Gaza ‘Disneyland strategy’ aims to rebuild enclave, weaken Hamas, expert says

As the delicate ceasefire in Gaza holds, a brand new thought is gaining reputation: dividing the Strip into two areas. On the one hand, life underneath the grip of Hamas, however, a imaginative and prescient of what life can be like with out the terrorist group.

With Arab states signaling they won’t fund reconstruction so long as the phobia group stays in energy, U.S. and Israeli officers are weighing a brand new strategy — rebuilding in components of Gaza nonetheless underneath Israeli management — behind what Israeli officers name the “yellow line.” The hope, specialists clarify, is to create a residing instance of peace and restoration that might result in change within the areas nonetheless dominated by Hamas.

The areas at present underneath Israeli management, behind the so-called ‘yellow line’, cowl roughly 58% of the Gaza Strip, together with all of Rafah within the south, massive components of Khan Younis and northern neighborhoods akin to Beit Lahia and Shujaiyya. Hamas controls the remaining territory, together with densely populated Gaza Metropolis. Regardless of the IDF presence, Hamas operatives stay lively close to the entrance strains.

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The IDF introduced that, as a part of the ceasefire settlement and in accordance with the directives of the political echelon, IDF forces underneath the Southern Command have begun marking the Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip to realize tactical readability on the bottom. (IDF)

John Spencer, govt director of the City Warfare Institute, described the plan to divide Gaza into two separate zones — one underneath Israeli management and the opposite underneath Hamas — making reconstruction on the Israeli facet alone a “sensible and psychological take a look at, a method to present Gazans what life may very well be like with out Hamas.”

Spencer used the time period “Disneyland technique” to explain the idea, which he stated was borrowed from the U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq.

“You are taking a bit of the issue – right here we’re speaking concerning the terrain – and also you clear up all of the dangerous: Hamas, tunnels, weapons, the whole lot,” he stated. “You then let residents in and also you construct one thing new: markets, buildings, faculties, electrical energy. We known as it Disneyland as a result of we needed it to seem like hope, like the long run.”

He stated the concept follows the “clear, maintain, construct” mannequin utilized in Iraq and Afghanistan, the place troops secured neighborhoods one after the other. “In Ramadi we did it neighborhood by neighborhood till we lined your entire metropolis,” he stated. “You maintain it, clear it up, let the locals take over. It is traditionally confirmed. You do not have to rid Gaza of Hamas to begin doing this.”

The aim, Spencer stated, is to provide Gazans — and the world — a tangible glimpse of life with out Hamas.

Days after a ceasefire took impact, Gazans store at a market in central Gaza, October 18, 2025. (TPS-IL)

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“You are constructing a bit of piece of goodness, a bit of Disneyland, to point out everybody what’s doable,” he stated. “It will additionally present the nations that may present stabilization forces one thing they may do: stabilize liberated areas that Hamas is just not in.”

Nonetheless, he cautioned that the idea is just not a panacea. “You’ll have areas on the opposite facet of the road the place Hamas thinks they’re in management,” he stated. “Constructing one thing with out Hamas is simply as necessary to defeat Hamas as it’s to point out folks that there’s a future.”

In Hamas-controlled Gaza, concern nonetheless determines each day life. “We’ve been terrified for the reason that ceasefire started,” one resident instructed Fox Information Digital, talking on situation of anonymity for concern of retaliation.

“We don’t need to stay underneath Hamas. It is vitally horrifying for us to listen to that Jared Kushner stated that reconstruction will solely happen within the areas that Hamas doesn’t management. Trump and Netanyahu stated that Hamas will finish – however look what is going on. They’re again, stronger, and we’re nonetheless caught.”

On this nonetheless from a verified social media video, confirmed to Reuters by a Hamas supply, seven males are compelled to their knees and shot from behind by Hamas gunmen throughout public executions in Gaza on October 14, 2025. (Reuters)

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‘There may be sufficient meals – sure, there’s meals obtainable within the markets, all of it varieties of meals‘ he continued. ‘All merchandise is obtainable once more and costs are getting decrease. Life is again, however destruction is what we see all over the place.”

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For some on this facet of the yellow line, the prospect of rebuilding a brand new Gaza on the opposite facet – even a small one – seems like freedom.

Hussam al-Astal, who leads an anti-Hamas militia in Khan Younis, instructed Fox Information Digital: “We’re not attempting to rule Gaza, nor are we looking for energy. Our venture, after the rule and collapse of the Hamas-ISIS authorities, is to safe the folks and information them via the transition section… to civilian establishments that govern in a manner that pleases God, far of their private pursuits.”

Hamas terrorists emerge in a present of drive, escorting Crimson Cross automobiles carrying three Israeli hostages to be launched as a part of the ceasefire. (TPS-IL)

He accused Hamas of turning its weapons inward in the course of the ceasefire. “We demand that your entire worldwide neighborhood defend us from the phobia of Hamas,” he stated. “We’re not preventing for anybody’s rule. We’re preventing for a dignified life. We’re preventing for a brand new Gaza.”

A number of sources say Israel has already provided restricted assist to al-Astal and different anti-Hamas factions on the bottom.

“We noticed a preview when the Majayda clan, along with anti-Hamas fighter Hosam al-Astal and aided by the IDF from the air, repelled Hamas in an area battle,” Joseph Braude, president of the Middle for Peace Communications, instructed Fox Information Digital. “That is a small instance of what is more likely to occur in a broader sense: native forces, backed by Israel, ousting Hamas from the bottom up.”

Each Spencer and Braude agree that the rising “two Gazas” actuality is just not unintentional – it’s constructed into the Trump administration’s technique. 20 level plan.

Individuals carry bins of assist from the Gaza Humanitarian Basis as displaced Palestinians return from an assist distribution middle within the central Gaza Strip in June. 8, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

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“We’re approaching a brand new actuality by which it’s possible for reconstruction to start in a part of the Gaza Strip – the areas behind the yellow line – whereas preventing continues in the remainder of Gaza,” Braude stated. ‘Hamas is just not a celebration to the peace course of however a combative actor. Reconstruction is just not depending on Hamas’ cooperation. It begins the place Hamas can now not function, whereas efforts to eradicate its presence proceed in different components of the Gaza Strip.”

Braude stated the plan envisions “rising enclaves of self-government that may progressively develop right into a coalition – the idea for what may very well be known as a Gazan interim transitional authority.”

He concluded: “Creating native forces to counter Hamas is a functionality that Gazans and Israel and its allies are wanting to see,” he stated. “Constructing a functioning authorities with continuity, a rules-based system and establishments – that’s the more durable work.”