This “International Municipal Authority” construct proposed for Gaza is intriguing, if utterly alien to the baroque machinations of Middle East diplomacy as conducted hitherto.

Rather than some rote choreography of bilateral talks under international auspices, preoccupied as we are by sectarian borders, imagine a decisive conceptual leap — audacious, even radical, but necessary for stalemated realities.

The fundamental insight is simple: Bypass the stranded “peace process,” ignore zealous ideologues seeking maxims without means, and instead focus on governance in the concrete — administration, commerce, municipal order.

For a city-state with a tradition of cosmopolitan mercantilism, this means a global consortium guaranteeing its development as an entrepot, the charter being stability itself, underwritten multilaterally.

Precedent exists for such extraterritoriality; the Shanghai International Settlement thrived for almost 80 years even amid China’s turmoils. Buttressed by international investment, a Gazan iteration of the concept could eclipse that prototype. 

Unlike Shanghai, enduring Gazan autonomy requires engagement with organic leadership, even co-opting factions through mutual interest. Any absolutist visions must be disciplined; grand bargains emerge through nuance, not absolutism.

The paradox of order in our time demands recognition of the fact that stability emerges not through grand diplomatic architecture, but through the patient cultivation of practical arrangements. Such governance succeeds precisely where ideology fails: in the quotidian machinery of commerce and administration, where mutual interest forges stronger bonds than proclamations. Through such measured accumulation of functional relationships, sustainable equilibrium takes root.

For the people of Gaza, an international municipal authority would raise living standards without forsaking political identity. For radical Palestinian militants, it bypasses the nonstarter of recognizing Israel before securing practical gains. Indeed, by building administrative capacity from the ground up through business cultivation, such an authority would replicate Singapore’s success.

Crucially for Israel, it furnishes an exit from demographic nightmares via Gaza’s de facto city-state status. If successful, the model could pave the way for broader solutions, obviating the need for quixotic chimeras.