Between the lurches about Greenland and the self-praise of all kinds from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, one of his main advisors for the Middle East (his son-in-law Jared Kushner) presented this Thursday – with an enthusiastic tone of investment opportunity – about the rubble of the current one. It is a kind of Dubai or Singapore with numerous tourist skyscrapers off the coast, a “transport hub” with a port and airport, and “a free market economy” with the “same approach” that Trump applies in his country. “There is no plan B,” he said when showing the slides of the “master plan.”
The presentation, overshadowed by all the other fronts that occupy this year’s World Forum, draws the future of a Strip, last October, for its more than two million inhabitants: the Israeli army bombs daily and has killed 16 Palestinians in the last 48 hours, three of them journalists in the middle of coverage. The rescue services have also announced this Thursday the death of a three-month-old baby due to hypothermia, while the Israeli military authorities prevent entry, including caravans and tents.
Kushner – who already at the beginning of the Israeli invasion mentioned in an interview the future real estate value of – has explained that the plan would begin with the construction of more than 100,000 residential units in the “new Rafah” (the destroyed southern city) and would end in the capital, Gaza City.
The next phase, Kushner explained, is the demilitarization of Hamas that includes the ceasefire. It was not like that in the initial plan, but the US and Israel have ended up making it a condition sine qua non to advance in the others. “We are committed to ensuring that Gaza is demilitarized, properly governed and beautifully rebuilt,” said Trump, who promised to work in coordination with the UN. “It will be a great plan.”
The American advisor has limited reconstruction to areas where disarmament is complete, which will mean starting where Israeli troops control and where only a few thousand of the more than two million Gazans live. Kushner has indicated that they intend to promote the delivery of weapons with offers of amnesty or guarantees of safe exit from Gaza.
The day before, the US president threatened Hamas with “its end.” The Islamist movement agrees to cede power to the newly appointed technocratic committee and is open to handing over offensive weapons, but conditions this on a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and refuses to disband for the duration of the Israeli occupation.
The Junta was already supposed to be accompanied by a multinational military force, but it has been disappearing from the speeches, due to lack of candidates. The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, stated this Wednesday in Davos (he came because he is not wanted by international justice): “It is clear that no one wants to enter Gaza and fight, except our army, our sons and daughters.”
For now, the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza and Egypt, will reopen next week in both directions, a commitment postponed by Israel. The head of the Palestinian technocratic committee, Ali Shaath, and the Peace Board’s envoy for Gaza, Nikolay Mladenov, agreed to announce it this Thursday in a video recorded message. The latter has mentioned “an agreement on preparations for the reopening of the crossing” while “logistics for implementation” are “coordinated.” Although the Israeli military authorities (who control the passage) have not confirmed it, the profile and the forum suggest that it differs from previous similar ones that ended in nothing. This Sunday, in fact, at the Council of Ministers meeting, Netanyahu plans to discuss the search for the last hostage body in Gaza and the reopening of the crossing.
These interventions have followed , an initiative that, according to it, can contribute to the resolution of conflicts in the world. The American leader has launched the project surrounded by , among whom was no representative of the most advanced democracies, who view with suspicion an initiative that seems to undermine the prerogatives of the UN, and who are uncomfortable with American foreign policy. Of the EU countries Hungary and Bulgaria participated. Among those attending were the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and the leaders of countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Paraguay. “I like all these people,” the American leader said. “They are great leaders.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, was missing. He will be a member of the Board, but since 2024 an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court has weighed on him as an alleged perpetrator of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza in the invasion that began in October 2023, following the Hamas attack, which has left more than 71,500 dead and the Strip turned into a blanket of rubble. He remembered his empty chair, in the front in the middle.
“It’s ending”
Trump used the event as his usual reminder of his record as a conflict solver, with particular attention to that of Gaza. “It’s ending. We have small fires, which we will put out. They were gigantic, now they are small,” he declared. “We have maintained the ceasefire, delivered record levels of humanitarian aid. You heard terrible stories of malnutrition. Not anymore.”
Last month, the Integrated Phase Classification, the main food security analysis tool in which UN organizations participate, withdrew the famine consideration it had made in August for half a million Gazans, because the increase in food input has improved nutritional levels, but warned that the situation remains “critical”, with 1.6 million people (77% of the population) still in a situation of acute food insecurity.
Gaza is currently divided into 42% of the territory controlled by the Islamist movement and where practically the entire population lives and the remaining 58%: almost deserted and in the hands of the Israeli army, which continues to demolish buildings, despite the ceasefire, and which is prevented from approaching. “At first, we considered the idea of building a free zone and then a Hamas zone,” Kushner admitted, before explaining that the US master plan ultimately covers the entire Strip.
These two parts are in theory a temporary divide, until the first phase is concluded, but Trump announced this month the transition to the second without calling for a new Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has assured that his troops will remain forever in a “large area” of the Strip.
