The transfer of Gaza residents to the yellow zone is expected within months

New details about "the day after" in Gaza are coming out as plans to promote the transfer of residents to the yellow zone progress. However, sources familiar with the details warn that Hamas will try to sabotage every stage of the plan.

The decision is to move forward with the plan even if Hamas does not disarm in the near future.

At the beginning of the week, the Peace Council for Gaza held a series of meetings in Cyprus with the aim of formulating a comprehensive plan for the "day after" in the Strip. The meetings were attended by members of the Palestinian technocratic committee, advisors to the Peace Council, the senior envoy for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, and Tony Blair.

Sources involved in the discussions told i24NEWS that the meetings went beyond general, principled discussions and for the first time focused on concrete timelines, security arrangements, the number of Gazans expected to move to new areas, and the question of future governance in the Strip. According to participants in the meetings, the main goal that won broad agreement was to move forward with the plan even if Hamas does not disarm in the immediate future.

According to the emerging plan, the preparation of the land and infrastructure is expected to be completed within three to six months, so that the first citizens will be able to move to areas within the yellow zone, outside of Hamas control. The first site is expected to be Tel al-Sultan, to which tens of thousands of residents will be relocated in the first stage. Later, the temporary communities are expected to expand and accommodate hundreds of thousands.

The decision that was made is that as long as Hamas remains armed, permanent reconstruction using heavy building materials will not be carried out. Instead, "high quality" temporary housing solutions will be established alongside schools, health facilities, and places of employment.

In terms of security arrangements, internal security will be managed by a new Palestinian police force that will be trained in Egypt, alongside an international stabilization force expected to be deployed in the coming months. The IDF will maintain the external security perimeter and will withdraw only from areas where a civilian population is established.

Although Hamas will not operate within these new areas, essential questions remain unanswered, such as how the residents will be chosen, what the demographic composition will be of those who gain access to the rehabilitated area, and how it will be prevented that Hamas decides which Gazans will be able to move to the new areas.

Sources who were present at the meetings admit that significant issues still remain unresolved, mainly regarding the criteria for selecting residents and the implementation of security mechanisms. The decision to advance the project without waiting for Hamas to be disarmed reportedly stems from increasing international pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as an American desire to create momentum on the ground and begin building a civilian alternative.

Another source added that Israel also has a strategic interest in removing civilians from areas under Hamas control, a move that may later allow for military action to disarm Hamas, assuming it continues to refuse to do so voluntarily.

"Hamas will try to sabotage every stage of the plan, and therefore every detail is examined several steps ahead," said one of the participants. "There is no doubt that adjustments will be required along the way, but the feeling is that the process has already begun, and no one wants to stop it."