Food – and $7600: The ‘Riviera’-style plan to get Palestinians to leave Gaza

Palestinians could each be handed $7600 and other incentives to leave Gaza under US proposals to take over the war-torn enclave for at least a decade and transform it into a tourist resort and manufacturing hub, according to a document circulating in Washington.

Citing a 38-page prospectus it had seen, the Washington Post on Sunday reported that Gaza’s 2 million population would at least temporarily leave either through “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted areas within the territory during reconstruction.

Anyone owning land would be offered a “digital token” in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, the Post reported, adding that each Palestinian who left would be provided with $US5000 ($7600) in cash and subsidies to cover four years of rent. They would also be provided with a year of food, it added.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the plan to rebuild Gaza appears to fall in line with previous comments made by Trump.

On February 4, Trump floated the idea that the US should “take over” the enclave and rebuild it as “the Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Gaza’s population elsewhere in comments that angered many Palestinians and humanitarian groups.

The president reposted a bizarre AI-generated clip of an imaginary future “Trump Gaza”, including a scene of himself and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relaxing by a pool in a Dubai-style luxury complex.

The Post said the latest plan was called the “Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, or GREAT Trust”, and was developed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or GHF, the controversial US and Israel-backed organisation set up to deliver aid.

Reuters previously reported proposals to build large-scale camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside – and possibly outside – Gaza to house the Palestinian population under plans also drawn up by the GHF.

The GHF is favoured by the Trump administration and Israel to carry out humanitarian efforts in Gaza as opposed to the United Nations-led system, which Israel says lets militants divert aid.

In early August, the UN said more than 1000 people had been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had killed Hamas’ long-time military spokesperson as Israel’s security cabinet met to discuss expanding its offensive in some of Gaza’s most populated areas.

There were no plans to discuss negotiations for a ceasefire at the meeting, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz identified the spokesperson as Abu Obeida, the nom de guerre for the official who represented Hamas’s Qassam Brigades.

Hamas has not commented on the claim, but Obeida’s last statement was issued on Friday as Israel began the initial stages of the new offensive and declared Gaza City a combat zone. Obeida said the militants would do their best to protect living hostages but warned that they would be in areas of fighting. He said the remains of dead hostages would “disappear forever”.

Israel’s military said Obeida, whom it named as Hudahaifa Kahlout, had been behind the release of videos showing hostages, as well as footage of the October 2023 Hamas-led attack in which about 1200 people were killed and 251 people were abducted from southern Israel.

The Israeli military also reiterated a threat against remaining Hamas leaders abroad. Israel has killed many of Hamas’ military and political leaders as it attempts to dismantle the group.

The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks. On Friday, it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone”.

On Sunday, the World Food Program said Israel’s designation would impact food access and put humanitarian aid workers in danger. A report released last month by the global hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said approximately 514,000 people – nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population – face famine conditions.

Israel has dismissed the IPC’s findings as false and biased, saying it had based its survey on partial data largely provided by Hamas, which did not take into account a recent influx of food.

A ‘death trap’ while seeking food

At least 43 Palestinians were killed over the weekend, most of them in Gaza City, according to local hospitals. Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, said 29 bodies were brought to its morgue, including 10 people killed while seeking aid and others struck across the city.

“Where are the resistance fighters that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu claims he is bombing? Does he consider stones resistance fighters?” said a relative of one of the dead at Shifa Hospital, who did not give her name. She said they would not be displaced.

Witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire on crowds in the Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli military zone that bisects Gaza. “We were trying to get food, but we were met with the occupation’s bullets,” said Ragheb Abu Lebda, who saw at least three people bleeding from gunshot wounds. “It’s a death trap.”

At least 63,371 Palestinians have died during the war, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians, but says about half were women and children.

Thunberg warning as flotilla departs

In another development, Israel is reportedly planning to treat activist Greta Thunberg as a terrorist as she and other campaigners set off from Barcelona on board a flotilla of boats attempting to travel to Gaza in the largest attempt yet to break the long Israeli blockade of the territory.

The Global Sumud Flotilla departed on Sunday carrying food, water and medicine on about 20 boats, and organisers said more would join at ports along the way. Some 70 boats are expected to take part in the final leg of the journey.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, will present Netanyahu with a proposal to detain the activists in harsh “terrorist-level” conditions in the Ktzi’ot and Damon detention centres for females, the London Telegraph said, citing reports in Israel Hayom, one of Israel’s biggest newspapers.

In June, Thunberg and 11 other activists aboard a previous flotilla were detained by the Israeli Navy 185 kilometres west of Gaza, where they were given water and sandwiches before being escorted to the port of Ashdod in Israel.

AP, Reuters

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