The GREAT scheme envisages a bustling port city bisected by a watercourse bordered by up to eight AI -powered high-tech megacities. Photograph: Supplied
Prospectus proposes forced displacement of entire population and puts territory into US trusteeship
A plan circulating in the White House to develop the “Gaza Riviera” as a string of high-tech megacities has been dismissed as an “insane” attempt to provide cover for the large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory’s population.
On Sunday the Washington Post published a leaked prospectus for the plan, which would involve the forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population of 2 million people and put the territory into a US trusteeship for at least a decade.
Named the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust – or Great – the proposal was reportedly developed by some of the same Israelis who created and set in motion the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation with financial planning contributed by Boston Consulting Group.
Image from the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust – or Great – proposal. Photograph: Supplied
Most controversially, the 38-page plan suggests what it calls “temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population” – a proposal that would amount to ethnic cleansing, potentially a genocidal act.
Palestinians would be encouraged into “voluntary” departure to another country or into restricted, secure zones during reconstruction. Those who own land would be offered “a digital token” by the trust in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, to be used to finance a new life elsewhere.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Palestinians are seen on street following the Israeli attack on ez-Zeytun neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 8, 2025. (Photo: Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“People are being starved, children are being killed, families have lost everything,” said the United Nations agency for Palestinian Refugees.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Monday that more than 100 children in Gaza have died of severe hunger during Israel’s siege of the territory.
As Al Jazeerareported, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said that a total of 222 Palestinians have died from hunger during the siege, including 101 children. The vast majority of these deaths have come in just the last three weeks when the hunger crisis in Gaza started to garner international media attention, the ministry said.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on Monday emphasized the direness of the situation in a statement calling for a cease-fire to allow more aid into Gaza.
“People are being starved, children are being killed,” the agency said. “Families have lost everything. Political will and leadership can stop an escalation and end the war. Every heartbeat counts.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that there is no starvation crisis in Gaza and has said such reports are part of a “fake” propaganda campaign waged by Israel’s enemies.
However, it isn’t just the Gaza Health Ministry warning of a hunger crisis in the region, as international charity Save the Children last week said that 43% of pregnant and breastfeeding women who showed up to its clinics in Gaza last month were malnourished, which represented a threefold increase since March, when the Israeli military imposed a total siege on the area.
The latest numbers about starvation in Gaza come as the Israeli government is pushing forward with a plan to fully invade and occupy Gaza, which experts have warned will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis among its people.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” said Miroslav Jenca, the United Nations assistant secretary general, over the weekend.
A Palestinian boy walks among the rubble of a home destroyed by Israeli bombing in Jabalia, Gaza, Palestine on May 29, 2025. (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)
“The pattern suggests not an effort to neutralize a threat, but a deliberate campaign to dismantle and depopulate Gaza—a process of forced displacement which is a war crime.”
Israel’s U.S.-backed mass displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “is entirely erasing Gaza,” a leading international charity said Thursday as the United Nations’ Middle East peace envoy warned that ongoing airstrikes, forced starvation, and general despair have plunged the embattled coastal enclave into “an abyss.”
Since unilaterally breaking a cease-fire on March 2, “Israel issued nearly one displacement order every two days, strangling people into isolated areas covering less than 20% of the Gaza Strip,” Nairobi, Kenya-based Oxfam International noted.
“Combined with deliberate deprivation, this reveals a strategy not of targeting militants, but of dismantling and erasing Gaza itself,” Oxfam added. Some Israeli leaders have explicitly called for Gaza’s “erasure” to avenge the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“People are so exhausted, many would rather face death than flee again.”
“For over 600 days, Israel has been saying it’s targeting Hamas, but it is civilians who have been corralled, bombed, and killed en masse every day,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“The displacement orders follow a clear and calculated pattern: using the threat of violence to herd civilians into ever-shrinking zones of confinement,” Khalidi added. “This isn’t counterterrorism, as Israel alleges—it’s the systematic clearing of Gaza through militarized force into enclaves of internment.”
