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 same month, Mr Trump shared an AI-generated video that depicted Gaza as a rich man's skyscraper-studded playground, prompting outrage in the Arab world.
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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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
