UAE drafted map to build 'temporary UAE housing complex' in Israel-controlled Gaza

The UAE has drafted plans to build a compound for Palestinians in the part of Gaza militarily occupied by Israel, putting it further at odds with other regional powers and Palestinians who oppose what they see as a de facto partition of Gaza.

The wealthy Gulf state has drafted a map with a "UAE Temporary Emirates Housing Complex" to be constructed close to Rafah near the besieged enclave’s border with Egypt, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The plans, even if they are preliminary, are notable for several reasons. 

Egyptian officials have told Middle East Eye that Cairo is opposed to the partition of Gaza. If the UAE follows through on its plans to house Palestinians on Egypt's border under the cover of Israel’s military, it could further strain ties with Cairo.

Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are both sceptical of providing funds for the rebuilding of Gaza, with the threat of Israeli occupation hanging over the enclave.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman demurred in November 2025 when US President Donald Trump asked him at the White House if he would contribute funds to Gaza’s reconstruction.

US, Israel and UAE discussed using Gaza gas to fund reconstruction, sources say

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The UAE’s ties with Qatar were already cool. More recently, tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have erupted over Yemen and Sudan.

The fact that the UAE is weighing building a temporary city in Gaza in territory controlled by Israel also signals it is more comfortable with the status quo than public statements by officials suggest.

In November, Emirati envoy Anwar Gargash said Abu Dhabi was not ready to participate in a peacekeeping force for Gaza amid concerns about the "stability" of the force. 

This week, the UAE denied an Israeli Channel 12 report that said it was preparing to assume civilian administration of the Gaza Strip. 

The Reuters report does not say who would administer the temporary housing complex named after the UAE. 

UAE taking lead in Israel's Gaza plans?

The UAE’s plan appears to be in early stages, but Abu Dhabi is coordinating with the Trump administration and Trump’s so-called "Board of Peace" on the plan, Reuters said. 

Diplomats and analysts told MEE that the UAE was set to play a key role in Gaza after the appointment of Nickolay Mladenov as the high representative for Gaza.

The former Bulgarian diplomat and United Nations official serves as the link between a committee of Palestinian technocrats and Trump’s peace board.

'We were toying with he idea of saying lets build a ‘free zone’ and then we have a ‘Hamas zone''

- Jared Kushner, Davos Forum

After leaving the UN, Mladenov went to work for the UAE at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.

This month, Mladenov appeared to blame Hamas for Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to several US and Arab diplomats' assessments of his statements. 

Gaza’s fragile ceasefire has been riddled by violations as Israeli strikes kill hundreds of Palestinians. Hamas has yet to disarm as mandated by the ceasefire, insisting that Israel first leave the entire Gaza Strip.

Gaza is divided into two by a "yellow line", with Israel occupying around 53 percent of the enclave and the centre held by Hamas. In reality, Israel continues to impose a full blockade on Gaza via the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel reopened the Rafah border crossing with Egypt this week, imposing tight restrictions on the entry of aid.

MEE has reported that the UAE, US and Israel have also discussed potential investments in Gaza’s offshore gas deposits as a way to fund reconstruction.

Those talks were exploratory, but like discussions about compounds in Rafah, they show that the UAE is emerging as Israel’s preferred partner in the destroyed enclave.

A team of US political appointees close to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ensconced at two luxury Tel Aviv hotels, have been working on a plan to build temporary housing units in the Israeli-occupied half of Gaza.

But Kushner appeared to back away from those plans in a speech at the Davos Economic Forum in January.

“In the beginning, we were toying with the idea of saying 'let's build a free zone’, and then we have a ‘Hamas zone’. Then we said let’s just plan for catastrophic success,” he said, explaining that the US was committed to overseeing the disarmament of Hamas and developing Gaza without divisions.