Israel advances ‘Green Rafah’ plan as critics warn it could fragment Gaza
By SCN News Desk
JERUSALEM/GAZA, Aug. 9 (SCN NEWS) — Israel has approved initial infrastructure work for a new residential zone in eastern Rafah that officials describe as a pilot for rebuilding parts of Gaza without Hamas control, drawing warnings from Palestinian analysts that the project could entrench the enclave’s territorial fragmentation and encourage population transfers into Israeli-controlled areas.
The project, known as “Green Rafah,” has been approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, according to Israeli Army Radio reporting cited by regional media. The planned zone would be established in eastern Rafah, near the Israeli-imposed Yellow Line separating areas under Israeli military control from the more densely populated parts of Gaza.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office has described the initiative as an Emirati-backed pilot project designed to establish temporary housing in an area free from Hamas influence, according to the report.
Initial work is expected to focus on basic infrastructure, including water, electricity and sewage systems, before temporary residential units are installed.
The plan comes as Israel and the United States remain divided over the broader political and security arrangements governing Gaza’s future, including Hamas disarmament, Israeli troop withdrawals and the territory’s eventual administration.
A new community in devastated Rafah
Rafah, along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, was largely destroyed during the war and remains mostly depopulated in areas controlled by Israeli forces.
The Green Rafah project would establish a civilian community on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line.
Israeli officials have presented reconstruction in areas cleared of Hamas infrastructure as a potential model that could later be expanded elsewhere in Gaza.
Under that approach, Palestinians would be offered housing and services in zones where Hamas would have no governing or military role.
The concept also overlaps with wider U.S.-backed proposals for rebuilding Gaza from the south.
A reconstruction framework presented earlier this year by Jared Kushner envisioned Gaza being reorganized into several major residential districts, beginning with a rebuilt “New Rafah.” That broader vision includes housing, commercial districts, transportation infrastructure and industrial development.
Critics fear permanent division
Palestinian analysts, however, argue that Green Rafah could have political consequences extending far beyond reconstruction.
They fear that concentrating Palestinians inside newly created administrative zones could produce disconnected population centers while Israel retains security control over large portions of the territory.
Political analyst Ibrahim al-Atawneh told Al Jazeera that projects such as Green Rafah risk transforming Palestinians from a population with national and political claims into residents of administratively controlled enclaves.
Critics have compared the concept to creating isolated cantons rather than restoring Gaza as a territorially connected Palestinian entity.
Those concerns have been reinforced by the geography of broader reconstruction proposals.
The U.S.-backed “New Gaza” vision presented earlier this year divides residential areas into Rafah, Khan Younis, Central Camps and Gaza City, separated by substantial green, industrial and development zones and connected through limited major roads.
Supporters describe such planning as an opportunity to rebuild a devastated territory with modern infrastructure.
Critics say the same geography could make Gaza easier to divide and control.
Displacement fears
The Green Rafah proposal is particularly sensitive because most Palestinians are currently living outside the Israeli-controlled eastern portion of Gaza.
Any large-scale movement into newly reconstructed areas would therefore involve Palestinians relocating across the Yellow Line.
Israeli officials portray such movement as voluntary and driven by access to safer housing, employment and public services outside Hamas control.
Critics fear that if reconstruction and essential services are concentrated only in designated Israeli-controlled zones while other areas remain devastated, Palestinians could effectively face pressure to relocate even without a formal expulsion order.
Those concerns remain disputed, and there is currently no evidence that the Green Rafah pilot itself constitutes an approved plan for mass forced displacement.
Israel says security must come first
Israel has maintained that extensive security controls inside Gaza are necessary to prevent Hamas from rebuilding the military capabilities used in the October 7 attacks.
The Israeli military has previously said demolitions and clearance operations are intended to eliminate tunnels, weapons infrastructure and positions that could be used to launch attacks against Israel.
Netanyahu has also insisted that Israel will not withdraw fully from Gaza until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.
That position has complicated implementation of U.S.-backed plans that envision reconstruction, demilitarization and Israeli withdrawal progressing as part of a broader political settlement.
Green Rafah could therefore become an early test of a different approach: reconstruction beginning in areas Israel already controls rather than waiting for a comprehensive Gaza settlement.
Gaza’s reconstruction remains largely stalled
The scale of the challenge is enormous.
A U.N., European Union and World Bank assessment cited by The New Humanitarian estimated that around 1.2 million Palestinians had been made homeless, while approximately 77% of Gaza’s housing units had been affected by the war.
International reconstruction plans have struggled to move from proposals to large-scale implementation amid continuing disagreements over security, governance and financing.
That leaves Green Rafah carrying significance disproportionate to the initial size of the project.
For Israel, it could demonstrate that reconstruction can proceed in areas without Hamas control.
For its critics, the project represents something very different: the potential beginning of a post-war Gaza divided into separate administrative and residential zones under continuing Israeli security oversight.
Whether Green Rafah remains a limited reconstruction pilot or becomes the model for a much broader reorganization of Gaza will depend on negotiations that remain unresolved.