Gaza's Project Sunrise: Cat out of the bag
Gaza's Project Sunrise right from the beginning was to get Gaza free of Palestinians, so that it could be redeveloped as a riviera or a Singapore in the desert, leading on AI and modern tech
The proverbial‘cat’ is indeed‘out of the bag’, after a hiatus of more than two years, following the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The details of the alleged‘Project Sunrise’ was shared by the Wall Street Journal, over the weekend. The proposal is to rebuild the war-torn Gaza into a high-tech, luxurious coastal destination over the next two decades and it has been pitched to possible donorand investor countries.
Apparently, the project, costing $112 billion over the first 10 years, was developed by a team led by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff over the past 45 days, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
Initially, the US would commit to “anchor” the programme by providing $60 billion, while envisioning Gaza being able to self-fund parts of the proposal as it gets underway, according to the report.
The PowerPoint slides running to 32 pages, have been labelled “sensitive but unclassified” and detailing a four-stage vision to clear the rubble, rebuild the Gaza Strip, and take Gazans out of poverty, and has been shown to wealthy Gulf countries, Turkey, and Egypt, the WSJ reported.
Meanwhile, the US State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs on Sunday (21 December) came down heavily on news reports claiming that the US would pay for more than half of the Trump administration's $112 billion plan to rebuild war-torn Gaza.
"This is fake news. Nowhere in the plan does it say the US will pay $60 billion," the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs posted on X, rubbishing the report.
Apparently, earlier this year, Trump floated an idea for the US to take over and rebuild the Gaza Strip to create “the Riviera of the Middle East,” while Palestinian residents were permanently relocated. His announcement in February was rebuked by several countries but was welcomed by Israel’s government. Trump has since walked back the provision for Gazans to be permanently removed.
The plan involves clearing the rubble, unexploded bombs, and Hamas tunnels while temporary shelter and medical centresare to be established for Gazans — though the report doesnot specify exactly where they would live during this reconstruction, according to the WSJ.
Then, the construction of permanent residences, public facilities and infrastructure would begin, the report says.After essential work is completed, the construction of luxury penthouse residences, as part of the “glitzy riviera,” as well as high-tech rail transport, would begin, according to the report.
One of the slides seen by the Journal is titled ‘New Rafah’, with the plan envisioning the city as a ‘seat of governance’ for the Gaza Strip. “They would live in a city with more than 100,000 housing units, 200 or more schools, and more than 75 medical facilities and 180 mosques and cultural centres,” the WSJ reported.
Apparently, the reported plan requires, in bold and in red, that Hamas “demilitarise and decommission all weapons and tunnels,” a demand that Hamas has so far rejected.
Both Israel and the US have insisted that Hamas must disarm before Gaza can be rehabilitated. Trump officials told the Journal that the plan could get underway within two months, if security conditions permit.
The plan has received mixed opinions among US officials, with some sceptical that Hamas will relinquish its weapons, thereby allowing the grand project to be implemented, or even if potential donor nations would fund the proposal, according to the Journal. On the other hand, some other think it is the “most detailed and optimistic” plan yet for Gaza’s potential future, the report says.
The report comes as Witkoff was set to meet on Friday last in Miami with senior Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish officials to discuss phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.The four countries believe that both Israel and Hamas are dragging their feet to avoid implementing the deal’s second phase, and are eager to decide on a joint approach for getting both sides to move forward, according to the report.
Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.
But progress in moving to that phase of the agreement has so far been slow, while the ceasefire remains fragile with both sides alleging violations. Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad in Gaza last weekend, a move that reportedly sparked Trump to warn of jeopardising the truce.So far, Hamas has released all of the hostages, except for the body of police Master Sergeant Ran Gvili.
The Trump administration is now keen to proceed to the difficult second stage, with the provision for Hamas to lay down its weapons being a particular sticking point.The third phase includes the reconstruction of the vast areas of Gaza levelled during the war, which was triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
However, the manner in which the vast stretch of Gaza and other locations in Palestine were destroyed by the Israeli forces over the past two years, in spite of international condemnations, and now as the details of redeveloping the Gaza Strip emerges, it sets one to wonder whether or not the whole charade was aimed at just getting the area cleared of its rightful and lawful owners and perhaps Hamas and its benefactor were also part of this larger plan?
The plan right from the beginning was to get Gaza free of Palestinians, so that it could be redeveloped as a riviera or a Singapore in the desert, leading on AI and modern tech.Sounds rather lofty charity but totally uncalled for.
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