By Tass
Copyright tass
TEL AVIV, September 17. /TASS/. Israeli Finance Minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, Bezalel Smotrich, has suggested that the Gaza Strip could become a “real estate bonanza.”
He said he is already in talks with US representatives about sharing land in Gaza for large-scale construction following the destruction of buildings during Israel’s military campaign.
According to Ynet, Smotrich outlined these plans at a real estate conference in Tel Aviv. The minister said that a business plan had already been prepared by industry professionals and submitted to US President Donald Trump for review. “We are checking how this becomes a real estate bonanza – I’m not joking – and pays for itself,” he noted.
Smotrich added that he is already discussing the plan in detail with his US partners. “I’ve begun negotiations with the Americans, and I’m saying this seriously, because we paid a lot of money for this war. We need to work out how we share percentages on the land. The demolition phase, the first stage of urban renewal, we’ve already done. Now we need to build,” he said.
In February, US President Donald Trump said he was considering placing the Gaza Strip under US ownership and turning it into “the Riviera” of the Middle East. He also said he was ready to send US troops there and called for the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.
On May 17, NBC reported that the Trump administration was working on a plan to permanently relocate up to one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya. On August 31, The Washington Post, citing sources in the US administration, said that Trump’s plan to rebuild Gaza involved placing the enclave under American protectorate for at least 10 years, as well as the temporary resettlement of all its residents.
Israel actively supported these proposals. Reports suggested that Israeli authorities held talks with several countries, including South Sudan and Somalia, about resettling Palestinians there. However, Arab states strongly rejected the idea, stressing that the displacement of Gaza residents was unacceptable.
