Israeli far right holds Knesset conference to present Gaza 'Riviera' plans

Members of Israel’s far-right Zionist parties and settler organizations gathered at the Knesset on Tuesday to present plans for building “Israel’s most advanced city” on top of the rubble of Gaza, outlining a proposal that would replace more than 2 million Palestinians with 1.2 million Israelis and a sprawling high-tech “Riviera.”

Attendees of “The Gaza Riviera: From Vision to Reality” conference — which included, according to Times of Israel, members of parliament, ministers, heads of regional councils, security personnel, researchers, hostages’ relatives and “activists” — were shown proposals for the development of two cities, equipped with “smart” homes, “robotic hospitals,” AI powered public transit, a university, luxury hotels and even artificial islands built off the coast.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said from the podium that the idea of turning Gaza into “a prosperous strip, a resort town with employment” had received a "green light” from U.S. President Donald Trump, who first floated the idea in February and was met with swift international condemnation, with critics pointing to the plan’s use of ethnic cleansing.

Taking over Gaza would “solve the housing problem and cost of housing for us,” Smotrich added. “I truly believe there is a tremendous opportunity here,” he said, proposing that the process begin with three Israeli settlements in northern Gaza. “We are already talking about it,” he said. “The chief of staff [of the Israeli army] said last week that there needs to be a security annexation.”

The plan's backers believe the initial infrastructure for the two cities could be set up in seven years and completed in 15. According to assessments by the United Nations, it would take 15 years just to clear the rubble from the devastated landscape.

The principal plan was drawn up by Israeli settler organization Nachala — whose goal is the complete annexation of the West Bank and Gaza — and presented by its founder and director Daniella Weiss.

“The Arab Gaza chapter is over,” Weiss said, as quoted by Middle East Eye. “In Gaza, there will never be an Arab, international or American government.” Trump had previously suggested the United States could govern Gaza following the war.

Israel has killed more than 59,100 people in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and most of the territory lies in ruins. Cease-fire negotiations remain stalled over the issue of Israeli troop withdrawal.

In 2005, under its unilateral “disengagement plan,” Israel forced 8,000 of its settlers to evacuate and withdrew all of its troops from eight illegal settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip. For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has called for Israel to resettle Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic proportions as Palestinians die of starvation and by live fire while trying to collect aid.

In January 2024, a similar conference was held, called the "Return to Gaza" conference and headed by National Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu was denying claims that Israel had plans to resettle in the Strip, but today, Netanyahu publicly supports the "Trump plan" for forcibly displacing Palestinians, calling it "so correct and so revolutionary."

Following Tuesday’s conference, Knesset member Zvi Sukkot told Middle East Eye that Israel would not be “uprooting anyone from their homes,” echoing comments from his party’s leader, Smotrich, for Palestinians to be “encouraged” to leave.

“Trump’s plan does not talk about forced deportation,” Sukkot said. “What Trump said was that eventually they would emigrate to countries where it would be good for them to live.”

On the same day, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, released an AI-generated video promoting her own “voluntary emigration plan” for Gaza. She said she submitted the proposal to the Knesset less than a week after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack and the subsequent Israeli military offensive.