In the picture
Footage of AI-created video of Trump's 'vision' for Gaza.
Since the beginning of 2025, a cease-fire in Gaza has appeared to be near on several occasions and with it the possibility of a tentative end to the conflict. The prospect of a cessation of hostilities has given way to proposals on the future of the Strip. The most striking was the one launched in February by Trump to turn the area into a tourist resort in the style of his Florida Mar-a-Lago. But the idea entailed the expulsion of millions of Gazans and that is something that the surrounding Arab countries, who are the ones who should take on this population, can hardly consent to. To save the status, since March Egypt has been leading an alternative plan for the reconstruction of the Strip with international financial aid . But Israel has other ideas, and is now promoting the displacement of almost two million Palestinians to the Rafah area , supposedly taking direct control of the rest of the Strip.
As of January 19, 2025, the war seemed to have entered a more attenuated phase of violence thanks to the cease-fireagreement between Hamas and Israel brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, which envisaged several phases, the first of which required the parties to exchange hostages for prisoners. Not without difficulty, the cessation of hostilities achieved the exchange of 33 hostages for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. However, the conflict escalated again on March 18 when Israel launched a series of air and artillery strikes on Gaza after Hamas refused to release more hostages. The Palestinian militia responded by firing rockets into Israeli territory, in an effort joined by the Houthis from Yemen. Following the new upsurge in hostilities, Israel threatened to annex parts of Gaza, while Hamas later rejected a new proposal attempted by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
Donald Trump took advantage of the press conference with Netanyahu on February 4 at the White House to unveil his master plan for Gaza. The plan was to rebuild the Gaza Strip into a tourist resort. Regardless of its feasibility, the plan had the serious drawback of involving the displacement to Egypt and Jordan of more than 2.3 million Palestinians currently living in the territory.
Although Trump initially stated that US troops would be needed and that the displacement of civilians would be permanent, in response to the alarm generated by the advertisement , members of the US Administration corrected the statement, indicating that the movement of people would be temporary and that there would be no need to send military units to the Strip.
The Gazan 'Riviera
In Trump's imagination, the Gaza Strip would become what he himself defined as the "Riviera of the Middle East". The idea, not entirely new, as it was already held by some of Netanyahu's advisors, was now enhanced. The plan shared by both leaders was that of a modern tourist city, which was initially baptized "Gaza 2035". The real estate-political proposal aspired to a prosperous future in which the population could shed its dependence on Hamas, and involved a waterfront with modern architecture, beaches and high profitability, enhanced by the finding major natural gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The reconstruction project would be divided into three phases: in the first, called "humanitarianfinancial aid ", Israel would establish safe areas under Hamas control, while an Arab coalition would provide the necessary humanitarian financial aid . In the second, the Arab coalition would carry out the financial control and supervision of the project through an organization to be called the "Gaza Rehabilitation Authority". Finally, in the third phase, "Self-Government", the government and authority over the territory would be transferred to the Palestinian government (with the West Bank).
President Trump shared his vision of the plan on his Truth Social network and Instagram in early March through an AI-generated video. The highly controversial video showed images such as a large golden statue of Trump, a hotel with his name on it and characters such as Elon Musk or Netanyahu enjoying luxury and gastronomy, all set to a musical background in line with the video.
Trump's new plan set alarm bells ringing in most of the international community, although it was also applauded by Netanyahu and a nationalist section of the Israeli right wing. Netanyahu expressed his support for the idea on numerous occasions, referring to it as the first new idea to be floated in years, and going so far as to claim that soldiers would not be needed because many Gazans would leave voluntarily.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, the spokesman for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), responded to the plan by stressing that the Gaza Strip is not an investment project . Hamas also expressed its refusal through Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior position in the movement, who called the plan racist and intended to "liquidate" the Palestinian cause.
In this line, Israeli Yoval Abraham and Palestinian Basel Adra joined forces to create the documentary 'No Other Land', which advocates peaceful coexistence and denounces the destruction of war. The documentary, released in February, was awarded an Oscar. Upon receiving it, Abraham shared his dissatisfaction with the proposal , stating that " we need a political solution without ethnic supremacy".
Trump's initiative was rejected by a large part of the international community. The NGO Human Rights Watch referred to the proposal as a case of "ethnic cleansing". Egypt and Jordan expressed their firm refusal to welcome Palestinian refugees in their countries, despite their good relations with the United States and Israel. Ahmad Safadim, Jordanian Foreign Minister declared that "Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians". For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Atti said that "deporting or encouraging the transfer or removal of Palestinians from their land" is a violation of international law. The Arab countries see it as a new "Nakba" (catastrophe in Arabic), recalling that of 1948.
In Madrid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, rejected the statements of the Israeli Minister of Defense, who said that countries such as Spain which have recognized Palestine should take in the displaced Gazans. Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom were also opposed to the measure.
The EU has not accepted the proposal either. The European Commission announced that it would support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in case Trump consummated his advertisement to withdraw financial aid to the agency. Von der Leyen pointed out that the International Criminal Court (ICC), would condemn international crimes and give a voice to victims around the world. In response, Trump signed an executive order imposing economic sanctions and visa restrictions on the ICC for illegitimate and unfounded actions against the United States and Israel on individuals who collaborate in the Court's research .
Arab counterproposal and Israel's claims
At a first informalmeeting in Riyadh on February 21, the authorities of six Persian Gulf countries met together with those of Jordan and Egypt. The Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, introduced a reconstruction plan that would be carried out without displacing civilians and could take between 3 and 5 years. He explained that it would consist of three phases in which, first, the rubble would be cleared and areas would be prepared for the displaced; then, an international lecture would be organized to discuss the topic reconstruction and, finally, " a political process would be relaunched with a view to a two-state solution". According to an Arab diplomat, "the biggest challenge of the Egyptian plan is its financing".
On March 4, an extraordinary summit of the Arab League took place in Cairo, where Egypt's plan was adopted, establishing a timeframe of more than 5 years for its development and a budget of 53 billion dollars. The plan would begin with an early recovery phase (6 months) in which the rubble would be cleared and temporary shelters built in seven areas; then, over the following two years, 60,000 homes would be restored and rehabilitated and, in a second phase (2.5 years), the infrastructures would be put into operation.
The plan was supported by the United Nations, the EU and the African Union. Hamas embraced the alternative and the creation of a committee to oversee the project. A meeting of Arab leaders on May 17 in Baghdad called on regional and international institutions and all countries to support the plan. In particular, the creation of an Arab solidarity fund for the reconstruction of Gaza and Lebanon was discussed.
However, Israel has still not clearly uncovered its cards and clarified the final design it intends for the Strip. The latest statement by its defense minister points to a forced concentration of some two million Gazans in a small enclave around Rafa, on the border with Egypt, presumably taking direct Israeli control of the rest of the territory.