WASHINGTON — A year into the Gaza war, the question of “what comes after” has moved from the battlefield into the corridors of global politics. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has once again inserted himself into the conversation, floating visions for Gaza’s future that blur the lines between redevelopment, displacement, and raw power projection.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed on Tuesday that a White House meeting will be dedicated to post-war Gaza planning. He described it as “comprehensive,” though gave no substantive details. What is clear, however, is that the project is intended to be more than humanitarian relief—it’s an attempt at reshaping Gaza’s identity altogether.
Earlier this year, Trump stunned allies and critics alike by proposing that the U.S. clear Gaza’s ruins and transform it into a glittering stretch of coastal real estate. His phrasing—“the Riviera of the Middle East”—framed Gaza not as a contested homeland but as prime oceanfront land waiting to be unlocked.
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the suggestion played well. For European and Arab leaders, it echoed the worst fears: that Gaza’s population of two million could be erased from the equation while its soil becomes another bargaining chip in global development schemes.
The numbers remain grim. The October 2023 Hamas attack killed over 1,200 Israelis. Israel’s response has since left more than 62,000 Palestinians dead, according to figures accepted by the United Nations. Against that backdrop, talk of luxury beaches and property development feels less like strategy and more like spectacle.
Witkoff insists the plan will prove “robust” and “well meaning.” Yet critics argue that any framework built on removal rather than reconciliation risks deepening the fault lines that sparked the war in the first place.
Trump’s Gaza vision, then, is not just about reconstruction—it is about ownership: of land, of narrative, and of the future itself.
