A Gaza-based contracting company has been hired to construct a United Arab Emirates-funded housing compound for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in a section of the blockaded enclave under Israeli military control, according to two Israeli officials and two Palestinian businessmen who spoke to Reuters.
The plan for a Palestinian contracting firm staffed by Gaza workers to build the compound has not been previously reported.
It appears to signal an aim to begin reconstruction without waiting for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, a step that is meant to accompany the disarming of Hamas fighters in the next phase of a cease-fire under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan.
Employing Palestinians in construction could be a way to reduce local hostility to the project, but it remains to be seen whether large numbers of Palestinians would agree to live or work in an Israeli-held area of Gaza.
The United Arab Emirates has yet to formally announce the housing project, dubbed by some diplomats as "Emirates City." According to a planning map seen by Reuters, the compound would be built near Rafah on Gaza's southern edge, an area depopulated and demolished by Israeli forces during its genocidal war.
