Rami Ayyub and Nidal al-Mughrabi
Jerusalem/Cairo: Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a US-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.
The appointment of the civil engineer and former deputy planning minister this week marked the start of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.
Shaath will chair a group of 15 Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the Palestinian enclave after years of rule by Hamas militants.
Under Trump’s plan, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of Gaza but its troops remain in control of the other half, a wasteland where nearly all buildings have been destroyed. Trump has floated turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Shaath will face the uncertain task of rebuilding the territory’s shattered infrastructure and clearing an estimated 68 million tonnes of rubble and unexploded ordnance – even as Israel and Hamas continue to trade fire.
After past rounds of fighting with Israel, Palestinians in Gaza used war rubble as foundational material for the historic marina in Gaza City and for other projects. In an interview with a Palestinian radio station on Thursday, Shaath suggested a similar approach.
“If I brought bulldozers and pushed the rubble into the sea, and made new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble,” Shaath said, suggesting the debris could be removed in three years.
He said his immediate priority was the provision of urgent relief, including forging temporary housing for displaced Palestinians. His second priority would be rehabilitating “essential and vital infrastructure”, he said, followed by reconstruction of homes and buildings.
“Gaza will return and be better than it used to be within seven years,” he said.
According to a 2024 United Nations report, rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take until at least 2040, but could drag on for many decades.
Shaath, born in 1958, is originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. He previously served as the deputy minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, where he still lives.
In that role and others, he oversaw the development of several industrial zones in the West Bank and Gaza. He holds a PhD in civil engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.
Shaath’s upbeat assessment of the timeline for rebuilding Gaza is almost certain to face challenges as mediators struggle to agree to terms on disarming Hamas – which refuses to give up its weapons – and deploying peacekeepers in the enclave.
It was unclear how Shaath’s committee would proceed with rebuilding and gaining permissions for the import and use of heavy machinery and equipment – generally banned by Israel.
Israel, which cites security concerns for restricting the entry of such equipment into Gaza, did not respond to requests for comment on Shaath’s appointment and plans.
Shaath said the Palestinian committee’s area of jurisdiction would begin with Hamas-controlled territory and gradually increase as Israel’s military withdraws further, as called for in Trump’s plan.
“Ultimately, the [committee’s] authority will encompass the entire Gaza Strip – 365 square kilometres – from the sea to the eastern border,” Shaath said in the radio interview.
The formation of Shaath’s committee has won support from Hamas, which is holding talks on Gaza’s future with other Palestinian factions in Cairo.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the “ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community to empower the committee”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has limited sway in the West Bank, voiced support for the committee, which he said would run Gaza through a “transitional phase”.
“We reaffirm the importance of linking the institutions of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, and avoiding the establishment of administrative, legal and security systems that entrench duality and division,” Abbas said in a statement published on Thursday by the official WAFA news agency.
Israel and Hamas agreed in October to Trump’s phased plan, which included a complete ceasefire, the exchange of hostages living and deceased for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The deal has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes that have killed hundreds in Gaza, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli hostage and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
On Thursday, a senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas, a Hamas policeman and a senior figure in the militant group Islamic Jihad were among at least 10 people killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, according to local sources. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident.
The strikes came the day after the US announced the start of the ceasefire agreement’s second phase. More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since the ceasefire took effect in October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the announcement largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out.
Speaking to the parents of the last hostage, Netanyahu said the announcement of the governing committee was merely a “declarative move”, rather than the sign of progress US envoy Steve Witkoff described it as.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza after an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023 that killed 1200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
Reuters, AP
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