Leaked Trump Plan for Gaza: High-Tech ‘Riviera’ Vision and Depopulation Debate

A confidential document from the Trump administration details an ambitious plan to transform a significantly depopulated Gaza Strip into a high-tech “Riviera of the Middle East.” This vision includes an influx of private investment, fostering advanced “smart cities” powered by artificial intelligence.

The 38-page prospectus for a proposed Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration, and Transformation (GREAT) Trust was recently obtained by The Washington Post. It outlines a future where Gaza evolves into a Mediterranean hub for manufacturing, trade, data, and tourism, leveraging its strategic location and a young workforce, supported by Israeli technology and investments from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.

Origin and Controversy of the GREAT Trust

The GREAT Trust proposal was reportedly drafted by some of the same Israeli individuals associated with the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF’s aid distribution points in Gaza have been linked to incidents where thousands of aid-seeking Palestinians were killed or injured. Financial modeling for the Trust plan was initially conducted by a team from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a firm also instrumental in creating GHF. BCG has since stated they did not approve the work on the Trust plan, and two senior partners involved were subsequently terminated.

The blueprint envisions a US-led multilateral custodianship of Gaza, potentially lasting a decade or more. This period would precede a “reformed Palestinian self-governance” once the territory is “demilitarised and de-radicalised.”

“New Form of Colonialism”

Critics are already vocal. Josh Paul, a former US State Department official who resigned in 2023 over the Biden administration’s arms sales to Israel, described Trump’s Gaza plan as “essentially a new form of colonialism, a transition from Israeli colonialism to corporate colonialism,” during a recent interview on Democracy Now!.

The GREAT Trust presents two distinct proposals for Gaza’s more than two million Palestinian residents. One option suggests that approximately 75 percent of the population would remain in Gaza during its transformation. The second, more controversial, proposal involves up to 500,000 Gazans relocating to third countries, with 75 percent of these moves intended to be permanent. While the prospectus doesn’t specify the exact number of Palestinians expected to leave under this option, those choosing permanent relocation to unspecified countries would receive US$5,000, along with four years of subsidized rent and one year of subsidized food.

The plan allocates US$6 billion for temporary housing for Palestinians who stay in Gaza and US$5 billion for those who relocate.

Projected Profits and Megaprojects

The proposal forecasts significant financial gains for investors, projecting nearly quadruple the return on investment and annual revenues of US$4.5 billion within a decade. Numerous global corporations are identified as potential beneficiaries, ranging from construction giants like Saudi bin Laden Group and infrastructure specialists such as IKEA, to security firms like Academi (formerly Blackwater), and US military contractor CACI (previously implicated in the torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib). Tech and hospitality sectors are also included, with mentions of Tesla, Amazon, Mandarin Oriental, and IHG Hotels and Resorts.

Central to this ambitious vision are ten “megaprojects.” These include half a dozen “smart cities,” a regional logistics hub slated for construction over the ruins of Rafah, and a central highway named after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf states are prominently featured as key investors. Other proposed developments include large-scale solar and desalinization plants, a US data safe haven, an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone,” and “Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands,” reminiscent of Dubai’s iconic Palm Islands.

Beyond massive financial gains for private US investors, the GREAT Trust also lists strategic benefits for the United States, aiming to “strengthen” its “hold in the east Mediterranean” and secure US industry access to an estimated US$1.3 trillion in rare-earth minerals from the Gulf region.

“Voluntary Emigration” and Palestinian Resolve

Earlier this year, Donald Trump publicly stated that the U.S. would “take over” Gaza, with American real estate developers “levelling it out” to build the “Riviera of the Middle East” after all Palestinians leave. He had called for the “voluntary” transfer of Gazans to Egypt and Jordan, plans vehemently rejected by both nations’ leaders.

“Voluntary emigration” is widely considered a euphemism for ethnic cleansing, especially given the historical context and the strong ties Palestinians have to their homeland. A May survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research indicated that nearly half of Gazans would consider applying for Israeli assistance to relocate. However, many Gazans remain steadfast in their refusal to leave the Strip, where the majority are descendants or survivors of the Nakba, the 1948 ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians during Israel’s creation.

“I’m staying in a partially destroyed house in Khan Younis now,” one Gazan man told the Post. “But we could renovate. I refuse to be made to go to another country, Muslim or not. This is my homeland.”

Conflicting Visions for Gaza

The Post’s report follows a recent White House meeting where Trump, senior administration officials, and guests including former British prime minister Tony Blair, investor Jared Kushner, and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer discussed Gaza’s future. While Dermer reportedly asserted that Israel does not seek permanent occupation, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have voiced intentions to conquer and maintain control over significant portions of the Strip. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently declared, “We conquer, cleanse, and stay until Hamas is destroyed. On the way, we annihilate everything that still remains.”

Further underscoring these intentions, the Israel Knesset recently hosted a conference titled “The Gaza Riviera – from vision to reality,” where participants openly discussed the occupation and ethnic cleansing of the Strip.