Israel peddles its Gaza island plan

Minister claims building facilities off strip would ‘bolster security’ and so ease crisis, but sceptics question the real motive

TEL AVIV // An Israeli minister has come up with an unusual proposition: building an island near Gaza on which to build essential facilities and a freight harbour for the impoverished strip to supposedly alleviate disastrous humanitarian conditions.

The artificial island, which would be built in the Mediterranean Sea about five kilometres off the coast of Gaza – has gained backing among some in the Israeli security establishment, but he is a long way from convincing everyone.

Critics concerned about Palestinian rights said it would do little to address the root of the problem and questioned whether it would further separate Gaza from the West Bank – making a future contiguous Palestinian state more difficult to achieve.

Israeli intelligence and transport minister Yisrael Katz said the move was feasible and was the best option for now, with the island’s long-term status to be negotiated.

Mr Katz has pushed the idea for several years, but recently redoubled efforts to spread the word.

The island would be about 534 hectares – a fraction of the size of Malta.

It would include infrastructure to provide Gaza – which is under a decade-long Israeli blockade – with essential services it lacks, including desalination facilities for water and an electricity plant.

There would also be a freight harbour and an area for container storage, which Mr Katz said would help open the Gazan economy to the outside world.

A bridge would connect it to Gaza, with one portion acting as a drawbridge. An airport could be considered at a later stage.

A key point for Mr Katz is that Israel control security around the island and in the port.

The Israeli minister envisions an international police force on the island.

It would cost about US$5 billion ( Dh18.4bn) – but Mr Katz argued it could be covered by private companies locating there.

“We have to find a way to deter Hamas from the other side, but let the residents, Palestinians, live their lives,” he said recently at his Tel Aviv office, a mock-up of his idea hanging on the wall.

“We are taking a risk here but I think it is a viable risk.”

Ideas for some form of seaport have gained ground in Israel because of humanitarian conditions in the enclave, where some two million Palestinians live. The UN development agency has said the enclave could become uninhabitable by 2020.

Israel strictly controls traffic into and out of Gaza.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, but Israel claimed it is necessary to keep Hamas from obtaining weapons or the materials needed to make them.

But critics of Mr Katz’s plan suggest less grandiose moves could alleviate Gazan suffering and question the motives behind an island.

Tania Hary, the executive director of Gisha, a non-government organisation monitoring Israel’s Gaza blockade, said steps like removing restrictions on the types of goods Gazans can market to Israel and the West Bank could lead to immediate improvements. “I think Mr Katz’s proposal raises questions about what the real goal is,” she said, asking whether part of it involved continuing the isolation of Gaza. Raji Sourani of the Gaza Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was more blunt.

“We don’t want anything from them. All that we want is for Israel to get off our shoulders,” referring to the 50-year occupation and blockade of the impoverished strip. “We want to be normal human beings.”

Omar Shaban, an economist in Gaza, said the idea could be technically feasible, but would have to include foreign supervision.

“Security is also in the interest of Palestinians and the entire region,” he said.

Israel would control the area around the island, which would cost Dh18.4bn to build