By rights, no one should want it. Gaza is a hellscape. Israel’s tanks have ploughed its cities to dust and devastated its infrastructure. Even in the past week, its soldiers have pushed half a million from Gaza City. And yet as Israel fights what it says is its final campaign in Gaza, a battle is brewing over who will run the wasteland.

While Western powers line up to recognise the State of Palestine at the United Nations, behind the scenes, they are grappling over who should take over Gaza. Since the war began in October 2023, over a dozen governments and government-sponsored think tanks have offered plans for Gaza’s “day after”. They range from the seven-page New York declaration unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal al-Saudat the UN in July, to

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