A plan, which has reportedly been circulating in the Trump administration, would have Gaza taken over by the US. Palestinians would be given a digital token for their land.
A postwar plan for Gaza is reportedly being looked at by the Trump administration. The plan proposes using tokenized land and digital tokens to have residents relocated and rehoused under a potential US takeover.
It was reported by The Washington Post on Sunday that a 38-page prospectus for a post-war Gaza, which is called the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust (GREAT Trust), would see the Palestinian territory taken over by the US under a trusteeship for at least 10 years.
Two million Gazans would be displaced in a “voluntary” program, while a specialized token would be offered to them for their land. This token could later be redeemed for an apartment in one of up to eight planned “smart cities,” or for relocation elsewhere. Additionally, their temporary housing and food would be subsidized for up to four years under the plan.
Criticism has already been attracted by the proposal, with the Muslim civil rights organization the Council on American-Islamic Relations stating that the “takeover of Gaza and the mass theft of Palestinian land through a digital token scheme is not only morally abhorrent and illegal under international law—it would amount to a war crime of historic proportions.”
It was reported by The Washington Post that the latest proposal was created by the people who spun up the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is currently distributing food in Gaza. The document’s financial planning was done by a team that worked for the Boston Consulting Group at the time.
It was reported by The Post that major elements of the plan were created to have US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza implemented. This was told to The Post by two people familiar with the planning. Still, it’s unclear if the plan is what was envisioned by Trump or if it is being considered.
A Blockchain-Based Future for Post-War Gaza
An “innovative funding model” is being pitched by the prospectus. This model would be used to have a land trust utilized and a blockchain registry for land and tokenization developed to enhance liquidity.
Gaza would be tokenized by it using a blockchain “as a record of ownership.” The land would be split into tokens to allow for “fractional ownership.”
The tokens would be sold to investors and could be used to fund “reconstruction and humanitarian efforts.” They would also be offered on secondary markets for crypto users to speculate on, with “all token transactions being recorded in a blockchain register.”
A token would be given to Gazan landowners for handing over their land. The token would be redeemed for cash or an apartment in the strip. Additionally, $5,000 would be given to each Palestinian who leaves the territory, along with four years of rent subsidies and food for a year.
Returns on the scheme “could be reinvested in a new dedicated Palestinian Wealth Fund for the benefit of future Gazans,” the plan reads. Though, it is stated that the plan would be more profitable if the number of Gazans leaving the territory could be increased, as it is claimed to be $23,000 cheaper to have them relocated.
Rebuilding with AI: Smart Cities Planned for War-Torn Strip
According to the reportedly circulating prospectus, Gaza would be rebuilt with between six to eight “modern and AI-powered, smart planned cities.” All of the services and their economies would be run on “ID-based AI-powered digital systems.”
10 “mega-projects” are also planned by it. These projects include ports, a highway, a railway, an AI data center, Dubai-style artificial resort islands, and a so-called “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone.”
The blockchain-infused plan comes as ties to the crypto industry are deepened by US President Donald Trump and his family. This comes after it was stated by Trump in February that Gaza should be “taken over” by the US in order to have it made the “Riviera of the Middle East.”