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President Trump said he’d be “proud” to visit war-torn Gaza, as the Palestinian enclave now faces the long, daunting road to reconstruction — which is expected to cost more than $50 billion.
The territory has been largely flattened in the two years of fierce fighting, with at least 60 million tons of rubble to be cleared, the United Nations’ Environment Program estimated.
That is more than 30 times the amount of rubble cleared from Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
In Gaza City, the enclave’s most populous city, approximately 83% of structures have been destroyed, according to the latest UN data taken from satellite imagery between September 22 and 23.
Rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza will likely cost at least $50 billion, the World Bank has estimated.
Trump has made the monumental endeavor a key part of his administration’s widely-praised 20-point peace plan — and when asked on Sunday if he’d like to visit Gaza one day, the president didn’t hesitate.
“I would, yeah, I would. I’d be proud to,” he told reporters on Air Force One, while en route to Israel for the hostage release.
“I know it so well without visiting, but … I’d like to put my feet on it at least, but I think it’s going to be a great miracle over the coming decades.”
The details of the reconstruction are yet to be hashed out — with both Egypt and Britain planning to host summits on rebuilding the Palestinian territory — but it will involve international investment, according to Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
“A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East,” the 20-point plan lays out.
Stay up to date on the Israel-Hamas cease-fire exchange
“Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.”
Palestinians would be allowed to stay and participate in that revival, according to Trump’s plan.
The president previously mused that he’d like to morph Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
A post-war plan drafted by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and presented to the White House proposes the establishment of the Gaza Investment Promotion and Economic Development Authority to secure investments for Gaza’s reconstruction, the Times of Israel reported.
It will be a “commercially driven authority, led by business professionals and tasked with generating investable projects with real financial returns,” the outlet said.
In the meantime, the UN is aiming to ramp up its delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the first 60 days of the cease-fire, a top UN official said last week.
Israel’s military campaign in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack has left 2 million Palestinians displaced – or about 90% of the population, according to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“We will aim to increase the pipeline of supplies to hundreds of trucks every day. We will scale up the provision of food across Gaza to reach 2.1 million people who need food aid and around 500,000 people who need nutrition,” said Tom Fletcher, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
The UN additionally said Monday it was allocating another $11 million in aid from an emergency fund to increase operations in Gaza.
Trump remained optimistic about rebuilding Gaza at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday.
“Rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part,” Trump said, adding that “we know how to build better than anybody in the world.”
With Post wires
