President Trump announced that the US will be taking over the Gaza strip after a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump envisions transforming Gaza into an international economic hub for the Middle East. “He sees a different future for that piece of land,” Netanyahu said. “I envision the world people living there, the world’s people. You’ll make that into an international unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza strip is unbelievable,” and it could be “the riviera of the Middle East,” Trump said.
As for the nearly 2 million inhabitants, well, they have been asked to leave. Gaza is not a place for people to be living. The only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is they have no alternative. What’s the alternative? Go where? If they had an alternative, they’d much rather not go back to Gaza and live in a beautiful alternative that’s safe,” he said. Arab nations have already stated that they will not accept Palestinians, but Trump said he plans to open negotiations with the likes of Egypt, Jordan, and other nearby nations.
Discussions of redeveloping Gaza began long before the war. Trump is a notorious real estate mogul. He discussed plans for redeveloping portions of Palestine in his 2020 peace plan, backed by his Jewish son-in-law and real estate developer Jared Kushner.
Real estate developers have been eyeing Gaza and have proposed numerous construction projects for Gaza. Harey Zahav, an Israeli real estate firm, created blueprints for luxury settlements along the West Bank. The company envisions beachfront homes build upon demolished land. Some say that the company was trolling but there indeed are now plans to turn this strip of land into the next Dubai. “You build really good quality housing, like a beautiful town, like some place where they can live and not die, because Gaza is a guarantee that they’re going to end up dying,” Trump told reporters.
“We consider it a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the press. “Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the occupation and aggression against our people, not expel them from their land.” A senior Palestinian official wrote to Senator of State Marco Rubio, pleasing that his people do not want to leave their land. Rather, the people want to “live in their land and help rebuild it.”
As the Panama Canal has recently come under fire, let us not forget the Ben Gurion Canal Project. The US and Israel have been discussing plans to build a canal to rival the Suez Canal for over 50 years. The West can no longer count on the Suez Canal controlled by Egypt as tensions continue to rise with Egypt supporting Russia in its war. Yet, 20% of ALL world trade moved through the canal. The Ben Gurion Canal Project, as indicated by the declassified documents, would create an Israeli Canal to rival the Suez.
The document notes that 130 of the 160 miles dedicated to the canal are “virtually unpopulated desert wasteland,” but the primary issue would be relocating those from the Gaza Strip. “Another problem which has not been considered is that of political feasibility, as it is likely that the Arab countries surrounding Israel would object strongly to the construction of such a canal,” the declassified papers show. So, US intelligence has been looking to claim Gaza for some time now. It certainly did not begin with Trump.
Gaza must be annexed before it can be redeveloped. Trump foresees the US in a “long-term ownership position.” Hours earlier, Trump warned that Iran will be obliterated if it attempts to assassinate him. Saudi Arabia came out and said it will not establish relations with Israel without the presence of a Palestinian state. There is bipartisan distaste in the US for sending American troops back to the Middle East. No nation in the Middle East, aside from Israel, wants to see American presence in the region and there is no way that the US can simply walk in and take over a foreign land without bloodshed.
