Trump and Kushner’s real estate push in Gaza: ‘No plan B’ for ‘beautiful piece of property’

At least 19 countries co-signed with US President Donald Trump his ‘Board of Peace’ charter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, with plans for Gaza at first and other conflicts in parallel or later. Trump’s business record as a real estate record showed up too in his plan for the Palestinian territory ravaged by Israeli military action.

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Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner showed a slide deck presentation at the board launch. It included real estate development plans by zones.

“We do not have a plan B,” Kushner, who has been involved in Middle East negotiations for Trump, said. He asserted that people in the Middle East build cities in two or three years.

Trump, during his closing remarks, described Gaza as “this beautiful piece of property” and suggested his push for peace between Israel and Hamas “all began with the location”.

Even when Israel was carrying on its military action in Gaza, killing around 70,000 people, Trump had remarked he saw the place as potential location for a “resort-like city” along the Mediterranean coast.

The signatories included Pakistan and countries from the Middle East and South America, with India reportedly not sure yet. The full membership list still was not clear, reported news agency PTI.

Trump was joined on stage by founding members of the board, including some allies who share his populist worldview, Argentine President Javier Milei and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as representatives from Bahrain, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, among others.

Trump initially proposed the board as part of a peace plan for war-torn Gaza, tasked with helping oversee its reconstruction.

But the draft charter seen by news agency Bloomberg suggested a broader remit to “secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, an expansive vision that has alarmed many US partners who worry it will seek to rival or undercut the UN.

Those fears have persisted despite efforts by the Trump administration to convince nations the board will complement, not supplant, the UN.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio praised the board as “a group of leaders that is about action”. “He (Trump) is not limited by some of the things that have happened in the past, and he’s willing to talk to or engage with anyone in the interest of peace,” Rubio said.

Rubio stressed the body’s job “first and foremost” is “making sure that this peace deal in Gaza becomes enduring.”

Then, Rubio said, it can look elsewhere.

As for who else will join, Rubio did not give much clarity: “Many others who are going to join, you know, others either are not in town today or they have to go through some procedure internally in their own countries, in their own country, because of constitutional limitations, but others will join.”

In Gaza, Ali Shaath, head of the new technocratic government under Trump’s plan, announced the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week.

Israel said in early December it would open the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but has yet to do so.

Shaath spoke by video message to leaders at the WEF.

(inputs from news agencies)