📽️ WATCH: This map visualizes #Gaza’s systematic erasure. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel issued nearly one displacement order every two days, strangling people into isolated areas covering less than 20 percent of the Gaza Strip. Find out more: oxf.am/3Hbshlz
Oxfam analyzed Israel’s more than 30 displacement orders, which, combined with Israel Defense Forces (IDF)-designated “no-go zones,” cover more than 80% of the 141-square mile Gaza Strip.
“The sheer scale and relentless frequency of these orders have made it virtually impossible for people to find refuge,” the charity said. “The pattern suggests not an effort to neutralize a threat, but a deliberate campaign to dismantle and depopulate Gaza—a process of forced displacement which is a war crime.”
As Oxfam noted:
In just the last week (15–20 May), over 160,000 people were displaced—part of a broader total of nearly 600,000 people displaced since March 18, many of them repeatedly. One of the most significant recent orders, issued on 20 May, covered 34.9 square kilometers, roughly 10% of Gaza’s land area, that affected 150,000–200,000 people in North Gaza’s Beit Lahia and Jabalia. The effect of such orders on already-displaced populations has been devastating.
“Imagine trying to move with four children or an elderly parent in the middle of the night, with no transport and nowhere to go,” said Oxfam gender adviser Fidaa Alaraj, who has been displaced with her family several times. “People are so exhausted, many would rather face death than flee again.”
Fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including extermination and forced starvation—recently said that Israel will control all of Gaza after Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a campaign to conquer, ethnically cleanse, and indefinitely occupy the strip.
Far-right members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet and the Israeli Knesset want to permanently seize Gaza and reestablish Jewish-only apartheid colonies in the coastal enclave, which U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed taking over and turning into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
“There is one essential condition: We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical standpoint and a diplomatic one,” Netanyahu said on May 19. “People simply won’t support us.”
While 82% of Israelis surveyed in a recent poll said they supported the ethnic cleansing of Gaza—and nearly half backed a biblical genocide of Palestinians—much of the world is aghast at Israel’s annihilation of the strip, which has left more than 191,000 people dead, maimed, or missing and around 2 million others forcibly displaced, often more than once.
Meanwhile, the famine against which Netanyahu warned looms larger than ever as hundreds of Gazans, mostly children and the elderly, have recently died from malnutrition and lack of medical care, according to local officials.
On Thursday, Sigrid Kaag, the interim U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, warned that Gazans are “being starved and denied the very basics” by Israel, which in March tightened an already crippling “complete siege” of Gaza. The blockade has been cited in the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice.
“The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine,” she warned, likening the trickle of aid allowed into the strip by Israel to offering “a lifeboat after the ship has sunk.”
Kaag highlighted the despair pervasive among Gazans, who she said bid farewell not by saying, “Goodbye, see you tomorrow,” but rather with the words “see you in heaven.”
“Death is their companion. It’s not life, it’s not hope,” she said.
“Since the collapse of the ceasefire in March, civilians have constantly come under fire, confined to ever-shrinking spaces, and deprived of lifesaving relief,” Kaag added. “Israel must halt its devastating strikes on civilian life and infrastructure.”
“This annihilation campaign and the bloodshed must end.”
Echoing Kaag’s remarks, Oxfam’s Khalidi said that “this annihilation campaign and the bloodshed must end. It is long past time for Western governments and other influential powers to move beyond statements and apply meaningful pressure on Israel to lift the siege and abandon any designs on annexing Gaza.”
“Peace cannot be brokered on the ruins of Gaza nor the theft of Palestinian land,” she stressed. “Ahead of the Two-State Solution Summit planned in New York next month, world leaders must urge Israel to lift the siege and abandon any annexation plans of Gaza or the West Bank.”
