SOUTHERN ISRAEL, ISRAEL - JANUARY 16: A view over the northern Gaza Strip as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on January 16, 2026 in Southern Israel, Israel. On Wednesday, US envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of the 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan's second phase, with a focus on reconstruction and demilitarization, and a "transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza." Israel has continued to call for the further demilitarization of Hamas and the return of the remains of the last hostage remaining in Gaza, the 24-year-old police officer Ran Gvili. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
There’s a memorable line in the movie, Apocalypse Now, in which a cynical Captain Willard says: “We’d cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a Band-Aid. It was a lie – and the more I saw of them, the more I hated lies.”
There is something of a similar vibe coming from Davos in the plan US officials presented for a “new Gaza” that would, supposedly, turn the shattered Palestinian territory into a glitzy resort of skyscrapers by the sea.
“We’re going to be very successful in Gaza. It’s going to be a great thing to watch.”
No prizes for guessing who said that. US President Donald Trump then went on to say: “I’m a real estate person at heart… and I said, look at this location on the sea.
Look at this beautiful piece of property. What it could be for so many people.”
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And there you go. Ethnic cleansing cleansed by “The Art of the Deal”.
The plan promises jobs and prosperity for “Gazans”… at least those of them who are left alive by the Israeli onslaught.
Will they have any say in how their “casino homeland” is run, though?
We doubt it – democracy and profits don’t mix too well.
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