The United Arab Emirates has prepared plans to build a large housing compound for thousands of displaced Palestinians in a section of the Gaza Strip that remains under Israeli military control, according to a map reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the project.
The planning map shows where the "UAE Temporary Emirates Housing Complex" would be constructed near Rafah, once a city of a quarter of a million people, but now almost completely destroyed and depopulated by Israeli forces.
Rafah, near the Egypt border, is where reconstruction of Gaza is expected to start under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for a durable peace in the densely populated coastal enclave after two years of devastating war.
Donors have been reluctant to commit funds to the plan, worried that disagreements over disarming Hamas could lead the parties back to full-scale conflict.
However, there are doubts about the political viability of the Emirati project, as most Palestinians could balk at being housed in an Israeli-occupied zone while the vast majority of civilians live in Hamas-run areas of Gaza, diplomats said.
