Justin Sullivan
- Donald Trump said Gaza could be rebuilt into one of the most beautiful places in the world.
- There is still not end in sight to the Israel-Gaza war that has now stretched on for a year.
- Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner previously suggested Israel should move civilians out of Gaza during rebuilding.
Former President Donald Trump says the Palestinian people have not done a good job of utilizing their ocean-front views and that if Gaza is rebuilt the right way, it could become "one of the best places in the world."
"I've said it for years, when I've been there and it's rough, it's a rough place before all of the attacks and back and forth, what's happened over the last couple years. I said, 'Wow, look at this.' I mean, they have the back of a plant facing the ocean, you know," Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. "They'd have, there was no ocean as far as that was concerned. They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place – the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate."
Hewitt had asked Trump to talk about Gaza as a developer and whether it could be built into a destination rivaling a locale like Monaco, the glittering state on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Trump was addressing the future of Gaza on the first anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks, where Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel. Israel responded by launching air strikes and a ground invasion of Gaza. Roughly 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
The former president isn't the only one in his family who has thoughts about Gaza's future. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a former top White House official, previously said Israel should move civilians out of the area while it builds up Gaza.
"Gaza's waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods," Kushner told a Harvard-affiliated program in February. "If you think about all the money that's gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done?"
President Joe Biden and other world leaders have tried to pressure the two sides to agree to a ceasefire, but thus far diplomacy has failed to bring an end to the conflict. Approaching the anniversary, Israel stepped up strikes on Lebanon in the wake of an Iranian rocket attack. Trump has claimed the conflict would have never occurred under his watch but hasn't offered many details on how he would secure an end to the war.
Even as the conflict continues, international voices have tried to plot a path forward for Gaza's future. Last December, a mixture of consultants and other leaders met in London to propose future potential developments for the area, including a soccer stadium, The New York Times reported.
Part of the issue is it remains uncertain who will control the area. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly opposed the creation of an independent Palestinian state and has argued that Israel needs to maintain a military presence in Gaza to prevent Hamas from launching future attacks.
Gazans likely have much more practical considerations than building oceanfront property. Even before the current conflict, more than half of its population lived in poverty. A UN official said in May that rebuilding could cost $50 billion. Experts told Bloomberg that the cost could balloon to $80 billion, making it clear that whenever the conflict ends, Gaza will need a post-war plan resembling the scope of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after WWII.