pitch to create a demilitarized “New Gaza” in the Israeli-occupied portion of the territory, fearing it could lead to permanent partition.

💬 “There is a clash coming on this between Palestinians, Egyptians, many others, Qataris, Turks and the US and Israel if the US continues to support the Israeli point of view on this, which would be totally outrageous,” an anonymous Arab diplomat told FT of the Jared Kushner-backed ‘reconstruction’ plan.

New form of US nation-building?

♦️ Arab powers are right to be skeptical. Post-9/11 America’s track record of ‘reconstruction’ in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan has explicitly linked rebuilding to control, not relief.

♦️ The ‘New Gaza’ plan disguises territorial segregation as urban development, not unlike the Trump Riviera project, which Washington silently shelved amid backlash.

Funding sources unclear

🇺🇳 The UN says rebuilding the shattered 365 km2 Strip could cost up to $70B. Trump wants oil-rich Gulf states to fund reconstruction, but Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar would likely be reluctant to sponsor a project which would further stifle the Palestinians’ agency while promoting Israeli interests – not least due to fears of their own respective peoples’ reaction.

Legitimizing the illegitimate?

🇵🇸 ‘New Gaza’ would threaten to de facto ‘legalize’ Gaza’s partition, creating a scenario where the north remains wrecked, ruined and sanctioned under Hamas, while the Israeli-controlled south is turned into a pro-Israel “showcase” – a new foundation for Tel Aviv’s multi-tiered control of Palestine.

@geopolitics_prime