The Trump administration is weighing a proposal for the postwar reconstruction of Gaza that would put the Strip under US control for a decade and pay roughly a quarter of its population to relocate, many of them permanently, according to a Sunday report.
Anonymous sources familiar with the process told The Washington Post that key aspects of the proposal were designed “to make real” US President Donald Trump’s expressed hope to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The plan would place the enclave under a US-run trusteeship for roughly 10 years, “until a reformed and deradicalized Palestinian Polity is ready to step in its shoes,” reported the Post, citing a 38-page presentation for the so-called GREAT Trust proposal — short for Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation.
During that 10-year period, the war-torn enclave would be rebuilt into a profitable tourism and tech manufacturing hub on the dime of public and private investors, who would fund “mega-construction projects” including electric vehicle plants, data centers, beach resorts and high-rise apartment complexes.
Meanwhile, Palestinians would be encouraged to relocate outside the Strip. Those who choose to leave Gaza — either temporarily or permanently — would receive “a $5,000 cash payment and subsidies to cover four years of rent elsewhere, as well as a year of food,” according to the report.
The plan assessed that around a quarter of Gaza’s more than two million residents would choose to relocate outside the territory during reconstruction. Of those, some 75 percent — numbering 375,000 people — would choose to permanently leave the enclave, the document said.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza Strip move with their belongings on a street in Gaza City, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The plan is based on financial models developed by a DC-based team from the Boston Consulting Group — which also worked with the main American contractor on the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The consultants predicted a fourfold return on investments, which would total some $100 billion over the 10-year reconstruction period. They also suggested in the presentation that additional costs could be cut by encouraging more Gazans to emigrate and soliciting more international aid contributions.
Once Gaza “is demilitarized and deradicalized, the Trust will transfer authorities to an independent Palestinian Polity,” which would eventually “join the Abraham Accords” — the normalization agreements brokered by Trump in his first term between Israel and several Arab states — the document said.
The White House and State Department declined to comment to the Post, while BCG said the work on the trust plan had not been expressly approved and that two senior partners behind the modeling were subsequently fired.
A person familiar with the planning told the newspaper that the document was completed in April “with only minimal change since then.” He further stressed that the plan is not “prescriptive, but is exploring what is possible.” Some aspects of the proposal were first reported by the Financial Times in July.
The report comes after Trump’s White House huddle on Wednesday with officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — to discuss how to end the Gaza war and future steps.
The Sunday Times reported that Blair — who has been arranging a postwar Gaza plan for several months — told Trump during the meeting that Gazans “were desperate for new leadership and dreamt of becoming the next Dubai,” without citing sources.
Trump souring on hostage talks, urges PM to quash Hamas
As he pushes ahead with postwar Gaza plans, Trump has reportedly lost faith in the efficacy of hostage-ceasefire deal negotiations and is now pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hasten the defeat of Hamas, Channel 12 reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
The president’s stance has reportedly emboldened Netanyahu to push for either the full military conquest of Gaza or a comprehensive deal strictly on Israel’s terms — despite security officials speaking out against such plans.
US President Donald Trump, right, listens as White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, left, speaks on May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump appeared convinced that Hamas could be decisively beaten, “perhaps even within two weeks,” and felt he had already fulfilled the mission of bringing home most of the hostages, especially after the May release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, the report said.
The network reported that Trump backed Witkoff’s efforts to negotiate a deal and was convinced negotiations would bear fruit in July, after Hamas returned to hostage talks and Qatari mediators reported optimism.
But when Hamas toughened its position later on amid international outcry over reports of Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation, Trump “lost patience” with the terror group, the report said. Part of that frustration, according to the report, stemmed from a sense that he was undermined after mistakenly giving weight to Qatari optimism regarding a deal.
Netanyahu also “fell into line” around the same time, the report said, and with Trump’s pivot, declared that the opportunity for a deal had passed, and ordered the Israeli delegation home from Doha.
According to one source, even when Hamas returned two weeks ago with an approved proposal, Witkoff refused to engage, no longer trusting the Qataris and not wanting to risk embarrassing Trump.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
