While Israeli attention is focused on Lebanon and the still-open front with Iran, the United States is quietly advancing plans to rebuild Gaza even though Hamas has not disarmed and is offering only interim formulas for handing over weapons in ways Israel cannot supervise. The Palestinian Authority is also playing a behind-the-scenes role and is increasingly seen by Washington and Hamas as a mutually accepted interlocutor on demilitarization and reconstruction, despite Israel’s deep lack of trust in it.
Under section 17 of Donald Trump’s plan, reconstruction could begin in areas where Hamas is absent, meaning the yellow zone, where residents and an international police force are supposed to enter. Israeli officials, however, say a domestic decision requires maintaining control on the ground until demilitarization conditions are met. According to a report in Israel Hayom, the American administration established at the Amichaim camp on the Gaza border is already preparing the infrastructure for the “day after” and is proposing ways to rebuild the Strip without first stripping Hamas of its weapons.
The Americans are not expected to staff the facility themselves. Instead, it is meant for an international force drawn from Morocco, Kosovo, Georgia and Slovenia. Washington has also proposed that Israel begin reconstruction in areas under IDF control and allow in international troops for the site, while the Americans would help remove 100,000 Gazans from the Strip to separate Hamas rule from the civilian population. Senior political officials say Israel is still insisting that no reconstruction begin anywhere in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed, though they admit the American pressure to move ahead is growing.
One central dispute concerns where to place the building for the committee that would manage Gaza. Israel wants it near the yellow line, to keep it away from Hamas control, while the Palestinian Authority wants it deep inside the Strip. The talks are continuing, and Israeli officials fear that conceding to the PA could turn demilitarization and reconstruction into a sham in which Hamas effectively runs everything through the PA. Officials also said Peace Council chief Nikolai Mladenov has given Hamas only a few more months to disarm before he withdraws from the effort.
Meanwhile, Hamas is still keeping its weapons, recruiting and training operatives, rebuilding its arms industry, and preparing actions against IDF troops inside Gaza, while also exploiting the aid flowing into the Strip. In its response to the Peace Council roadmap, published by the Qatar-linked Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Hamas and other Gaza terror groups tied disarmament to a path toward a Palestinian state, demanded full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, called for a verification committee before any move to the next stage, and insisted that weapons collection be phased and supervised by a Palestinian body that would transfer the arms to a technocratic committee linked to the PA. On lighter weapons, Hamas added conditions involving the disarmament of Gaza militias working with Israel and confirmation that Gaza police can provide security.
At the same time, the PA is working to bring back Gazans who left for Egypt during the war, with tens of thousands believed to still be there. Its embassy in Cairo is sending return instructions and digital registration links for those who want to cross back through Rafah, although traffic at the crossing remains very thin, only dozens on days when it opens. The combination of Hamas’s delaying tactics, American reconstruction efforts and Trump’s latest remarks on Middle East wars is creating an additional near-term challenge for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Katz and the Israeli government.
