Those acquainted with the initiative in both Washington and Israel likened it to the US trusteeships of Pacific islands following World War II, and to the postwar governance and economic functions performed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Japan and Secretary of State George C. Marshall in Germany.
As detailed in the trust document, Israel would transfer “Administrative Authorities and Responsibilities in Gaza to the GREAT Trust under a US-Israel bilateral agreement” which would “evolve” into a formal trusteeship. The outline projects eventual investments from “Arab and other countries” that would transform the arrangement into a “multi-lateral institution.” Trump administration officials have brushed off the insistence of Arab governments, especially in the Persian Gulf, that they will only back a postwar plan that leads to Palestinian statehood, viewing it as mere public posturing.
Israel would retain “overarching rights to meet its security needs” throughout the first year of the plan, while the vast majority of internal security would be handled by unspecified “TCN” (third-country nationals) and “Western” private military contractors. Their involvement would diminish progressively over a decade as trained “local police” assume control.
The trust would govern Gaza for a multiyear period that it projects will last 10 years, “until a reformed and deradicalized Palestinian Polity is ready to step in its shoes.”
The document contains no mention of eventual Palestinian statehood. The unspecified Palestinian governing body, it states, “will join the Abraham Accords,” which was President Trump’s first-term negotiation that resulted in the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and four Arab nations. Trump has indicated he plans to broaden that accomplishment before his term ends.
The plan discusses Gaza’s location “at the crossroads” of what will become a “pro-American” region, giving the United States access to energy resources and critical minerals, and serving as a logistics hub for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that was first announced during the Biden administration but derailed by the Israel-Gaza war.