Trump Middle East envoy Witkoff reportedly mulling temporary relocation of some Gaza residents to Indonesia

Following the approval of the hostage release ceasefire deal, and the return of the first hostages from Gaza, attention has already begun to shift to the later phases of the deal, including the end of Hamas' rule in Gaza and the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated after 15 months of continuous fighting. 

According to a report in NBC News, President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has floated the idea of temporarily relocating some of Gaza’s population to Indonesia during the rebuilding process. 

An official working with the transition team told the U.S. news company that Trump’s envoy plans to maintain a “near-constant presence in the region” in the coming weeks and months in order to prevent any problems from derailing the ceasefire agreement. 

“You have to be right on top of it, ready to snuff out a problem if it happens,” the official said. 

The ceasefire deal contains three phases, the first of which, is a temporary ceasefire in which 33 hostages are to be released in a staggered fashion, with primarily hostages in the “humanitarian”  category being released first – women, children, and wounded or sick hostages. 

The second phase, which is to be negotiated during the first phase, should end with the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of IDF troops from the Gaza Strip. Finally, the third phase, which is to be negotiated during the second phase, would bring about the end of the war and the rebuilding of Gaza. 

According to the transition official, Witkoff is planning to visit Gaza in the near future to get a better understanding of the situation, saying, “You got to see it, you got to feel it.” 

The official said Trump’s team is focused on the long-term aspects of the agreement, including the rebuilding of Gaza as a way to achieve lasting peace. 

“If we don’t help the Gazans, if we don’t make their life better, if we don’t give them a sense of hope, there’s going to be a rebellion,” the transition official said. 

As part of the rebuilding effort, and in light of the devastation in Gaza – where the UN estimates that over 90% of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed – the official said that a temporary relocation of much of Gaza’s population will likely be necessary during reconstruction.

He indicated that one of the options being considered, is Indonesia. This is possibly due to the friendly relations between the Indonesian government and the Palestinian Authority. 

In fact, Indonesia has refused to officially recognize Israel until a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is negotiated. 

During the Gaza War, Indonesia offered to evacuate around 1,000 children from Gaza to receive treatment in their country. Indonesia's president, Prabowo Subianto, even offered to care for war orphans from Gaza.

This willingness to receive evacuees from Gaza stands in stark contrast to the attitudes of Israel’s Arab neighbors, who have firmly refused to accept Gaza evacuees and have only grudgingly allowed some wounded Gazans to receive treatment in their countries.

There is a fear among many Palestinians, and among many of Israel’s Arab neighbors, that Israel might use a temporary relocation of Gaza residents as an opportunity to seize territory in Gaza, or that it might deny those evacuees the ability to return later on. 

At the same time, the history of Palestinian involvement in many of the attempts to overthrow the ruling governments in Israel’s Arab neighbors could also explain the reticence of some countries to accept Palestinian refugees from the war. 

Palestinians were involved in several attempts to assassinate and overthrow the monarchy in Jordan, including the Black September incident in 1970, which led to the expulsion of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leaders from the country. 

Following their expulsion from Jordan, many PLO leaders were also involved in the events which led to the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in the late 1970s, and in the unrest which led to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. 

For example, Egypt has been in a near constant struggle with elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, since the late 1950s.

While there is popular support for the Palestinians among the populations of Egypt and Jordan, the leaders of those countries view the Palestinian leadership with suspicion, and have limited the political influence of groups associated with Palestinian resistance groups operating in their own countries. 

However, the issue of temporarily relocating Gaza residents may be a moot point. Within the Israeli government, there is growing pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to move forward with the second and third phases of the ceasefire agreement. 

Following the departure of the Jewish Power party of Itamar Ben Gvir over the ceasefire deal, the Religious Zionism party of Bezalel Smotrich has touted its willingness to leave the coalition, possibly causing a collapse of the government, if Israel does not resume its war efforts against Hamas. 

The current agreement also calls for the dismantling of Hamas as the ruling authority in Gaza, which the group's leaders have rejected.