The US would take over the Gaza Strip and run it for at least 10 years under a reconstruction and investment proposal that has circulated within the Trump administration, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
The plan, drawn up by some of the same Israelis who developed the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is distributing aid in the Palestinian enclave, proposes the displacement of Gaza’s entire population, either outside the territory or to restricted zones inside the strip during reconstruction.
It comes after President Donald Trump in February said he wants the US to take over Gaza and establish an “ownership position” over the territory. On Wednesday, Mr Trump hosted the former UK prime minister Tony Blair and former Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, at the White House, to discuss a “very comprehensive plan” for Gaza.
The Post’s report follows a story in the Financial Times in July that also outlines the proposal, titled the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (Great) Trust. The FT said the Tony Blair Institute had some limited participation in the project, with two members of staff joining calls and message groups concerning the plan.
The US State Department did not immediately comment and it is not known to what extent the Great Trust proposal featured in Wednesday’s White House talks. Mr Trump has previously called for new ideas to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and there are questions over what will happen to the Gaza Strip, its buildings and infrastructure mostly reduced to rubble, when the war eventually ends.
In February, Mr Trump outlined his vision for the enclave, which he said could become the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
“We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” Mr Trump said. “And we will do a good job with it, too.”
The 38-page project proposal shared by The Post envisions a completely reconstructed Gaza with the native population reduced by “voluntary” departures. It imagines Gaza as a global investment centre and a magnet for US electric car companies and regional data centres.
Palestinians with land would be offered a digital token that could be used to finance a life outside of the Gaza Strip or else eventually redeemed for an apartment in a newly developed building.
The proposal calls for the redevelopment of the coast into the “Gaza Trump Riviera”, which would include resorts and potentially even artificial islands like those developed off Dubai. The proposal makes no mention of Palestinian statehood but says the governing entity would join the Abraham Accords.
The project would, it is claimed, create up to a million jobs and involve skyscrapers built in six to eight “dynamic, modern and AI-powered smart planned cities”.
At least 63,459 people have been killed and 160,256 injured in Gaza since the war began after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 22, 2023 killed about 1,200 people.
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Key findings of Jenkins report
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, “accepted the political utility of violence”
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: “The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism.”
ENGLAND SQUAD
For first two Test in India Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson , Dom Bess, Stuart Broad , Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes. Reserves James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Kandahar%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pocketsMore from Rashmee Roshan Lall’Falling%20for%20Christmas’
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
How to wear a kandura
Dos
Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Zayed Sustainability PrizeThe specs
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Killing of Qassem SuleimaniHIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
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The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
Read more about the coronavirusWest Indies v India – Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
BMW M5 specs
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