The United States announces the “New Gaza” plan for the full redevelopment of the Palestinian refugee homeland
The United States presented the “New Gaza” plan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, aimed at rebuilding the severely damaged Palestinian territory entirely from scratch, according to statements by U.S. officials.
The presentation included dozens of high-rise residential buildings along the Mediterranean coast and housing developments in the Rafah area, along with a map showing successive phases for developing new residential, professional, and investment areas for the more than two million people living in the Strip.
The plan was presented during the signing ceremony of President Donald Trump’s new peace committee, which is focused on ending the two-year war between Israel and Hezbollah and overseeing the subsequent reconstruction.
“We will be extremely successful in Gaza. This will be something beautiful to look at,” Trump promised.
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The United States’ “New Gaza” plan was announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He said that he is “a leading figure in real estate, and this is about prime locations. And I was saying: ‘Look at this seaside location. Look at this beautiful property. What it could be for so many people.’”
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who helped mediate the ceasefire that began in October, said that 90,000 tons of munitions were dropped on Gaza and that there are 60 million tons of rubble to be removed.
“At first, we were playing with the idea of saying, ‘We’ll study creating a free entertainment zone, and then we’ll get a Hamas zone.’ Then we said, ‘You know what, let’s just plan for catastrophic success.’”
“Hamas signed an agreement to prevent its rearmament, and that is what we will enforce. People ask us whether we have a backup plan. We do not have a backup plan.”
He pointed to a map of the Egyptian master plan for reconstruction, which showed an area designated for coastal tourism, where there would be 180 high-rise buildings, in addition to several areas for “residential zones,” an “industrial complex, data centers, advanced manufacturing,” as well as “parks, agriculture, and sports fields.”
A new port and air bridge will be built near the Egyptian border, and there will be a “trilateral crossing” where the Egyptian and Israeli borders meet.
The reconstruction will be divided into four phases, beginning in Rafah and then gradually moving north toward Gaza City.
The map also shows an empty land strip extending along the Egyptian and Israeli borders. It appears to refer to a new peace plan related to a “security zone” in which Israeli forces will remain “until Gaza is sufficiently secure.”
Reuters
China says that 81% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
Another slide indicated that “New Gaza” will include more than 100,000 permanent housing units, 200 educational centers, and 75 medical facilities.
About 280,000 people live in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, but it has been heavily dismantled by Israeli strikes.
