Far-right Israeli politicians and settlers discuss luxury ‘Gaza riviera' plan
The scheme, titled 'The master plan for settlement in the Gaza Strip', envisions the construction of 850,000 housing units, construction of hi-tech 'smart cities' that trade cryptocurrency and a metro system that runs across the territory. It took its inspiration from an idea shared by the US president, Donald Trump, in February, where he pledged to turn Gaza into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'.
'The right of the people of Israel to settle, develop and preserve this land is not just a historical right – it is a national and security obligation,' the text of the plan said, boasting of economic benefits that it would bring to Israel.
The plan, seen by the Guardian, would require Gaza's existing population of about 2 million to be emptied out. Legal experts warn that forcible displacement on such a grand scale would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
'This is a plan for ethnic cleansing. Under international law, this would amount to a crime against humanity because deportation is a war crime when committed on a small scale and a crime against humanity when it is committed on a massive scale,' said Michael Sfard, one of Israel's leading human rights lawyers.
The plan was discussed on Tuesday in the Knesset during a conference called 'The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality'. Among the speakers was the minister of finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the settler activist Daniella Weiss. The conference drew criticism from other politicians, including Gilad Kariv from the Democrats party, who accused Smotrich of calling for war crimes to be committed.
Weiss told the Guardian over the phone: 'Gazans will not remain there. They will go to other countries. Supporters of Hamas we will fight. But those who want to live a normal life, they will have to leave Gaza because of the 7 October attack.' Palestinians would be relocated to Egypt and other unspecified 'African countries', she added.
Weiss said that she had a list of 1,000 Israeli families who had signed up already to live on land in Gaza, once Palestinian residents were pushed away. 'My plan is to make [Gaza] paradise, to make it Singapore,' she said.
Weiss represents a small, but increasingly influential group of radical settlers within Israel who seek to illegally occupy the Gaza Strip. Their calls to create Israeli settlements have grown stronger after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack which killed about 1,200 people and the Israeli war in Gaza which has killed more than 60,000 so far.
The war in Gaza has levelled much of the strip and destroyed basic civilian infrastructure and most cities. The Gaza riviera plan would build luxury resorts on the ruins of Gaza, once Israel stopped bombing it.
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has denied any plans to resettle residents of Gaza, though his defence minister, Israel Katz, has suggested transferring residents into a so-called 'humanitarian city' in southern Gaza. Legal experts have called the plan a blueprint for crimes against humanity and the Israeli military itself pushed back on the idea, which it said would be a security nightmare.
Trump has also floated the idea of expelling the population of Gaza, suggesting at one point that neighbouring Jordan take in those displaced. Trump suggested that the US could assume control over Gaza to 'develop' the strip – which drew the ire of rights organisations across the world.
As the conference was held, Gaza's starvation crisis continued to worsen. At least 113 people have died of hunger in Gaza, 45 of whom died over the last four days, health authorities said. Aid organisations have blamed Israel's virtual blockade of aid into the strip for the growing levels of extreme hunger.
Human rights experts said the suggestion of displacing Gaza's residents inside and outside the territory should not be viewed in isolation. Rather, this is part and parcel of a displacement policy.
'When an occupying power creates a coercive environment by, for instance, withholding food, and that coercive environment leaves no choice to the civilian population but to move, then this can amount to the war crime of forced displacement,' said Janina Dill, the co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.
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Panicked mullahs have also ordered "telecom cages" be installed around prisons as the regime wages war against its own people. Political prisoners - largely banished to death row on trumped-up charges - have been subject to extreme torture and a disturbing rate of executions in the face of growing tensions in the Middle East. Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition. The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state - but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled. Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Regime loyalists have been implored to act as informants - compiling detailed reports with photos, times, locations, licence plates and facial features of suspected individuals. Orders were publicised in an official government news outlet - marking a distinct shift in the paranoid regime's usual strategy of covert suppression. Insiders noted it points to the regime's growing perceived threat posed by the PMOI's grassroots operations. The PMOI has long fought for a secular, democratic Iran, and is understood to be gaining traction amid frustration with economic hardship, political repression, and international isolation. Insiders say they are instead planning to secretly bury them in a twisted bid to cover up their actions. Hassani's devastated daughter, who bravely campaigned for her dad's release, wept as she told how they had not been informed of his execution. In a harrowing video message shared with The Sun, she said: "They didn't grant him a final visit before the execution. "None of us knew, not even my father, who had told my sister to visit him on Monday. "I don't know what to say. I fought so hard. I had so much hope, so much… I still can't believe what has happened." Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, has called on the United Nations to take "concrete and effective measures against a regime built on executions and torture". Mrs Rajavi said: "They [Ehsani and Hassani] now join the eternal ranks of those who have given their lives in the struggle for freedom and justice. "In what appears to be a desperate act during the twilight of his rule, Khamenei has perpetrated yet another grave crime - an effort to delay the inevitable collapse of his regime. Ayatollah 'on his heels' by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) IRAN'S merciless regime is "fully on its heels" - leaving the Ayatollah's days numbered, a former US ambassador says. But the West will not be able to topple Tehran's brutal dictatorship, Mark D. Wallace, CEO & Founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, warned. The ex-ambassador to the UN said it will be down to the Iranian people - who have suffered outrageous repression for decades - to finally end the regime's rule. Iron-fist fanatics have used violent and ruthless measures, including executions and torture, in a twisted bid to stamp out opposition and silence critics. The regime's future now appears to be hanging by a thread, however, as it sits in a "combustible state" following the obliteration of its nuclear empire by the US and Israel. Several of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's top military brass were wiped out in the 12-day war - leaving the barbaric ruler vulnerable. Power held by Iran's terror proxies - including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen - has also been severely depleted. Wallace told The Sun: "The regime isn't just wounded, they're fully on their heels." "Far from securing his hold on power, this brutality only intensifies the outrage of the Iranian people and reinforces the determination of Iran's courageous youth to bring an end to this theocratic tyranny. "Honour to these steadfast Mojahedin who, after three years of unwavering resistance under torture, pressure, and threats, fulfilled their solemn pledge to God and the people with pride and dignity." It comes after The Sun reported how Iran's wounded regime massacred defenceless inmates at a prison before blaming their deaths on shrapnel from airstrikes. As Israeli missiles rained down on a nearby military site on June 16, panicked inmates at Dizel-Abad Prison in Kermanshah begged to be moved to safety. But they were instead met with a hail of bullets from the regime's merciless enforcers in a "deliberate and cold-blooded act", a witness said. Meanwhile, sweeping arrests are also plaguing Iran's population - with around 700 people understood to have been detained last month with reported links to a "spy network". Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Insiders believe this year that distressing toll will be much higher. 9 9
