by Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas is not going to recognize Israel's right to exist or give up its Jihad (holy war) against the "Zionist entity" because of new homes, luxury apartments and tourist resorts.
Even if Hamas does agree to surrender some of its weapons as part of a façade to appease Trump, the terror group will undoubtedly continue to keep or replace as many as possible to maintain a military, political and security presence in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is not worried about the newly established Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to govern the Gaza Strip: the committee does not pose a direct threat to the terror group. The committee is primarily tasked with managing civilian affairs, delivering essential services such as water, electricity, healthcare and education, and rebuilding infrastructure. Security will remain in the hands of Hamas....
Building skyscrapers and an airport in the Gaza Strip will not change the Palestinians' views on Israel. The Palestinians are not going to give up the "right of return" because of foreign investment in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is not going to recognize Israel's right to exist or give up its Jihad (holy war) against the "Zionist entity" because of new homes, luxury apartments and tourist resorts. The only way to change the hearts and minds of Palestinians is through a deep and thorough process of re-education and actual serious pressure, for once, from the outside world. This requires brave, strong and pragmatic leadership -- both from the Palestinians and the international community -- an attribute that, unfortunately, does not seem to exist.
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At the recent annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Jared Kushner, President Donald J. Trump's son-in-law, presented his "New Gaza" master plan that outlines a post-war vision to transform the territory into a hub for "coastal tourism" and commerce.
The plan features 180 luxury skyscrapers, new logistics corridors, a port, an airport, and 100,000 housing units, along with significant industrial zones/data centers.
This is the second economic plan presented by Kushner since the 2019 "Peace to Prosperity: A New Vision for the Palestinian People and the Broader Middle East," also known as the "Deal of the Century." The economic portion of that plan was a $50 billion investment to transform the Palestinian economy over 10 years. The deal aimed to fund 179 projects across the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and neighboring countries.
That "Deal of the Century," sadly, failed to materialize: it was rejected as a "conspiracy" by Palestinians, who said they viewed it as a heavily biased, pro-Israel proposal that violated international law, and denied them a Palestinian state and the "right of return," which means flooding Israel with millions descendants of Palestinian refugees, and turning the Jews into a minority in their own country -- the same plan, in fact, as the current effort to Islamize Europe and the United States by demography.
"There is not one positive thing about the 'Deal of the Century,'" Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said in February 2020.
"No one could accept this plan for a population of 13 million people. There is no real opportunity in it. This deal is categorically rejected and has no place at the negotiating table."
Hamas also rejected the "Deal of the Century." Then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh denounced the deal as a "blatant violation against our land, people, and the Islamic Ummah [nation]," adding:
"We declare our absolute rejection of all items included in the deal announced by Trump. We confirm that accepting any plan that abdicates or gives up the rights of the Palestinian people or the Palestinian national principles is forbidden. Palestine and its just cause will never be compromised or divided. We confirm that all options are open for the Palestinian people to face off the aggressive 'Deal of the Century' that targets the Palestinian existence: land, people, history, and Arab and Islamic identity."
The PA and Hamas, however, have so far refrained from commenting on Kushner's new Gaza master plan. That is probably because they are convinced that the plan is not feasible and will meet the same fate as the "Deal of the Century."
Moreover, the PA and Hamas apparently do not want to alienate Trump by outrightly dismissing his son-in-law's plan. In their view, Trump is the only one who can stop Israel from resuming the war in the Gaza Strip and destroying Hamas's military and terror infrastructure.
Although Kushner has demanded that Hamas and the other terror entities in Gaza disarm to ensure the success of his plan, the leaders of the terror group continue to reject all calls to lay down their weapons.
Last week, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk said that his group had never agreed, at any stage, to hand over its weapons. He insisted that the issue of the "resistance weapons" had never been subject to negotiations at any stage. "We agreed in the Trump plan [to end the Gaza war] on a general framework for ending the war, but the weapons issue has not yet been raised in negotiations," Abu Marzouk told Qatar's state-owned Al-Jazeera TV network.
Even if Hamas does agree to surrender some of its weapons as part of a façade to appease Trump, the terror group will undoubtedly continue to keep or replace as many as possible to maintain a military, political and security presence in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is not worried about the newly established Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to govern the Gaza Strip: the committee does not pose a direct threat to the terror group. The committee is primarily tasked with managing civilian affairs, delivering essential services such as water, electricity, healthcare and education, and rebuilding infrastructure. Security will remain in the hands of Hamas, whose members will undoubtedly continue to rule through a shadow government. With thousands of Hamas militiamen still roaming the streets of the Gaza Strip, the technocratic committee, conversely, will be at the mercy of the terror group.
Back to Kushner's master plan. The assumption that boosting the Palestinian economy would have a moderating effect on the Palestinians has already proven delusional. After the signing of the Oslo Accord between Israel and the PLO in 1993, the international community poured billions of dollars on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This beneficence, however, did not prevent Hamas, whose stated goal is the destruction of Israel, from gaining popularity and winning the 2006 PA legislative election.
The international aid, in addition, did not prompt then PA President Yasser Arafat or his successor, Abbas, to make far-reaching concessions to Israel during the peace negotiations. Both Arafat and Abbas placidly rejected several peace proposals made by Israeli leaders.
The Palestinians first rejected an offer by then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the 2000 Camp David summit. The offer included a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with parts of east Jerusalem.
In 2008, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed a plan that would have provided over 90% of the West Bank and a land swap for the remaining territory. The Palestinians rejected the proposal.
In 2010, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, during a meeting with then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, talked about his vision for turning Gaza into the "Singapore of the Middle East":
"Right now, we have virtually withdrawn from Gaza which is not being occupied. We are currently implementing a restoration program.... All border crossings have been opened. We are determined to turn Gaza into the same kind of prosperous entity as Singapore. "
In May 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out a plan for lasting peace and reintegrating the Gaza Strip into the regional economy through large infrastructure and economic investment. The Palestinians also rejected that plan.
Building skyscrapers and an airport in the Gaza Strip will not change the Palestinians' views on Israel. The Palestinians are not going to give up the "right of return" because of foreign investment in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is not going to recognize Israel's right to exist or give up its Jihad (holy war) against the "Zionist entity" because of new homes, luxury apartments and tourist resorts. The only way to change the hearts and minds of Palestinians is through a deep and thorough process of re-education and actual serious pressure, for once, from the outside world. This requires brave, strong and pragmatic leadership -- both from the Palestinians and the international community -- an attribute that, unfortunately, does not seem to exist.
- Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22245/gaza-master-plan-delusion
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