“What’s at stake is not only Palestine’s future,” Khalidi argued, “but the integrity of every nation that claims to uphold international law.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
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Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini (L) is welcomed by Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on May 27, 2025. [Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday that his country will work to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is currently besieged by Israel.
The Japanese Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that Ishiba received the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, in Tokyo.
Ishiba stressed “Creating an environment in which aid is possible is extremely important,” expressing his respect for UNRWA’s support for Palestinian refugees.
Lazzarini, in turn, expressed his gratitude to Ishiba for the Japanese government’s efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The two sides reiterated their commitment to continuing cooperation to support Palestinian refugees.
According to the UN, through deliberate starvation in order to achieve forced displacement, Israel has pushed 2.4 million Palestinians to the brink of famine by closing the Gaza Strip’s crossings to humanitarian aid, particularly food, since 2 March.
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UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
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Palestinians, including children gather around a water tanker to collect clean water amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza and the continued closure of border crossings, which have severely limited access to basic necessities in Khan Yunis, Gaza on March 29, 2025. [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency]
Under the weight of war and a suffocating blockade, more than two million people in the Gaza Strip are facing an unprecedented water crisis that threatens their daily survival. What was already a dire situation before the escalation has now turned catastrophic due to the ongoing bombardment and the widespread destruction of water infrastructure. The UN report from 2022 unveils a grim reality: over 97 per cent of Gaza’s drinking water is unfit for drinking or human consumption as a result of contaminants infiltrating groundwater reserves, whether it was caused by the excessive pumping of polluted water by the Israeli Occupation into Wadi Gaza, leakage from deteriorating sewage networks into the aquifer or the intrusion of the polluted saltwater into the aquifer by 75 per cent to meet the water deficit of the increased demand caused by the increased population. Compared to that, natural rain that does not exceed 30 per cent of natural replenishment. The situation is further exacerbated by the leakage of residues from Israeli munitions into groundwater sources.
Gaza’s water crisis: Numbers dripping with pain
Gaza’s water reality reveals a prolonged and profound deficit. While the Israeli Occupation enjoys a near-universal coverage of clean water (more than 99 per cent), as well as a substantial control over the aquifer, Gaza languishes among the world’s lowest water access rates, with a coverage below 10 per cent, placing it in a state of constant water emergency.
Over the past years, Israel, through its national water company, Mekorot, supplied Gaza with around 18 million cubic meters of water annually through three pipelines, amounting to only 9 per cent of Gaza’s needs. Yet, the water sector in Gaza suffers from a severe deficit exceeding 120 million cubic meters per year (approximately 60 per cent of total demand). With the outbreak of the latest war, these limited supplies have been repeatedly disrupted and, today, they are completely cut off following the destruction of transmission networks. During the war, these pipelines provided up to 70 per cent of Gaza City’s water supply, after most local water sources were destroyed. More than 85 per cent of Gaza’s water and sewage networks have been bombarded, causing destruction and damage to 2,263 kilometres of pipelines and 47 pumping stations, as well as the cessation of all operations of wastewater treatment plants. Currently, only 30 per cent of Gaza’s wells remain operational. The capacity of desalination plants has plummeted to their lowest levels due to continuous bombardment and the shortages of electricity and fuel. Consequently, water supplies available to Gaza’s people have dropped by 95 per cent, with the average daily water consumption per capita reduced to just 3–5 litres, far below the 15-liter minimum emergency threshold set by the United Nations.
Gaza’s displaced: Long queues and arduous journeys for a few drops of water
Since the beginning of the escalation, thousands of Gaza’s residents have endured the tragedy of displacement, which has only deepened their daily suffering. Hundreds of families, forced to flee their homes under heavy bombardment, now face the exhausting challenge of searching for water in distant areas or in overcrowded shelters lacking even the most basic necessities of life. Long queues at water distribution points and wells have become a daily reality, fraught with the constant risks of air strikes, fear and loss of life.
