Trump unveils plans to turn Gaza into hub for ‘coastal tourism’ with futuristic re-development

The US president’s vision for a “new Gaza” was revealed on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his son-in-law Jared Kushner presented the "Master Plan" featuring a catalogue of CGI-generated images.

It came moments after Trump took to the stage to unveil his ‘Peace Board’ for Gaza, with a roll-call of world leaders with chequered records on human rights signing up.

Luxury apartments, data centres, housing units and medical facilities were among the images unveiled as world leaders gathered.

A slide reading “Master Plan” revealed four stages of transformation going from Rafah to Khan Younis and into Gaza City. 

It labelled colour-coded blocks “residential areas”, in yellow, and “coastal tourism” with 180 towers in bright pink.

Read more: Who is on Trump's Board of Peace?

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Large sections of land will house “industrial complex data centres” and advanced manufacturing, the plan revealed.

The areas are divided up with green sections labelled “parks, agriculture and sports facilities.”

It will also see 100,000 permanent housing units and 75 medical facilities built, with a so-called “New Rafah” expected to feature over 200 education centres and over 180 cultural, religious and vocational centres. 

Futuristic designs of the facilities show shiny white skyscrapers and vast motorways.

Trump said: “I'm a real estate person at heart, and it's all about location, and I said, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property, what it could be for so many people.

“It'll be so, so great. People that are living so poorly are going to be living so well. But it all began with the location.”

At the peace board signing ceremony, Trump held up signed documents which indicate the start of the Board of Peace.

He said that war in Gaza was  "really coming to an end" - that the conflict now consists of "little fires" that he says can be put out easily.

It came after three Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza, according to first responders.

A further eight people, two of them children, were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza on Wednesday, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said.

On the list of global power brokers on Trump's board, which was snubbed by the UK government and most European nations, are Alexander Lukashenko, whose authoritarian track record in Belarus has led to the nation being described as “Europe’s last dictatorship.”

Also on stage in Davos alongside Trump was Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, who has been in power since 2010 and transformed the country into what the European Parliament has denounced as a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.”

Ten of the 22 countries announced so far on the founding board are included in an ongoing US travel ban, including Uzbekistan, Egypt, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

As the group of world leaders signed Trump’s charter, the President described the world leaders as ‘friends of mine.’

“Usually I have two or three I can’t stand, I don’t find them up here,” he said.

Trump added that: “We can do whatever we want in Gaza.”

Demanding Hamas return the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage, Trump said he was committed that Gaza would be demilitarised and “beautifully rebuilt” and that he would be “very successful in Gaza”.

“We can do pretty much whatever we want to do”, he said before hastily adding he would do it in conjunction with the UN.

“The UN has tremendous potential; it’s not using it” Mr Trump said. “On the eight wars I ended I have never spoken with the UN about any of them.”Britain’s Foreign Secretary announced that the UK would not be taking part due to ‘concerns about President Putin’.

Yvette Cooper said: “We won’t be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.

“We do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.

“And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about.”

Former Labour PM Sir Tony Blair joined the list of world leaders as well - being namechecked by Mr Trump.

Sir Tony is an executive member of the peace board alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Critics have warned that the organisation - which has a £1billion fee for permanent membership - appears to be an attempt to supplant the UN.

The idea of the ‘Board of Peace’ was announced at a White House press conference in September, with a specific remit to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

There are concerns about the body’s scope being broadened to undermine the UN.