Trump’s Gaza plan dazzles, but Israelis left holding the bill

US President Donald Trump’s ambitious blueprint for Gaza’s reconstruction is raising alarms in Israel, with experts warning that the real costs, financial, military, and political, will fall squarely on Israelis.

Eyal Ofer, a researcher of Hamas’s economy, told Maariv that while Trump’s proposal is wrapped in glossy promises, its “fine print” hides harsh realities.

“Like any real estate contract, the presentation dazzles, but Israelis aren’t reading the clauses that matter,” he said.

According to Ofer, Israeli media has sold the public a vision of mass evacuation, with millions of Gazans leaving the Strip for good.

“It sounds appealing to many Israelis,” he explained, “but the plan actually envisions only about a quarter of Gaza’s population relocating. And even they would be allowed back once the rebuilding project is complete.”

The remaining three-quarters, Ofer noted, would be placed in so-called “secured areas” inside Gaza, receiving aid and services for a decade while new housing towers are constructed.

“That’s not a solution, it’s temporary rehabilitation dressed up as progress,” he said.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and the architect of the plan, has floated the idea of Israeli-run camps in the Negev to house Gazans. Ofer warned that such a move could backfire dramatically:

“For Gazans, that would look like the fulfillment of a ‘right of return’ inside Israel’s borders. For Israel, it would mean running camps surrounded by fences and guards, becoming a propaganda gift to Hamas.”

Even after ten years, the plan allows any Gazan family to return into luxury apartments estimated at half a million to a million dollars apiece.

“With such conditions,” Ofer asked, “why would anyone even agree to leave in the first place?”

The security challenge is just as severe. Ofer predicted the IDF would be saddled with protecting demolition crews in hostile neighborhoods, requiring tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground for years.

“We’ll be waking up weekly to new reports of guerrilla attacks, roadside bombs, and ambushes. That’s the reality no one is talking about,” he cautioned.

Beyond logistics, Ofer questioned the cultural assumptions behind the plan.

“Developers in Miami may see towers and malls as progress, but Gaza’s population isn’t a blank slate. They are bound to religious doctrine, to Hamas’s ideology, and to the ethos of jihad. To think glass apartments can erase that is fantasy.”

With biting sarcasm, Ofer compared Trump’s proposal to a recycled sales pitch:

“Anyone who believes economic prosperity will dissolve Gaza’s hatred of Israel, I have a suitcase of Qatari humanitarian dollars to sell him. Slightly used, wrapped in shiny cellophane. Model 2018.”