UAE plans to bankroll first ‘planned community’ in south Gaza

[Twiglets1]

Guardian Exclusive: Blueprints describe a ‘case study’ community where residents submit biometric data to gain entry:

The United Arab Emirates plans to fund “Gaza’s first planned community” on the ruined outskirts of Rafah. Palestinian residents there will have access to basic services like education, healthcare and running water, as long as they submit to biometric data collection and security vetting, according to planning documents and people familiar with the latest round of talks at the US-led Civil Military Coordination Center in Israel.

The planned city would mark the UAE’s first investment in a postwar reconstruction project located in the part of Gaza currently held by Israel. The wealthy Gulf state has contributed more than $1.8bn of humanitarian assistance to Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to UAE state media, making it Gaza’s largest humanitarian donor.

Blueprints for the Emirati-backed endeavor are laid out in an unclassified slide deck obtained by the Guardian and first reported by Dropsite, but the UAE’s role as its planned financier has not previously been reported. The presentation was prepared for a cohort of European donors who visited the CMCC on 14 January, according to an aid official who shared details about the briefing on the condition of anonymity. Israeli military planners have given the plans their stamp of approval.

The United Arab Emirates did not comment on its decision to endorse the Board of Peace, or its plans to fund one of the first US- and Israeli-backed reconstruction projects in Gaza.

One US official said that the first Emirati-backed compound could “become a model” for a string of residential camps that US and Israeli officials have described as “alternative safe communities”.

Within the first Rafah community, billed as a “case study”, planners envision several efforts to prevent the influence of Hamas, including the introduction of electronic shekel wallets “to mitigate the diversion of goods and funds to the Hamas financial channels”, and a school curriculum that will “not be Hamas-based”, but supplied by the UAE. Planners also specify that residents will be permitted to “enter and exit the neighborhood freely, subject to security checks to prevent the introduction of weapons and hostile elements”.

A White House spokesperson said that the Emirati-backed compound would be built during the board’s initial reconstruction push.

Land-clearing efforts for the Rafah site are already under way, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told the Guardian.

“Israel’s mission on the east side of the yellow line is to clear the infrastructure in that territory, including tunnels, booby-trapped houses – all of the infrastructure left on our side,” the IDF spokesperson said.

They also said that Israel would not participate in building or running the Emirati compound. “When construction begins, that’s when the ISF participates with boots on the ground.”

A project timeline obtained by the Guardian indicates that site planning began with a “land deed” review in late October and will entail at least four to six months of preparations before construction begins.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/23/uae-funds-gaza-community

I’m not going to argue about who sanctions rape and who doesn’t. Rape is rape and it is disgusting whoever does it, sanctioned or not.

Don't think posters on this thread are exactly pro UAE funding, in fact we have expressed misgivings.

It's more a case of - what is the alternative? It could be better than doing nothing.

Specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence – such as forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault – comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ standard operating procedures toward Palestinians.

Other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and violence to the genitals, were committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership, the report said.

A climate of impunity also exists with regard to sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with the aim of instilling fear into the Palestinian community and expelling them.'

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/03/more-human-can-bear-israels-systematic-use-sexual-reproductive-and-other

Here is what I believe.

My grandfather (NB I'm not Jewish) was driven from his home by the Germans in WW2. I can't get his home back. But if I fit the requirements I CAN move to Poland and maybe even live in the same area he did.

As Benny Morris and others have documented, there were tragic wrongs committed by Israel during 1948 war including sometimes civilians being driven from their homes and more widely, villages destroyed to prevent return. Even if all Arabs had stayed put (as some Zionists say would have not been an issue), Israel's need to be a Jewish-majority state would have been in inherent tension with that.

Now, as GeneralPeter said, Arabs were able to get citizenship. They can live freely within Israel : imo the major issue is probably lack of much political say but reforming the coalition system could change this.

