
GHF proposed camps for Palestinians to 'reside, de-radicalise and re-integrate'
The proposal is part of an overall strategy to end the control of Hamas over the Palestinian enclave.
Reuters reported that the $2bn plan was submitted to the Trump administration and recently discussed in the White House.
The camps are described as "large-scale" and "voluntary" in the plan, and places that Palestinians can 'temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so'.
A slide deck seen by Reuters called for using the sprawling facilities to "gain trust with the local population" and to facilitate US President Donald Trump's "vision for Gaza".
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Reuters could not independently determine the status of the plan, while the group told the news agency the slides were "not a GHF document".
GHF said it had studied "a range of theoretical options to safely deliver aid in Gaza", but that it was "not planning for or implementing Humanitarian Transit Areas".
There have been repeated references by both the Israeli and US governments to transferring the population of Gaza from the territory, a move that would amount to ethnic cleansing.
Israel stopped any aid from entering Gaza for three months after unilaterally ending a ceasefire with Hamas in March.
The GHF was set up with US and Israeli backing. with the aim of supplanting United Nations-led aid coordination mechanisms in Gaza.
Its rollout of services since May has been chaotic. Israeli forces have killed more than 600 Palestinians and wounded another 4,000 by firing on people desperately seeking access to aid at the GHF's few distribution sites.
It was revealed over the weekend that a consulting firm involved in the GHF entered into a multimillion-dollar contract to develop the initiative and modelled a plan to "relocate" Palestinians from Gaza as part of its work.
A Financial Times investigation has revealed its work included financial modelling for the post-war reconstruction of Gaza, commissioned by Israeli backers, with one scenario envisioning the "voluntary relocation" of Palestinians from the enclave.
This would have involved paying out "relocation packages" to 500,000 people worth $9,000 per person to encourage people to leave the territory.
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation may be 'complicit in war crimes', right groups say Read More »
The model assumed a quarter of Palestinians would opt to leave Gaza, with three-quarters of them unlikely to return.
It estimated the cost of expulsion of Palestinians to be $23,000 cheaper, per Palestinian, than the costs of providing support to them in Gaza during reconstruction.
According to the Boston Consulting Group, this side of the operation was conducted without the knowledge of senior management and against their instructions.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The National
35 minutes ago
- The National
Lebanon to push ahead with disarming Hezbollah amid assurances Israel will pull troops out
Lebanon has received western guarantees for Israel to withdrawal from its territory and commit to a ceasefire, a Lebanese political source told The National. In exchange Lebanon is expected to enter a "new phase' in which its army becomes the sole legitimate holder of weapons in the country, while Hezbollah has also agreed to disarm, the source added. 'If the US and French guarantees move forward, I estimate we can move on to the next phase,' the source said. 'Our biggest priority is establishing a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal – before anything else.' The source was speaking after a visit by US envoy Thomas Barrack, during which leaders in Beirut submitted a seven-page response to Washington's road map for Hezbollah's disarmament and Lebanon's integration into what the US views as a new era of regional stability under western influence. 'The overall meeting that happened between [Lebanese leaders] and Barrack was much preferable to our expectations,' the source said. He described Lebanon's response to the proposal as acceptance of 'a new opportunity and giving the Israelis an opportunity to [end the conflict]'. He confirmed the response to Washington included a "plan for the army to secure and facilitate the state's legal authority over all arms in the country". But despite the guarantees the source expressed some doubt, citing an escalation of Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory in the past week. Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire that ended 14 months of war with Hezbollah in November. The truce called for Hezbollah to begin disarming south of the Litani River in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Officials in Beirut have criticised the ceasefire deal as one-sided, claiming it has failed to stop Israel attacking Lebanon. Israel still maintains a military occupation of five points along the border separating the two countries. While Hezbollah, a powerful political party and paramilitary force that suffered devastating losses in the war, has co-operated with Lebanese authorities south of the Litani, the US has increased pressure on the country's leaders to push for the group to lay down its weapons. Mr Barrack's visit, which promoted the US-backed road map, reflected what he has described as a 'carrot and stick' strategy, linking Hezbollah's disarmament to the end of Israeli military operations and US funding for Lebanon's post-war reconstruction. Lebanon's political leadership has expressed broad agreement that the state should hold exclusive military authority. However, senior figures have urged the US to adopt a softer approach, citing the difficulty of making a case for Hezbollah's full disarmament as Israeli attacks continue. One western diplomat in Lebanon described the US proposal as 'an extension of the ceasefire, driven by a medium and long-term vision for what's needed to restore stability". "It's not about setting deadlines; it's a parallel-track approach. As progress is made on one front, reciprocal actions are taken on the other." Washington has made clear that Lebanon-Israel relations are not its priority following the region's shift towards western influence, the diplomat told The National. 'If the Lebanese choose not to engage, so be it. The reality is that Lebanon is not a US priority when it comes to normalisation. The real focus is Syria.' Lebanon has been beholden to foreign influence since its inception. Hezbollah's losses, along with an about-turn in Syria's 13-year civil war that brought an Islamist government to power, have created a willingness to align with US interests. At the same time, Iran's influence in the region diminished. This has allowed Lebanon, caught between the US and its allies on one side, and Iran and its allies on the other, to move on from years of state paralysis. All sources who spoke to The National requested anonymity due to the 'highly sensitive' nature of the negotiations. In an interview with Lebanese channel LBCI, Mr Barrack denied that Washington was imposing hard deadlines on the state to ensure Hezbollah disarms. 'There's no threats, there's no dictates," he said. "Look around you. The region is changing. Everything is changing. If you don't want to change, if the people don't want to change, just tell us and we'll not interfere. 'If Lebanon wants to just keep kicking this can down the road, they can keep kicking the can down the road but we're not going to be here in May having this discussion.' A pro-US Lebanese politician echoed the urgency of the situation. 'No one is going to wait forever for the Lebanese,' he said. 'You've seen the tactical shift happening in the Middle East. Alliances are shifting rapidly. No one wants to see Lebanon fall behind.'


