US President Donald Trump shared a video on social media last week that quickly went viral. It was created using artificial intelligence and depicted Trump's vision for the future of the Gaza Strip. It includes a giant, gold statue of Trump, Elon Musk and Palestinian children throwing dollar bills in the air, and Trump himself lounging bare-chested at a beach resort, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next to him, also in a swimsuit. The video says: "No more tunnels, no more fear, Trump-Gaza is finally here."
The video was created after Trump's proposals that the US should take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East." Trump's plan also includes the relocation of about two million Palestinians to other countries, most likely Egypt and Jordan. The idea has sparked international outrage, with the UN saying that any such move could be considered ethnic cleansing.
The AI-generated footage has also sparked outrage, not only because it ignores Palestinian suffering, but because it brings back Trump's "Riviera" plan at a time when more realistic alternatives are being sought.
After more than a year of conflict, more than 60 percent of Gaza's buildings were destroyed during an Israeli military operation launched on October 7, 2023, in retaliation for an attack by Hamas, a militant organization based in Gaza. The terrorist attack killed about 1.200 people and took about 250 hostages in Gaza. The Israeli military operation that followed killed about 48.000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources.
In a recent report, the World Bank estimated that $53,2 billion would be needed to recover and reconstruct Gaza over a decade, with $20 billion needed in the first three years to restore basic services, rebuild infrastructure, and support economic recovery.
Joint Arab plan against the "Riviera" proposal
Egypt said it would take those estimates into account when the Arab League meets for an emergency summit on Gaza reconstruction in Cairo this Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
"Egypt is very clear about its intention to present an alternative plan to Trump's proposal for Gaza," Riccardo Fabiani, director of the North Africa project at the International Crisis Group, a global non-governmental organization headquartered in Brussels, told DW. "The two principles of the joint Arab proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza are a future political strategy based on a two-state solution, without any suggestion of displacing the local Palestinian population," Fabiani said.
What options do Arab states have?
However, any plan that may emerge from the March 4 summit will face limitations. "There are not many options that the Americans and the Israelis would find acceptable," Fabiani points out.
Israel has repeatedly reiterated that it does not support the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
"The Arab leaders will also propose the establishment of a committee of experts to oversee the reconstruction," Fabiani added. But such a committee, which would include engineers, architects, economists and planners, would also have to be accepted by the official government in Gaza, which is Hamas.
"For the Egyptians, it will be crucial that Hamas is not directly involved, but (will still be) consulted on the efforts to rebuild Gaza," explains Fabiani, adding that "the Israelis don't see Hamas anywhere, and the Americans are quite skeptical."
Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international relations at George Washington University, believes that the joint Arab proposal is "a very powerful idea in theory."
"If the Arab world were to unite behind a concrete proposal that says, 'We will help rebuild Gaza, we will help normalize relations (between Israel and Saudi Arabia), we will help build a region where this issue is finally left behind,' then it would be very difficult for the US administration not to cooperate with the Arab world," Brown told DW.
In practice, however, there are various barriers, the political scientist adds.
"First, the American president himself is unpredictable. In addition, there will be objections among Israel's right-wing allies within the American government," Brown adds. And Israel, he says, is also a major obstacle.
So, Brown argues, "any kind of Arab initiative based on treating the Palestinians as a national entity would have to be strong and capable of somehow convincing, plus Israeli public opinion." Or they would have to convince the US to put intense pressure on Israel, Brown believes.
"Finally, there are obstacles within the Arab world as well," he says. "These countries have never been able to define a strategic goal and pursue it." It is unlikely that they will be able to do so now, Prof. Braun tells DW.
A glimmer of hope?
Despite everything, the current situation could prove to be an opportunity.
Sigrid Kag, the newly appointed UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council last week that this could be “the last chance to achieve a two-state solution.”
The first phase of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended on March 1st, and details of the next phase are being discussed. The KAG has urged both sides to avoid a return to war at all costs.
With an emergency Arab League summit taking place shortly after, on March 4, Cairo could use the momentum to propose a two-phase approach, Fabiani of the International Crisis Group tells DW.
"Given the lack of clarity regarding the room for compromise, I believe the Egyptians could prioritize reconstruction. The political process – one that ultimately ends with the constitution of a Palestinian state alongside Israel – would come second," Fabiani concludes.
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