But they were only able to get citizenship immediately following the war. If a descendant wants to get citizenship now, it's essentially impossible since you can only now become an Israeli citizen if you are Jewish or married to a Jewish person.

I understand WHY Israel does this. I agree that keeping Israel Jewish majority is important for safety (the major reason it was founded). I also think offering limited paths to return would not be appropriate now given the radicalised state of much of the population.

But I DO think there should be a route to it one day in the future. Very stringent, needing particular skills and capped at a low number etc. But I think there is a big difference between 'you do have the chance to live where your ancestors did' and 'you can never do that because you are not Jewish or married to one'.

Moreover, I would make a few other changes to Israel. Politics needs to secularise. The rising mix of religion and politics has helped no one. Theodore Herzl, for one, was clear on the importance of this. The lack of civil marriage etc must change too. I'd also eventually bring Arabic back as a second official language as it was technically until 2018 law change, though that clearly can't be done at the moment.

ANY sexual abuse is illegal in Israeli law and should be punished with the full force of the law.

Great post

Yes it should be but instead it has been explicitly ordered and encouraged by top military and civilian leadership.

This contradicts the idea that Israel does not sanction rape and sexual assault as a tactic of war when top military and civilian leadership are ordering it.

The settlements were very wrong. It's disingenuous to pretend there weren't serious issues with Abbad though. There's evidence he abbetted Hamas, his approval ratings from Gazans plummeted for a good reason due to his corruption etc . Plus, he's denied or minimised the Holocaust on multiple occasions, which is hardly helpful...

What evidence is there it has been ordered by the top military?

I'm not ruling it out, that should be investigated.

Agree with this...

I’m not sure what’s happened to it but the Knesset was recently discussing a bill to make IDF soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian immune from prosecution. I’m not happy I’ve written this but it is what it is.

In fairness, most of these examples date from 30-50 years ago, when about half of Palestinians weren't born, but I agree the situation would likely be similar now.

Re civil war, it is disgraceful many Palestinians fought for Assad. I've seen many Arab rights campaigners criticise the West for being too soft on Assad but Arabs who suopprted him should be held accountable too.

It has been investigated by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. This was their finding.

What???

Looking up, I see this was from Likud. They get more loathsome each day...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/world/middleeast/israel-soldiers-detainee-tomer-yerushalmi.html#:~:text=A%20group%20of%20reserve%20soldiers,then%20surged%20inside%20the%20base.

It seems the case was downgraded from rape to severe abuse, but still prosecuted?

Israelis who disagree need to protest Likud, they can't go on having these kinds of people...

Are you oblivious that they are fighting for self determination ...they don't have choices and are crushed by oppression

Well, if there's credible evidence there should be consequences somehow...

That's the thing. IDF are not the same as Likud, but given the attitudes of a lot of Likud's MPs, it's not surprising many suspect war crimes being encouraged. Hopefully there will be some kind of consequences...

So do you think Syrian Jews, Lebanese Jews, Iranian Jews etc etc etc should have the right to return as well? Because in all the chat about how unfair this all is, none of this happened in a vacuum and any actual peace in Israel would be determined by how the entire region is governed and how many countries recognise Israel’s right to exist (along with worldwide Jewry’s - Manchester and Bondi show that it’s not just Israelis who are hated) alongside any sort of two state solution.

My family is ethnically Russian Jewish. My ancestors had no right to Russian citizenship and were pogrommed out of Russia in the 1880s. Ancient history of course but there are countless examples of ethnicity and history meaning nothing when it comes to citizenship.

The camps are horrific and Hamas keeping their own citizens in a torturous holding pattern to prop up their own power is appalling but I’m still waiting to see some other idea that is even remotely possible. Hamas is a murderous terrorist organisation. They don’t want safety or clean water or education - they want money and power and violence. So until someone has a viable plan for removing them from Palestine or protecting Palestinians from them I’m not sure what else can even be done.

This.100%.

