US President Donald Trump has unveiled a controversial plan to rebuild Gaza, promising coastal tourism, high-rise buildings, industrial zones, and 500,000 new jobs, without consulting Palestinians, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The so-called “Board of Peace”, chaired by Trump and including Jared Kushner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, is set to oversee the reconstruction. Membership requires a $1 billion fee for a permanent seat, and the board’s charter suggests ambitions beyond Gaza, potentially challenging the United Nations.

Trump and Kushner presented a four-phase development blueprint, starting from Rafah in the south to Gaza City in the north, featuring more than 100,000 housing units, 180 skyscrapers along the coastline, a new airport, and industrial zones. The plan claims to create $25 billion in investment and raise Gaza’s GDP to $10 billion by 2035.

The proposal conditions reconstruction on the full disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. A Palestinian National Committee, led by technocrats, is to manage the territory, while cooperating Hamas members may be reintegrated into a new police force.

Critics, including Palestinian civil society leaders, have condemned the plan as “imperialist” and said it marginalises local populations, ignoring property rights, justice for war crimes, and the needs of displaced residents. Gaza, devastated by Israeli bombardments since October 2023, has seen over 80 percent of its infrastructure destroyed, leaving 2.3 million residents displaced and basic services in collapse.

Hamas rejected the plan, stating that Palestinians would not accept it, while Trump described it as a business-like and entrepreneurial approach to reconstruction.

With inputs from ALJAZEERA