Since last month’s cease-fire, Gaza has been divided by a yellow line splitting Hamas-controlled Gaza to the west from Israeli-occupied Gaza to the east. At first, the line was invisible. But after Israeli soldiers repeatedly opened fire on Gazans who crossed it, Israel began to give the line a physical dimension with yellow concrete blocks. Now a U.S.-backed plan designed to house thousands of Palestinians on the Israeli side of the line could make the separation more prominent and, some fear, more permanent.

U.S. officials call the new developments Alternate Safe Communities. The initiative is designed to create communities of vetted Gazans, but it would separate them from those on the Hamas-controlled side of the yellow line, where the large majority of people in Gaza live, an official

See Full Page