Israeli Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich described Gaza as a potential real estate “Bonanza,” claiming he was talking to the US about how to divide a war-torn enclave.
Speaking at the Urban Renewal Summit in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the far-right minister said Israel and the US “we have paid a lot of money for the war and we need to share the share of land sales in Gaza.”
Smotrich also said he has already begun negotiations with the US on how to split Gaza, claiming there is a business plan on the issue of sitting “on President (Donald) Trump’s desk.”
“We’ve always carried out the demolition phase, the first phase of city renewal. Now we need to build,” he said.
When asked about Smotlich’s statement, White House officials told CNN “President Trump has long promoted solutions that will help rebuild the people of Gaza.”
“But Hamas must first agree to disarm Gaza and abandon control,” the official said.
Smotrich’s comments follow a similar statement by Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gwil. He said Monday that he plans to build a “magnificent neighbourhood” for Israeli police officers in Gaza after the Israeli operation in Gaza was over.
Trump previously said he considered Gaza a “big real estate site” and proposed to banish 2.1 million Palestinians from his territory before turning it into a US-owned “Riviera.”
In February, the president posted a video on his true social account. It appears to have been created with generative AI, but has fostered a transformation into a resort like the Gulf state, where his own golden statue of Gaza, hummus-eating Elon Musk, and shirtless Americans and Israeli leaders relax on the beach.
The proposal received massive criticism from the international community.
The far right in Israel has long wanted to move Palestinians out of Gaza, a prospect that critics have said would amount to ethnic cleansing.
The light-shape of Gaza has been further heightened as Israel said it had launched a planned invasion of Gaza, the largest enclave, pushing over a million people into overcrowded areas further south of the strip.
As of Wednesday, Israeli tanks were stationed on the edge of Gaza city prior to planned ground operations, according to eyewitnesses and satellite images.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this story.
