Proposed Gaza reconstruction plan to cost over $112 billion

US envoy, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have proposed turning the Gaza Strip into a high-tech urban metropolis, which would cost over $112 billion to complete, as reported by the Middle East Eye via The Wall Street Journal on December 19th.

This is according to a 32-page PowerPoint presentation seen by The Wall Street Journal, which proposed that 20% of the project would be funded by the US. The project is estimated to take 10 years to complete.

Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, initially suggested only rebuilding areas of Gaza under Israeli occupation in October. Under that plan, reconstruction funds were not to be allocated to areas under Hamas control, likely in an attempt to force Hamas to relinquish power in the enclave.

This is despite a poll finding that around 70% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza objected to Hamas’ disarmament, with many viewing the group’s disarmament as a threat to self-determination, even if their presence led to more Israeli attacks.

Furthermore, the apparent lack of Palestinian representation in the post-war government of Gaza has led critics to describe the American plan for the enclave as a colonial endeavour.

Gaza has been under an Israeli-imposed land, sea and air blockade since 2007, with already dire conditions deteriorating further amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 people since October 2023.

In 2019, it was estimated that over two-thirds of households in Gaza were food insecure, as Israel’s blockade led to shortages of essential resources, such as food supplies and electricity.

Kushner’s involvement in the Middle East is controversial, not least because he advocated for ethnically cleansing Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants to make way for a “very valuable” waterfront property in February 2024.

Middle East Eye via The Wall Street Journal and agencies, Maghrebi.org