US unveils plans for development of ‘New Gaza’ with skyscrapers

The United States has revealed its plans to create a “new Gaza” that would see the devastated Palestinian territories rebuilt from scratch.

Slides showed dozens of skyscrapers stretching along the Mediterranean coast and residential complexes in the Rafah area, while a map showed the phased development of new residential, agricultural and industrial areas for its population of 2.1 million people.

It was presented during a signing ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos for President Donald Trump’s new peace council, charged with ending the two-year-old war between Israel and Hamas and overseeing reconstruction.

“We will have great success in Gaza,” Trump declared. “It will be a wonderful thing to see.”

“I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location. And I said, ‘Look at this location on the sea. Look at this beautiful piece of property. What it could be for a lot of people.”

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who helped broker a ceasefire that took effect in October, said 90,000 tons of munitions had been dropped on Gaza and that there were 60 million tons of rubble to be removed.

“Initially, we were toying with the idea of ​​saying: ‘Let’s build a free zone, and then we will have a Hamas zone.’” “And then we said, ‘You know what, let’s plan for a catastrophic success.'”

“Hamas signed a disarmament agreement, and this is what we will implement. People ask us what our plan B is. We do not have a plan B.”

The US “master plan” map showed an area designated for “coastal tourism”, where there would be 180 towers as well as a number of areas for “residential areas”, “industrial park, data centers and advanced manufacturing” and “parks, agricultural and sports facilities”.

A new seaport and airport will be built near the Egyptian border, and there will be a “triple crossing” where the Egyptian and Israeli borders meet.

The redevelopment process will be divided into four stages, starting in Rafah and then gradually moving north towards Gaza City.

The map also showed an empty strip of land running along the Egyptian and Israeli borders. It seems to be a sign of something Trump’s 20-point peace plan It is referred to as the “security perimeter” where Israeli forces will remain “until Gaza is suitably secure.”

Another slide said that “New Rafah” will include more than 100,000 permanent housing units, 200 educational centers, and 75 medical facilities.

About 280,000 people lived in the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, but it was largely razed to the ground by Israeli strikes and controlled demolitions during the war and is currently located within Israeli-controlled territory.

Kushner said he believes it is “possible” to complete construction of “New Rafah” within two to three years.

“We’ve already started clearing the rubble and doing some demolition. Then New Gaza. It could be a hope, a destination, with a lot of industry.”

He added that there will be a conference in Washington in the coming weeks, where countries’ contributions will be announced and “amazing investment opportunities” for the private sector will be identified.

Last February, Trump sparked outrage around the world when he suggested that Palestinians in Gaza could be permanently transferred to neighboring countries, with the US taking control of the region to turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Kushner also announced that disarmament in Gaza “starts now,” noting that “without security no one will make investments.”

He said that the new technocratic Palestinian government in the Strip, the National Committee for Gaza Administration, “will work with Hamas on disarmament to move the principles agreed upon in the document to the next stage.”

Hamas previously refused to give up its weapons without establishing an independent Palestinian state.

But Trump warned the group, saying: “They have to give up their weapons, and if they don’t, it will be their end.”

Trump also insisted that Hamas hand over the body of the last dead Israeli hostage in Gaza, which Israel said should have happened before the start of the second phase of the peace plan last week.

Under the first phase, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, the exchange of all living and dead Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and increased humanitarian aid shipments.

The ceasefire remains fragile, with at least 477 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids over the past three months, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The Israeli army says that three of its soldiers were killed in attacks launched by armed Palestinian groups.

Five people were killed by Israeli fire across Gaza on Thursday, four of them in artillery shelling in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

Humanitarian conditions also remain poor, with nearly 1 million people lacking adequate shelter and 1.6 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the United Nations.

Hamas issued a statement on Thursday saying it remained committed to the October agreement and accused Israel of seeking to “undermine international efforts aimed at strengthening the ceasefire.”

Speaking in Davos, Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised President Trump’s “efforts and leadership.” But he warned, saying: “The real test must be Hamas’s exit from Gaza.”

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, called for the full implementation of the peace plan, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and giving the Palestinian Authority a central role in managing Gaza.

On the other hand, the head of the National Coordination Committee, Ali Shaath, announced that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt will open next week in both directions. It has been mostly closed since May 2024, when Israeli forces took over the Palestinian side.

He added, “The opening of the Rafah crossing indicates that Gaza is no longer closed to the future and to war.”

The war was sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 71,560 people were killed, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.