Under the plan, reconstruction could only happen in the Israeli-occupied area until Hamas disarms

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the US and Israel are considering a plan for Gaza that would divide the Palestinian territory into two, with one area controlled by Hamas and the other controlled by the Israeli military.

Under the plan, reconstruction could only take place in the Israeli-occupied area until Hamas disarms. "No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls," Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law who has been deeply involved in Gaza negotiations, told reporters in Israel on Tuesday.

"There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls, as long as that can be secured, to start the construction as a new Gaza in order to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live," Kushner said.

The Journal report said Arab mediators are alarmed by the plan because they fear dividing Gaza could lead to a zone of permanent Israeli control inside the Palestinian territory, and they are unlikely to commit to deploying troops as part of a peacekeeping force if the US and Israel move forward with the idea.

A long-term or permanent Israeli military occupation of parts of Gaza could also lead to the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in the Strip, something settler leaders and some officials in the Israeli government have made clear they want.

"There will be Jewish settlements in Gaza," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said a few days after the ceasefire went into effect.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said in an analysis of Kushner's vision for Gaza that the plan would "amount to something like the West-Bank-ification of Gaza – a scenario that has become dangerously more likely since the cease-fire went into effect."

Gaza has already effectively been divided into two, with Israel controlling about 58% of the territory, and Hamas has re-established control in the areas the IDF withdrew from. Israeli-backed gangs and militias are also controlling territory under IDF protection in the Israeli-occupied area.