By James Mackenzie

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of a Gaza Strip cleared of its Palestinian inhabitants and redeveloped into an international beach resort under U.S. control has revived an idea floated by his son-in-law Jared Kushner a year ago.

The idea, outlined by Trump in a press conference on Tuesday, has drawn shocked reactions from both Palestinians and Western critics who say it would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing and illegal under international law.

However, it was not the first time Trump has spoken of Gaza in terms of real estate investment opportunities. In October last year, he told a radio interviewer Gaza could be “better than Monaco” if rebuilt in the right way.

The idea of a radical redevelopment of Gaza was aired soon after Israel began its campaign in the narrow coastal enclave following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, most prominently by Kushner, who as special Middle East envoy in Trump’s first term helped drive the “Abraham Accords” normalizing relations between Israel and a number of Arab countries.

“Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable if people would focus on building up livelihoods,” Kushner, who once described the entire Arab-Israeli conflict as “nothing more than a real-estate dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.” He said this at an event at Harvard in February 2024.

Kushner added, “It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.” Kushner was himself a property developer in New York prior to Trump’s first term.

A spokesperson for Kushner did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Doubts arose about how literally Trump’s proposal should be understood, given his reputation as a freewheeling dealmaker known for unsettling negotiators with unexpected attacks. A source close to the Saudi royal court remarked, “Saudi Arabia will not take this statement very seriously. It has not been thought through and is impossible to implement, so he will eventually realize that.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry rejected any attempt to displace the Palestinians from their land. Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas also condemned the remarks.

Reuters could not establish whether Kushner, whose private equity firm has taken investments from Gulf countries, including $2 billion from Saudi Arabia, has engaged in any discussions in the region about Gaza investment.

For Palestinians, the idea of Gaza as a waterfront resort echoes the “Nakba” or catastrophe after the 1948 war, when 700,000 fled or were forced from their homes.

Early on in the war, internet memes showing mocked-up images of beachside condominiums along the Gaza shoreline circulated on social media, often shared by pro-Israel supporters. Health officials reported that 47,000 people have died during Israel’s retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Israeli politicians have often reproached Palestinian leaders for focusing on fighting Israel instead of developing a new Dubai or Singapore in areas like Gaza, which has been under blockade for two decades, severely limiting finance and resources.

In previous years, the coastal enclave was a popular destination for Israeli tourists. Even after Hamas took over in 2007, Gaza had beachside restaurants and cafes.

However, the practicalities of realizing Trump’s dream of creating “The Riviera of the Middle East” in Gaza, which is under Hamas control and facing backlash, remain unclear.

Land ownership in Gaza involves a complex mix of regulations from Ottoman, British Mandate, and Jordanian laws as well as clan practices, complicating land transactions for foreigners, which are heavily restricted.

Currently, after 15 months of bombardment, Gaza is described as a “demolition site” in Trump’s words, requiring an estimated 10-15 years for reconstruction. According to his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, costs may reach as high as $100 billion.

Gulf countries, seen as potential investors for rebuilding Gaza, have firmly declined to finance any projects until a pathway to an independent Palestinian state is established. Analysts suggest uncertainties currently outweigh potential benefits for investors. Many of Israel’s largest construction companies have also refrained from commenting.

“Large-scale redevelopment in post-conflict areas generally requires significant investment, stability, and long-term planning, but assessing concrete prospects right now is impossible,” remarked Raz Domb, an analyst at Leader Capital Markets in Tel Aviv.

SETTLEMENTS

One group that reacted enthusiastically is Israel’s settler movement, which has long fantasized about resettling in Gaza, areas abandoned two decades ago under former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Trump’s administration includes several officials affiliated with the settler movement, and although Trump stated he didn’t see Jewish settlements being rebuilt in Gaza, his comments were embraced swiftly. Settler groups claim their motivations for returning to Gaza stem from Biblical connections, yet currently, the emphasis lies on relocating Palestinians.

Last year, the Nachala Movement, which promotes Jewish settlement in the West Bank, organized a conference near the Gaza Strip titled “Preparing to Resettle Gaza,” where politicians discussed plans to “encourage emigration” of Palestinians and to rebuild settlements.

“Assuming Trump’s comments about transferring Gazans to other countries are translated into practice, we must hurry and establish settlements throughout the Gaza Strip,” stated the group on social media platform X. “No part of the land of Israel should be left without Jewish settlement.”