Are they planning to build a tourist attraction in Gaza
Executive summary
Yes — senior US officials and private actors have publicly pitched a plan to rebuild Gaza as a coastal economic and tourism hub featuring high‑rise “mixed‑use” towers and new cities, and Gulf actors including the UAE are reported to be financing planned communities in southern Gaza; the vision was unveiled in Davos by Jared Kushner and promoted by the Trump administration, but it is contingent on security, legal and political preconditions that critics say risk displacement and bypassing Palestinians [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What “they” are proposing: skyscrapers, coastal tourism and planned cities
The Trump administration’s presentation in Davos, led on stage by Jared Kushner, showed CGI slides of gleaming seaside skyscrapers, a port and airport, hundreds of towers and a vision of Gaza as a Mediterranean tourism and economic hub — a “New Gaza” or “New Rafah” with 100,000+ housing units and proposals for coastal tourism corridors and mixed‑use towers [1] [2] [3] [5].
2. Who “they” are: US officials, Kushner, Gulf funders and a Board of Peace
The pitch has been driven by the US presidential team and Kushner’s “Board of Peace,” but it also involves outreach to Gulf investors and at least one Gulf state reportedly planning to bankroll a “planned community” in southern Gaza — the Guardian reports UAE participation in a site planning process that included land‑deed reviews [1] [6] [4].
3. Conditionality, prerequisites and security architecture
The plan as described by US officials ties reconstruction to demilitarization, a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration and a proposed international stabilization force; maps and timelines also show an Israeli “security perimeter” and note Israeli control over much territory, making construction conditional on military and political steps that remain unresolved [7] [6] [1].
4. Criticisms: displacement, lack of consultation and allegations of an imperial real‑estate pitch
Multiple outlets and analysts warn the scheme risks forcible displacement if land deeds are contested, and accuse the promoters of selling a sanitized investment pitch without meaningful consultation of Gazans; critics call it a real‑estate vision that could institutionalize demographic and territorial changes rather than prioritize humanitarian recovery [4] [8] [9].
5. Practical obstacles: rubble, unexploded ordnance, jobs and timelines
Rebuilding proponents propose multibillion‑dollar investments (figures such as $25 billion are cited) and large‑scale demolition, demining and rubble removal, but independent reporting notes massive destruction, unexploded munitions across Gaza and unresolved questions about where displaced Palestinians would live during phased construction — all of which complicate rapid timelines like the two‑to‑three‑year targets touted in presentations [5] [10] [11].
6. Political fractures and missing partners
Key regional actors are unevenly aligned: Egypt, which led an earlier 2025 reconstruction initiative, was notably absent from Kushner’s Davos presentation, and Israel’s internal politics (including opposition to returning Palestinian Authority control) and lack of agreement from Hamas over demilitarization mean the blueprint faces sharp diplomatic and security headwinds [2] [7] [6].
7. What is certain and what remains conjecture
What is demonstrable from reporting: a high‑profile US‑led vision for a rebuilt, tourism‑oriented Gaza was publicly promoted in Davos and Gulf funding and a UAE‑linked planned community in southern Gaza are reported to be moving forward at the planning stage; what remains uncertain — and where reporting is limited — is whether these concepts will translate into on‑the‑ground construction, how land and residency rights will be handled, whether Gazans will be consulted or accept the plan, and whether international legal and security preconditions will be met [1] [4] [8].