Gaza could be ‘real estate bonanza’, Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich says

A controversial Israeli minister has said Gaza could be a “real estate bonanza” – and that a business plan for redeveloping it had been sent to the US president.

Bezalel Smotrich, the country’s far-right finance chief, told a Tel Aviv conference he had “started negotiations” with the US on how to share the proceeds of any future deal.

The comments echo controversial remarks by Donald Trump in February, when he said America would take over Gaza and redevelop it into the “riviera of the Middle East” – with its population going to “various domains”.

He later shared a AI-generated video showing it as a Dubai-style city, featuring exotic beaches, skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying.

Mr Smotrich told the urban regeneration event “there’s a business plan set by the most professional people there is and is on President Trump’s table and how this thing turns into a real estate bonanza. I’m not kidding; it pays off”.

The minister, who is sanctioned by countries including the UK, Canada and Australia, claimed discussions were already under way on how cash from redeveloping Gaza’s shattered landscape would be allocated.

Mr Smotrich said Israel had “paid a lot of money for this war, so we need to divide how we make a percentage on the land marketing later in Gaza”.

He added: “We’ve done the demolition phase, which is always the first phase of urban renewal. Now we need to build; it’s much cheaper.”

Any effort to forcibly displace Gaza’s population for a building project would almost certainly breach the Geneva Convention and cause international outrage – as Mr Trump found when he mooted his plan earlier this year.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza ratcheted up this week as it launched a major ground offensive to seize all of Gaza City and destroy Hamas.

Thousands are heading south with whatever they can in an effort to avoid being killed in the fighting.

The operation has prompted widespread condemnation, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling it “utterly reckless and appalling”.

Ms Cooper – who helped greet the pro-Israel President Trump when he landed in Britain on Tuesday – said it would “only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians & endanger the remaining hostages”.

With no sign of an imminent ceasefire in Gaza and the situation increasingly dire, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to shortly announce Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

It is believed he could make the declaration at the weekend to avoid causing division on the issue while President Trump is in the country.

The two leaders are holding talks today at Chequers, with the prime minister under pressure to urge Mr Trump to use his influence over Israel to rein in its new offensive.

The prime minister said in July that recognition would come unless Israel met certain conditions, including taking “substantive steps” to end the war and commit to long-term peace.

France, Canada and Australia are also set to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month, while Ireland, Spain and Norway all took the step last year.

Israel says the recognition of a Palestinian state is unacceptable, rewards Hamas, and makes it harder to create the conditions needed to free the remaining hostages.

More than 65,000 people in Gaza have now been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The figure does not specify the number of Hamas members killed.

At least 63 people were killed on Wednesday, with most of the casualties in Gaza City, local health authorities said.

The Hamas terror attack on Israel in October 2023 saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 people taken hostage. Forty-eight remain in Gaza, but fewer then half are though to still be alive.

A report this week from a UN commission said Israel was committing genocide in Gaza – a claim the country vehemently denies as “distorted and false”.

Sky News analysis shows thousands of families remain in crowded tent camps in Gaza City, with the UN estimating last week that a million people remain there.

Israel, however, believes 40% of the population has already fled south and on Wednesday opened a new evacuation route for 48 hours.