Israel’s far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans

JERUSALEM – Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on July 22 to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly “riviera”, as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.

The meeting, titled The Riviera In Gaza: From Vision To Reality, was held in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, under the auspices of some of its most hardline members.

It saw the participation of firebrand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as activist Daniella Weiss, a vocal proponent of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, among others.

The name of the event evokes

a proposal floated by US President Donald Trump

in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control.

The idea

drew swift condemnation

from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba”, or catastrophe – the

mass displacement of Palestinians

during Israel’s creation in 1948.

Participants in the July 22 Knesset meeting discussed a “masterplan” drafted by Ms Weiss’ organisation to re-establish a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza.

The detailed plan foresees the construction of housing for 1.2 million new Jewish residents and the development of industrial and agricultural zones, as well as tourism complexes on the coast.

Eight Israeli settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral decision to “disengage” from Gaza following years of violence between settlers, Palestinian armed groups and the army.

For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has urged the resettlement of the strip.

Those voices have become louder after

Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel

on Oct 7, 2023, with advocates presenting resettlement as a way to maintain tighter security control over the area.

The Oct 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the strip has

reached catastrophic proportions

after 21 months of conflict and a two-month aid blockade imposed by Israel.

Israel began easing the blockade in late May, but extreme scarcities of food and other essentials persist and cases of malnutrition and starvation are becoming increasingly frequent, according to local authorities, non-governmental organisations and AFP journalists on the ground. AFP