‘Imperial’ agenda: What’s Trump’s Gaza development plan, unveiled in Davos?

EXPLAINERThe plan promises coastal tourism, free trade, skyscrapers and jobs. But the people of Gaza have not been consulted.US President Donald Trump holds the signed Charter of the Board of Peace, at the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026 [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]Published On 23 Jan 2026Glittering towers lining the Mediterranean coastline, a “New Gaza” and “New Rafah” in the offing, with more than 100,000 housing units alongside orderly industrial parks – and even a new airport.All without consultation with the people this development is supposed to benefit.This is the skeleton of a “masterplan” for post-war Gaza, presented by Jared Kushner, United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a real estate developer, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week.“There is no Plan B,” said Kushner, as he unveiled the ambitious plan.Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians – with thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble – in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the day Hamas launched an attack on villages and army outposts in southern Israel and Israel began its bombardment. More than 470 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire was announced by Trump on October 10 last year.Presented as a plan to rebuild the Palestinian territory, the Trump administration’s proposal this week, however, offers no insight into core issues such as property and land rights — let alone justice for war crimes — amid plans to construct shimmering buildings atop an estimated 68 million tonnes of rubble and war debris, where thousands of bodies remain buried.Praising the redevelopment plan, Trump, who also spoke at length at the forum in Davos, argued that the war in Gaza “was really coming to an end”, even as Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians, including two children and three journalists, in separate strikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday.“I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location,” Trump said about the development plan. “And I said, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property, what it could be for so many people.”Experts have strongly criticised the “imperialist” vision of Trump’s so-called master plan, which they say does not include any consultation with Palestinians and reduces the ongoing catastrophic genocide to an “investment opportunity”.Trump’s proposal reeks of “imperial plans for Gaza,” Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa wrote in a post on X. “This is a plan to erase Gaza’s indigenous character, turn what remains of her people into a cheap labor force to manage their ‘industrial zones’ and create an exclusive coastline for ‘tourism’.”During more than two years of bombardment on Gaza from October 2023, Israel, which is diplomatically supported and armed by the US, destroyed or damaged more than 80 percent of the Strip’s buildings, with residential blocks completely flattened.All major hospitals and universities, and most of the Strip’s electricity and water systems, roads and municipal services have been destroyed.Nearly all the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, many of them multiple times. People face hours-long queues for basic food and water, and aid into the territory has been restricted by Israel, which controls everything that goes in and out.So, what’s in the Gaza reconstruction plan, part of Trump’s launch of a “Board of Peace”; could it be realised — and at what cost, especially for the people of Gaza?US businessman Jared Kushner speaks at the ‘Board of Peace’ meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026 [Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]What’s the Board of Peace?In Davos on Thursday, Trump formally announced the charter for his “Board of Peace”, which he has pitched as the next phase of his administration’s 20-point peace plan and a mechanism to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. Membership on the board has a three-year cycle. Those seeking a permanent seat must pay $1bn.But the 11-page charter for the Board of Peace does not mention Gaza and appears to have morphed into something far more ambitious – an international disputes forum and a potential rival to the United Nations.The executive board so far includes former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kushner, with Trump as the chairman himself with veto power. It also includes Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though he faces an arrest warrant from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for war crimes in Gaza.At least 50 countries’ leaders have confirmed that they have received invitations, including US adversaries China and Russia — and several have agreed to join. However, Trump withdrew Canada’s invitation ‍on Thursday, in what appeared to be a retaliatory move following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum, in which he denounced Trump’s aggressive stance over Greenland.Speaking at the forum, Trump said the board was going to be “very successful in Gaza” and “we can spread out to other things as we succeed with Gaza”.Kushner then outlined details about the board’s development plans for Gaza without mentioning plans for a path to Palestinian statehood.Hamas, which currently governs Gaza, condemned the proposal, saying: “Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass.”Jared Kushner speaks as a ‘Gaza Timeline’ is displayed on a giant screen at the ‘Board of Peace’ meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026 [Mandel Ngan/AFP]What’s in the Gaza plan?Trump’s development plan includes projections to raise Gaza’s gross domestic product (GDP) to $10bn by 2035, after the size of the territory’s economy crashed to just $362m by 2024 amid the war; 500,000 new jobs; and at least $25bn in investment for modern utilities and public services.Kushner did not specify who would fund the redevelopment. “As you guys know, peace is a different deal than a business deal, because you’re changing a mindset,” he said, calling the Gaza peace efforts “very entrepreneurial”.However, he also focused on security. “[The] number one thing is going to be security,” Kushner said. “Without security, nobody’s going to make investments, nobody’s gonna come build there. We need investments in order to start giving jobs,” Kusher said.He added that the US is working “very closely with the Israelis to figure out a way to de-escalation, and the next phase is working with Hamas on demilitarisation”.There is no evidence that Palestinians or their leadership have been consulted over any of these plans. Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza, said Palestinian civil society and official bodies were not included in discussions with the Board of Peace.“We were surprised, as Palestinian actors on the ground, after 10 years of work, and especially the last two years of work in Gaza, that no one consulted us about the plans for Gaza and its future,” he said.“At the time these leaders are holding ceremonies, Israel is using this period to continue its actions in Gaza.”Here are some of the highlights of Trump’s redevelopment plan:Four phases of developmentPresenting a four-phase development timeline beginning in Rafah, southern Gaza, and then moving its way north, Kushner displayed colour-coded maps showing coastal tourism zones, mixed-use towers, and residential and industrial areas, as he unveiled the plan in Davos.Phase one of Trump’s plan for rebuilding is set to start in Rafah, Gaza’s southern-most city, and some parts of Khan Younis. Phase two will include other parts of Khan Younis, while phase three aims to develop refugee camps in central Gaza. Phase four will cover Gaza City, which is in the north of the territory.