Israeli minister calls Gaza a “real estate bonanza” as bombs fall and Palestinians flee
- Israel’s Finance Minister Smotrich calls Gaza a “real estate bonanza” and openly discusses dividing its land for profit amid ongoing airstrikes.
- Plans include luxury resorts and mass surveillance while forcibly displacing Palestinians, backed by U.S. and Israeli venture capitalists.
- Legal experts warn the scheme violates international law, tying land seizures to ethnic cleansing and war crimes.
- Trump’s team has reportedly reviewed proposals to turn Gaza into a “Riviera” while paying Palestinians to leave permanently.
- Over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed as Israel advances corporate colonization plans under the guise of reconstruction.
As Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate Gaza, killing over 65,000 people and displacing millions, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has openly described the war-torn enclave as a “real estate bonanza” and a future profit center for Israel and its allies.
Speaking at a Tel Aviv real estate conference on September 17, Smotrich revealed that Israel has already shared plans with the U.S. on how to divide up Gaza’s land, boasting that the “demolition phase”—the destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure—has already been completed.
“We have poured a lot of money into this war,” Smotrich said. “We have to see how we are dividing up the land in percentages.”
His remarks align with earlier statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who in February proposed turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”—a luxury resort destination—while forcibly relocating Palestinians elsewhere. According to reports, Trump’s team has been weighing a reconstruction plan that would place Gaza under U.S. control for a decade, paying Palestinians $5,000 each to leave permanently.
A plan built on displacement and profit
Smotrich’s comments confirm what critics have long feared: that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is not just about defeating Hamas, but about seizing land and displacing its people. The finance minister, a far-right settler leader, has previously called for “thinning out” Gaza’s population by half within two years through “voluntary migration”—a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.
Now, he is openly discussing how to profit from the destruction. “There’s a business plan… on President Trump’s table,” he told the conference. “It pays off.”
This plan is not just theoretical. A leaked proposal published by The Washington Post in September outlined a Dubai-style luxury development in Gaza, complete with artificial islands and high-end resorts, all while Palestinians are pushed out. The scheme, backed by Israeli venture capitalists and former intelligence officers, would rely on mass surveillance, population displacement, and land confiscation—a blueprint for corporate colonization under the guise of reconstruction.
International law violations and war crimes
Legal experts warn that any attempt to seize Palestinian land or profit from displacement violates international law. “This plan is tied to the plan to dispel or expel the civilian population,” said Adil Haque, a law professor at Rutgers University. “And this is illegal.”
The timing of Smotrich’s remarks is particularly chilling. As he spoke, Israeli bombs were pounding Gaza City, killing more than 100 people in a single day. The United Nations has accused Israel of genocide, while Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
Yet instead of accountability, Israeli officials are planning luxury resorts on the ruins of Palestinian homes.
Trump’s role in the land grab
Trump’s involvement raises serious questions about U.S. complicity. His earlier proposal to turn Gaza into a “Riviera” while paying Palestinians to leave was widely condemned as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing. Now, Smotrich confirms that detailed plans are already on Trump’s desk.
A White House official told NBC News that Trump supports Gaza’s reconstruction, but only if Hamas disarms. Yet the real agenda appears far darker: a corporate takeover of Palestinian land, funded by war and enforced by displacement.
Smotrich is not acting alone. He represents a faction of Israel’s government that has long pushed for annexation and settlement expansion. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly denied plans to resettle Gaza, his far-right coalition partners, including Smotrich, are actively advancing them.
This is not the first time Israel has used war as a pretext for land seizures. In the West Bank, illegal settlements continue to expand, often with U.S. backing. Now, the same playbook is being applied to Gaza, but with an even more brazen profit motive.
The human cost of corporate war
Behind the cold calculus of “real estate bonanzas” and “urban renewal” lies a human catastrophe. Over 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, many living in tents with no clean water or medical care. Thousands have died from starvation, disease, and Israeli bombs.
Yet for Smotrich and his allies, this suffering is merely the “first phase” of a lucrative business venture.
The international community must act before this plan becomes reality. The U.S. must reject any involvement in Gaza’s corporate colonization, and Israel must be held accountable for war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
If allowed to proceed, Smotrich’s “real estate bonanza” will not only erase Palestinian lives; it will set a dangerous precedent that war can be a business opportunity, and genocide can be monetized.
The world cannot stay silent while bombs fall and land deals are made. Gaza is not for sale.
Sources for this article include:
MiddleEastEye.net
TimesOfIsrael.com
NBCNews.com
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