The plan includes placing the sector under American guardianship for no less than ten years, turning it into what has been dubbed the “Riviera of the Middle East.” According to the plan, every Palestinian landowner will receive a “digital code” issued by a special fund for economic reconstitution. This code can later be exchanged for an apartment in one of the six to eight AI-supported smart cities planned to be built in the sector or used to fund a new life abroad. Calculations in the document indicate that each individual departure would reduce costs for the fund by about $23,000 compared to the costs of keeping individuals in protected areas with life support services provided.
The initiative is named the “GREAT Trust” (Fund for Reconstitution, Acceleration, and Economic Transformation), crafted by a group of Israelis who previously established the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” with American and Israeli support to distribute food aid in the sector. The “Boston Consulting Group” also participated in the project’s financial planning. However, the consulting company confirmed that the work on the plan was not officially endorsed, noting that two senior partners overseeing the financial modeling were later dismissed.
The plan seeks to embody Trump’s vision of turning Gaza into a thriving economic hub, moving away from reliance on donations as seen in previous initiatives like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. It relies on public and private investments in massive projects, including electric car factories, data centers, coastal resorts, and residential towers. Economic calculations predict that an investment of $100 billion could yield returns of up to four times over a decade.
The plan raises questions about its feasibility amid Gaza’s complex humanitarian situation, as well as the political and ethical challenges associated with offering financial compensation to encourage residents to leave. The fate of this plan remains contingent on developments in the region and the extent of its acceptance by the concerned parties.
The war continues in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. Despite Arab and international mediation attempts and opposition voices within Israel, Netanyahu’s government insists on continuing the fight, recently announcing approval of a plan to control the city of Gaza. International warnings indicate that this plan would lead to a humanitarian disaster, increasing the suffering of the sector’s residents, with the war having killed about 60,000 people and injured approximately 163,000 others.
