The White House is reportedly considering a plan to pay Palestinians $5,000 to relocate for 10 years while the Gaza Strip is transformed into the “Riviera of the Middle East” envisioned by President Trump.
The Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (GREAT) proposal would establish a trusteeship for control of the 25-mile-long strip of land that would be administered by the US for at least 10 years, while reconstruction – financed by billions of dollars in public and private-sector investments – takes place, according to the Washington Post.
Gaza’s entire 2 million population would need to be temporarily relocated for the project to take shape. The plan relies on “voluntary” departures from Gazans, either to another country or secured zones within the strip.
To encourage relocation, Palestinians opting to leave would receive $5,000 cash, four years of free rent elsewhere, and a year’s supply of food.
The trust would also offer digital tokens to Gazan land owners – good for a 1,800-square-foot apartment in one of six-to-eight new “AI-powered, smart cities” the trust plans to build from the ground up – in exchange for handing over their property rights.
The plan values each new apartment at $75,000, and the trust would save $23,000 for each departure from Gaza, compared with the cost of providing temporary shelter and “life support” services inside the enclave for those who refuse to leave, according to financial estimates included in the plan.
The first steps of reconstruction, as outlined in the document, would involve clearing mountains of debris, removing unexploded ordinances and rebuilding Gaza’s utilities and electrical grid.
Planners tout that 30% of land in Gaza is already “publicly” owned, and would immediately belong to the trust and serve as collateral for initial costs.
“Mega-projects,” including new highways, ports, airports, desalination plants and solar arrays would be funded by investors.
A new perimeter road around Gaza, dubbed “MBS Highway,” is touted in the prospectus, which suggests if the plan moves forward, the trust would seek substantial investments from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. There is no indication that Saudi Arabia would support such an effort.
Under the proposal, the center of the enclave would serve as Gaza’s residential area for returning residents – complete with new apartment buildings, business districts, schools and hospitals, mixed in with “green areas, including agricultural land, parks and golf courses.”
The east side of the strip, along the border with Israel, would be Gaza’s industrial zone, and lined with electric vehicle manufacturing plants and data centers.
The territory’s Mediterranean Sea coast is labeled “Gaza Trump Riviera,” and would include “world-class resorts” and possibly artificial islands, like the ones in Dubai.
A fourfold return on $100 billion in investment is projected after 10 years, as well as ongoing “self-generating” revenue streams.
The plan purports to require no direct US government funding and “does not rely on donations.”
The US would have “Administrative Authorities and Responsibilities in Gaza to the GREAT Trust under a US-Israel bilateral agreement,” according to the plan, which sees the trust evolving into a “multi-lateral institution” as foreign states up their investments.
Israel would have “overarching rights to meet its security needs” during the first year of the plan, and internal security would be handled by unspecified third-country nationals and private military contractors.
“Local police” would eventually take over routine security.
The plan calls for the trust to govern Gaza “until a reformed and deradicalized Palestinian Polity is ready to step in its shoes.”
The White House did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
