Yisrael Katz, Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Transport, and a prominent member of the Likud Party, has put forward a proposal to construct an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea three miles west of the Gaza Strip.
It would be about 2.5 miles long and would contain a power station, a desalination plant, a cargo dock, a passenger port and eventually an airport. It would be linked to the mainland by a long bridge with a checkpoint to ensure that weapons, etc., could not enter the Gaza Strip.
The plan would require cooperation between Hamas and the Israeli Government, but would clearly be preferable to the current Israeli blockade of Gaza, and a step towards Palestinian self-government.