“We wait for long hours just to access unsafe and contaminated water, and sometimes we only manage to get our share after complete exhaustion,” says Fatima, a 35-year-old mother of four, who was displaced with her children to a shelter in western Gaza. “The distance we have to walk every day just to collect water can stretch for several kilometres and, with each passing day, the journey becomes even more difficult.”
Contaminated water: An immediate and long-term health threatThe health situation in Gaza has become catastrophic due to the acute shortage of clean water and the forced reliance on contaminated sources for drinking and hygiene, if available, which has led tothe widespread outbreak of acute diseases such as diarrhoea, kidney infections, urinary tract infections and waterborne diseases, as well as skin infections due to poor hygiene conditions or the use of polluted water for personal care.
These health risks are even more severe for children under the age of five, who are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition, intestinal infections, and severe diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration or death. Pregnant women also face higher risks of early miscarriage, premature delivery and reduced breast milk production due to dehydration and exposure to contaminated water. The elderly are not spared, either, as they face an increased risk of kidney diseases, kidney failure and challenges in managing chronic conditions in the absence of safe and sufficient water supplies.
Impact of the water crisis on food security and forced displacement
The water crisis in Gaza is not only a health emergency but also a growing threat to food security. The destruction of agricultural irrigation networks has further worsened the already fragile economic situation, increasing poverty and hunger across the Gaza Strip due to a sharp decline in agricultural and livestock production. Agricultural productivity in the limited available farmland has dropped by 60 per cent as a result of using contaminated water, not to mention that farmlands have become either unsuitable for cultivation or located in unsafe areas due to the ongoing conflict. Moreover, the scarcity of clean and safe water has intensified forced displacement, with many residents compelled to leave their homes in search of areas where drinking water is available.
A grave breach of International Law: Denying people their right to life
The targeting and destruction of water sources and infrastructure in Gaza constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
According to the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, it is prohibited to attack resources indispensable to the survival of civilians, such as water supplies. Denying water to civilians amounts to a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention and represents a blatant violation of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Such acts may also qualify as crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
In the face of tragedy: An urgent call for action
In light of this tragic reality, there is an urgent need for immediate and coordinated action. Internationally, the United Nations must activate emergency protection mechanisms, while international organisations, including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, should play a key role in intensifying political pressure on the United States to compel Israel to stop the war, halt the supply of weapons to the Occupying forces and ensure the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Human Rights Council is also expected to issue investigative reports on these violations, and the International Criminal Court should open immediate investigations into the crimes committed.
On the humanitarian level, aid organisations must intensify efforts to find emergency solutions for providing clean water to the population in Gaza by repairing damaged water networks, maintaining wells and desalination plants using locally available resources, operating mobile desalination units powered by solar energy, expanding water distribution through water trucks to shelters and displacement camps and providing households with simple tools for water purification and desalination.
On the relief level, it is essential to pre-position water-related equipment, including well supplies, fixed and mobile desalination units, generators, solar energy systems, spare parts for water networks and fuel in both Egypt and Jordan. These should be ready for immediate delivery as soon as border crossings are opened for humanitarian aid. It would be a grave mistake to wait until Crossings re-open before starting to procure these critical supplies, given the time required for sourcing and delivery.
For the recovery and development of Gaza’s water system, it is equally critical not to wait until the war ends to begin planning and preparation. Delaying the restoration and development of the water sector will only prolong the suffering of a population that has already endured unimaginable hardship for over 17 months. Efforts must begin now by developing a comprehensive recovery plan, securing supply chains, mobilising funding and preparing technical teams to respond without delay, ensuring the most vital resource for life, water, is restored for Gaza’s population.
Between a suffocating siege and relentless bombardment, the people of Gaza struggle for every drop of water, much like a drowning person gasping for their final breath. They call for water but receive none; they cry out for help but are left unheard. Has humanity truly turned its back on them? Is water not a right for every living soul, including those trapped and besieged in Gaza?
