Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump and White House advisor, presented this Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos an ambitious “master plan” to transform the devastated Gaza Strip into an urban and economic hub within three years, with futuristic skyscrapers, luxury resorts and modern promenades.
The presentation took place during the launch ceremony of the “Peace Board”, the new body promoted by Trump to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza and which aspires to extend to other global conflicts, in what some see as competition with the United Nations.
Trump has invited some 60 countries to have a seat on that Board, for which they will have to pay the sum of one billion dollars and in which the president of the United States would have broad powers.
Trump creates the Gaza Peace Board and says it “could replace” the UN
The “New Gaza”: skyscrapers and marinas
Kushner showed a series of slides with architectural renderings that reveal a futuristic vision of the Gaza Strip, transformed into a coastal enclave in what developers call the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The images presented showed dozens of apartment towers with terraces and views of a tree-lined promenade, along with yacht marinas and contemporary design hotels with glass facades.
The plan includes areas specifically designated for tourist developments, industrial complexes (including data centers), sports facilities, parks, agricultural and residential areas. Another slide presented a Gaza with skyscrapers along the coast, transport nodes and technological and energy hubs.
The project would require an investment of more than $25 billion in modern infrastructure and public services. Among the main components are: a new deep-water port, an airport, a railway line and a road network.
“There is no plan B”
Kushner detailed that the project will be implemented in six phases, starting in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and moving progressively north to Gaza City. “There is no plan B,” Trump’s son-in-law stated categorically.
“In the Middle East, cities like this have been built, for two or three million people, in three years, so it is very feasible,” he said. “Gaza can be a node, a tourist destination, have a lot of industry and really be a place where people prosper and create jobs.”
However, the plan conditions the start of works on the complete disarmament of the Hamas group. “If Hamas does not demilitarize, that would be what would stop this plan,” Kushner stressed, adding that work is being done “with the new government” in Gaza to achieve demilitarization.
He also revealed that the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza has requested help from the Israeli real estate company Yakir Gabay, who “has offered to do this not for profit, really because he wants to do it from his heart.”
Trump: “Look at this beautiful property”
President Trump, who personally backed the plan, drew on his experience as a real estate developer to highlight the strategic value of the enclave. “I am an expert in real estate and for me location is everything. Look at this position on the sea, this beautiful piece of property,” he said. “It will be really fantastic. People who live so badly today will live very well,” he added.
The presentations with this promotional style contrast with the current reality of the territory, where Gazans live in “inhumane” conditions despite the truce, with entire neighborhoods, hospitals and schools severely damaged.
Neither Israel nor Palestinian representatives sent delegations to the signing ceremony in Davos, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to join the Peace Council and Palestinian factions backed the creation of a transition committee.
France, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden have rejected the invitation to join this Peace Board, while 19 countries signed the charter of the organization, including Argentina, Hungary, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco.
Kushner promised that in “the next hundred days” they will focus on implementing the plan and that “we will announce many of the contributions that will be made in a couple of weeks in Washington.”