The National
an hour ago
- The National
Lebanon to move forward on disarming non-state groups under western guarantee Israel will abide by ceasefire
Lebanon has received western guarantees for Israel to withdrawal from its territory and commit to a ceasefire, a Lebanese political source told The National. In exchange Lebanon is expected to enter a "new phase' in which its army becomes the sole legitimate holder of weapons in the country, while Hezbollah has also agreed to disarm, the source added. 'If the US and French guarantees move forward, I estimate we can move on to the next phase,' the source said. 'Our biggest priority is establishing a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal – before anything else.' The source was speaking after a visit by US envoy Thomas Barrack, during which leaders in Beirut submitted a seven-page response to Washington's road map for Hezbollah's disarmament and Lebanon's integration into what the US views as a new era of regional stability under western influence. 'The overall meeting that happened between [Lebanese leaders] and Barrack was much preferable to our expectations,' the source said. He described Lebanon's response to the proposal as acceptance of 'a new opportunity and giving the Israelis an opportunity to [end the conflict]'. He confirmed the response to Washington included a "plan for the army to secure and facilitate the state's legal authority over all arms in the country". But despite the guarantees the source expressed some doubt, citing an escalation of Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory in the past week. Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire that ended 14 months of war with Hezbollah in November. The truce called for Hezbollah to begin disarming south of the Litani River in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Officials in Beirut have criticised the ceasefire deal as one-sided, claiming it has failed to stop Israel attacking Lebanon. Israel still maintains a military occupation of five points along the border separating the two countries. While Hezbollah, a powerful political party and paramilitary force that suffered devastating losses in the war, has co-operated with Lebanese authorities south of the Litani, the US has increased pressure on the country's leaders to push for the group to lay down its weapons. Mr Barrack's visit, which promoted the US-backed road map, reflected what he has described as a 'carrot and stick' strategy, linking Hezbollah's disarmament to the end of Israeli military operations and US funding for Lebanon's post-war reconstruction. Lebanon's political leadership has expressed broad agreement that the state should hold exclusive military authority. However, senior figures have urged the US to adopt a softer approach, citing the difficulty of making a case for Hezbollah's full disarmament as Israeli attacks continue. One western diplomat in Lebanon described the US proposal as 'an extension of the ceasefire, driven by a medium and long-term vision for what's needed to restore stability". "It's not about setting deadlines; it's a parallel-track approach. As progress is made on one front, reciprocal actions are taken on the other." Washington has made clear that Lebanon-Israel relations are not its priority following the region's shift towards western influence, the diplomat told The National. 'If the Lebanese choose not to engage, so be it. The reality is that Lebanon is not a US priority when it comes to normalisation. The real focus is Syria.' Lebanon has been beholden to foreign influence since its inception. Hezbollah's losses, along with an about-turn in Syria's 13-year civil war that brought an Islamist government to power, have created a willingness to align with US interests. At the same time, Iran's influence in the region diminished. This has allowed Lebanon, caught between the US and its allies on one side, and Iran and its allies on the other, to move on from years of state paralysis. All sources who spoke to The National requested anonymity due to the 'highly sensitive' nature of the negotiations. In an interview with Lebanese channel LBCI, Mr Barrack denied that Washington was imposing hard deadlines on the state to ensure Hezbollah disarms. 'There's no threats, there's no dictates," he said. "Look around you. The region is changing. Everything is changing. If you don't want to change, if the people don't want to change, just tell us and we'll not interfere. 'If Lebanon wants to just keep kicking this can down the road, they can keep kicking the can down the road but we're not going to be here in May having this discussion.' A pro-US Lebanese politician echoed the urgency of the situation. 'No one is going to wait forever for the Lebanese,' he said. 'You've seen the tactical shift happening in the Middle East. Alliances are shifting rapidly. No one wants to see Lebanon fall behind.'


The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Israel's AI targeting system and Hezbollah's disarming conditions
Many in Gaza believe there is an unseen, pervasive AI presence that is watching, listening and waiting for those on its target list to show their faces. Lebanon is considering a road map to disarm Hezbollah. Hamas on Wednesday said Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel in Doha were progressing due to US President Donald Trump's involvement in the process. Data-driven deaths: How Israel's AI war machine pinpoints Palestinian victims Hamas credits Trump for progress in Gaza ceasefire talks This episode features Damien McElroy, London bureau chief; and Jamie Prentis, Beirut correspondent.