FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images
- "Gaza's waterfront property, it could be very valuable," Jared Kushner said at a Harvard event.
- He added that he doesn't think Israel wants Palestinians to leave Gaza.
- However, some far-right members of Israel's ruling coalition have advocated for their expulsion.
Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law, addressed a Harvard event last month, where he lauded the "very valuable" real estate opportunities in Gaza and suggested that Israel should move people out and "clean it up."
During the event on February 15, chaired by the Middle East Initiative's chair, Tarek Masoud, Kushner discussed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Around 13 minutes into the talk, Kushner spoke about how borders frequently change during wars and highlighted the "fortune" spent on security by Gaza's neighbors — Egypt and Israel — as a result of Hamas' presence in the Strip.
"I think neither side really wants to have a terrorist organization enclave right between them," Kushner said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel's invasion of Gaza, which came in response to a terror attack by Hamas militants on October 7, is centered on eliminating Hamas.
That attack killed more than 1,100 people, while tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the aftermath, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, as a result of the campaign, more than three-quarters of Gaza's population have been displaced from their homes, with much of the territory reduced to rubble.
"Gaza's waterfront property, it could be very valuable," Kushner, the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner, said during the talk.
Kushner, who was formerly an advisor in Trump's administration, described what's happening in Gaza as a "little bit of an unfortunate situation."
"I think from Israel's perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and clean it up," he said.
Kushner added: "But I don't think that Israel has stated that they don't want the people to move back there afterwards."
Netanyahu's vision for a post-war Gaza involves indefinite Israeli control of security and a "demilitarized" zone overseen by Palestinians unaffiliated with anti-Israel factions.
Yoav Gallant, Israel's defense minister, said that Israel should have no civilian presence in Gaza, either as settlers or to govern it, once the war with Hamas is over.
However, members of the far-right faction of Netanyahu's coalition government have openly pushed for the expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
"We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of the residents of Gaza," Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is part of the ruling coalition, said in January, per CNN.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, also part of the coalition, said that Israel will "rule" in Gaza and must have a civilian presence there, per Barron's news agency.
Smotrich added that emigration should be encouraged, according to The Washington Post.
Zvi Sukkot, a member of Smotrich's Religious Zionist party, was perhaps the most explicit in his vision for a postwar Gaza.
According to CNN, he said during a committee hearing that "we first need to occupy, to annex, to destroy all the houses there, build neighborhoods there."
The Norwegian Refugee Council warned in December that "any attempts by Israel to deport and permanently displace Palestinians within and from Gaza would constitute a serious breach of international law and an atrocity crime."
Affinity Partners, Kushner's investment firm, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kushner announced this month that he was partnering with Serbian officials to build a luxury hotel in the Serbian capital Belgrade, via Affinity Partners.