December 1, 2025

SHARE |

Will the “Alternative Safe Communities” Initiative Leave Gaza Divided?

AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi

The ceasefire in Gaza, which was ushered in by Trump’s 20 Point Plan and was enshrined in international law by the UN Security Council last month, is largely holding, despite frequent Israeli strikes on Hamas. But U.S. and regional diplomats are encountering major hurdles moving into the more complicated postwar stages of the Trump plan to secure and rebuild Gaza. The difficulties reaching agreement among the combatants and stakeholders on a complete Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament, and deployment of international peacekeepers have provided space for U.S. and Israeli officials to implement policy alternatives that might thwart the peace plan’s original vision of a unified, secure, and thriving Gaza.

In a stated effort to prevent Hamas from reasserting its control over the Gaza population, some members of the Trump team have begun implementing a controversial initiative to construct temporary housing for up to 250,000 Palestinians in the 52 percent of Gaza territory still controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The initiative, spearheaded by U.S. officials reporting to Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, intends to construct at least ten housing compounds, called “Alternative Safe Communities,” in the eastern half of Gaza that Israel still controls. Few of Gaza’s two million Palestinians currently live in the Israeli-occupied sector, and the vast bulk of the population remains in the mostly destroyed and crowded conditions of the Hamas-controlled part of the enclave, where the U.S. and Israel are not yet planning any reconstruction. Experts note that even if all the planned compounds are built and fully occupied, they would still only house a fraction of Gaza’s overall population, limiting the potential for the program to secure and rebuild Gaza as a whole.

Even though many parts of the Alternative Safe Communities initiative are still in the planning stage, reports suggest contractors have already begun clearing land for the proposed string of compounds. The housing developments have been designed, according to sources, as more permanent than tent villages but still made up of structures meant to be temporary. Each compound would provide housing for as many as 25,000 people and host medical clinics and schools, according to U.S. officials and European diplomats. Planners want to ensure that residents of the compounds feel safe, including from the IDF, but IDF leaders are said to be wary of the potential for Hamas activists to infiltrate the civilian population living in the complexes. Diplomats fear the compounds might be subjected to IDF raids and other counter-insurgency measures, and are pressing for planners to bar the IDF from patrolling in or near each housing settlement. U.S. officials involved in the planning say moving to the compounds would be voluntary, but they acknowledge that many Gazans will be deterred from applying for a housing unit out of fear of Hamas reprisals against them or their families. Global officials are also concerned that Israeli security officials are expected to scrutinize the backgrounds of Palestinians in Gaza who apply to live in the new communities, subjecting Gazans to arbitrary exclusion based on vague criteria. European diplomats note the vetting process might deny housing to many public-sector workers who have worked under Hamas rule and to relatives of Hamas militants.

Kushner and his team, backed by Trump and other U.S. officials, argue the new compounds are needed to begin improving the lives of the Gaza population while diplomats try to overcome the roadblocks that have stalled the implementation of the Gaza peace plan’s longer-term arrangements. The UN Security Council resolution passed last month mandates an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to secure Gaza; yet, regional and global leaders, including several Arab Gulf states, have hesitated to follow through on early force pledges, citing Hamas’ refusal to disarm. Two potential contributors, Azerbaijan and Indonesia, are said to be willing to deploy troops, but only if limited to roles such as guarding humanitarian corridors, demining, and potentially guarding the Alternative Safe Communities. Israel refuses to withdraw the IDF from the remaining parts of Gaza it controls until Hamas is disarmed and its political influence is eliminated. Israel has also vetoed the post-war security participation of Palestinians linked to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA). Egypt and Jordan have been training 5,000 PA-linked Palestinian policemen to help stabilize Gaza. Still, Israel opposes deploying them because their participation would restore the linkage between Gaza and the West Bank, and thereby support the argument for an independent Palestinian state.

Although Israeli officials say they support the intent of the Alternative Safe Communities plan, they express frustration that the initiative amounts to an admission that the Trump peace plan has run into difficulties. In particular, IDF leaders are concerned that, even if U.S. officials assemble the ISF, the force’s rules of engagement will not permit it to disarm Hamas forcibly, if necessary. In the run-up to the UN Security Council vote last month, European and Arab states argued for a weapons decommissioning body based in Cairo to make the process palatable to Hamas. U.S. officials vetoed the idea, sources said. Senior IDF officials are reportedly pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for permission to develop their own plan to disarm Hamas. However, at least for now, Trump’s team is sure to try to veto any IDF initiative to unilaterally disarm Hamas as an unwanted restart of the Gaza war. Trump officials express confidence they will soon obtain the needed agreements and participation to implement the Trump peace plan as designed.

U.S. officials argue the Alternative Safe Communities project is not a substitute for the Trump plan, but rather a supplement to it. Trump’s team claims the initiative will help gradually extinguish Hamas control of Gaza by encouraging Gaza civilians to leave areas controlled by Hamas, thus undermining the group’s popularity and legitimacy. Kushner and his team claim Palestinians will be drawn to the initiative by its offer of security, freedom from Hamas abuses, job opportunities, and access to medical care. Residents of the new communities would also enjoy the prospect of education and work opportunities, and might be entitled to permission to leave Gaza, such as for medical treatment. Some analysts suggest the U.S. team is seeking to replicate in Gaza the “safe neighborhoods” model it employed in post-Saddam counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, although most analysts judged the results of that program inconclusive. Some Israeli leaders support the Alternative Safe Communities plan by arguing that, even if the project fails to deliver many Palestinians from Hamas’ grip, the initiative will allow the IDF to retain control of a large part of Gaza and provide a permanent, unofficial buffer zone.

However, many Palestinians and regional and global diplomats categorically reject the initiative. Arab officials from multiple countries involved in the Gaza ceasefire have told the Middle East Eye that their capitals oppose the plan. Western diplomats claim the program risks leaving the Gaza Strip permanently split in two. Some officials assert the project risks a "Berlinification" of Gaza — referring to the division of Germany’s capital, Berlin, after World War II. Fueling concerns that Gaza’s division will harden is the reported decision by negotiators to deploy the ISF, at least initially, in the IDF-controlled portion of Gaza, instead of acting as a peacekeeping force for the whole Strip. The decision to limit the ISF’s initial scope of operations is intended to reassure donor governments that their military personnel will not face a high likelihood of combat against Hamas fighters. Critics assert that it will be extremely difficult to set conditions to reunify the Gaza Strip once a division of the territory takes hold over a long period of time.

Adding to the criticism of the Alternative Safe Cities plan is apparent distrust of the U.S. team’s motives. Some Western diplomats express concerns that Kushner’s dominance over both U.S. and Israeli policymaking for Gaza puts him in a position to implement a vision of Gaza as an international hub for tourism that was outlined by Trump in February. That outline was accompanied by Trump statements that the population of Gaza should be moved out of the territory while it was being rebuilt — a proposal that caused broad revulsion among Palestinians and the Arab and regional states more broadly.