You do know that Iran still has a Jewish community protected by law and the representative of the Jewish community has a permanent seat in the Iranian parliament. Avi Shlaim wrote a great book, “Three worlds, memoirs of an Arab Jew” which goes into Jewish life in Iraq. Another good read is about Effendi Sassoon and how he was revered in Iraq. Jews had it a lot worse in Europe and I wish more than anything the world will return to a state where Jews, Christians and Muslims can live in every country without persecution.

Bernard Lewis notes in What Went Wrong? that Muslim countries historically did give Jews a better (not ideal) deal than Christian ones. Nasrid Spain, early Ottoman Empire etc. But Pan Arabist leaders like Nasser changed that in Egypt, Iraq etc and pogroms and expulsions followed.

I'm really sorry about your family having that happen. I agree strongly re Bondi Beach...

I also I agree that the plan right now is what needs to be the focus (planned communities etc).

Re Jews having the right to return to ME countries : of course I support this. Arab countries generally treat Jews and other minorities very poorly right now- that must change.

Second, note that I am speaking about a 'right to immigrate' NOT a 'right to return'. I do think maybe elderly people expelled in 1948 could be allowed to return but not right now. Right to return should not apply to descendants.

I'm not talking about citizenship by descent or refugee-type right to return. To be very clear : the difference is that someone whose family was expelled from Poland etc can immigrate there and become a citizen if they fit requirements. That does not apply to Palestinian Arabs whose family were expelled in 1948 because Israel does not generally let anyone become a citizen unless they are Jewish or married to a Jew. I understand why but to me this is an important distinguishing factor from countries which allow migration at least, so someone could return to ancestral land that way.

I agree this should not be allowed at the moment. I understand your point about Russia & Mizrahi Jews but at the same time I don't think this point holds up as well : in the sense thar Russia and most ME countries historically and today are judged harshly. Isn't Israel aiming for a better, Western democratic etc standard to be judged by? I agree immigration should not be allowed right now but I also think that saying 'Injustice over citizenship was perpetuated by Russia and modern ME so Israel is justified in acting that way too' is an ideal argument

If you haven’t read Avi’s book, you should. He explains how his family, a prominent Iraqi family, had to leave Iraq and why. It basically finished his father who was a respected businessman in Baghdad. It is very sad but he doesn’t lay the blame purely on Pan Arabism. It was far more complicated than that.

I will read it. However, Pan Arabism certainly did play a role. Events like the Iraqi Farhud and attacks on Egyptian Jews were encouraged by this movement. I have a thread running rn on Conflict in the ME about the role of this in anti Semitism historically. Organisations like Al-Futuwwa in Iraq were modelled on the Hitler Youth and took part in the Farhud, Nasser used Nazis like Alois Brunner to wrote anti-Israel propaganda.. the list goes on...

A fair amount of the oppression they are crushed by is their own ‘leadership’ and the ideological requirements of their movement.

In 1949 the Nationalists lost a war with the Communists and were driven to Taiwan, a small corner of the contested territory. They established a militaristic regime that maintained its claim to all of the land, and both sides attacked each other for three decades.

Thankfully, with passing of the generations, Taiwan reformed and turned to the future, becoming a major economic success and a democracy. They stopped shelling the PRC and vice versa, and built a very large, albeit complicated, economic partnership. They became one of the richest and most advanced nations in Asia, home to probably the worlds most important company, despite being frozen out of international institutions and denied recognition of statehood.

Would Taiwan be happier, richer or more successful had they been encouraged to consider themselves as eternal dispossessed refugees, mounting murderous raids on the Mainland and getting beaten down in an endless cycle of recriminations?

It seem to me that the Palestinians’ own leadership, the international institutions, the Western left and the Arab world have conspired to rob Palestinians of normality, forcing endless misery on them for the sake of other priorities.

Tbf, a lot of Taiwanese hoped historically and still do that one day they might combine with China in a democratic regime. That would be a positive outcome- but as you say, the CCP still has control unfortunately at the moment, and they've sensibly abandoned military tactics