Israeli finance minister calls Gaza ‘a real estate bonanza’

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has once again landed himself in controversy. Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv on September 17, 2025, he referred to Gaza neither as a humanitarian crisis but as a "real estate bonanza." For him, the destruction caused by months of war is the beginning point of what he terms as a business plan for Gaza's post-war life. The plan, he claimed, is already pending before US President Donald Trump.

From Ruin to Renewal

Smotrich presented Israel's Gaza war as the initial phase of "urban renewal." He assured his listeners that the "destruction phase" was over and that construction would be less expensive and quicker. The property, in his terminology, could now be converted into a money-making business. He even hinted that Israel, having subsidized the war, was entitled to some of the future earnings.
For his far-right friends, this is a dream of promise.

It entails the rebuilding of Jewish settlements dissolved in 2005, the development of luxury resorts along the Mediterranean coast of Gaza, and high-tech enclaves to lure in investors. Smotrich has been more explicit, stating bluntly that much of today's Gaza population needs to be persuaded to go, offering emigration as the inevitable next stage of this "renewal."

Humanitarian Crisis Confronts Political Calculations

The response has been rapid and angry. Palestinians and the international community see the vocabulary of property and profit as insensitive at best. Gaza is not a blank slate today but a place where millions are stricken in the devastation of war. Neighborhoods are destroyed. The very basic infrastructure of electricity, clean water, and hospitals is in shambles.

Human rights groups have consistently warned that reconstruction and displacement without the involvement and rights of Gaza's inhabitants might constitute ethnic cleansing. Even in Israel, Smotrich's words have unnerved many. While his political constituency lauds the audacity of the vision, critics allege it removes the moral obligation to solve the current humanitarian crisis. To them, talking of seafront hotels as civilians try to find food and medicine is offensive at a deep level.

An International Flashpoint

Smotrich's suggestion that profits from Gaza land development could be divided with the United States is an added layer of controversy. Trump's staff is already considering proposals for Gaza's future, he claims. That in itself has generated speculation that the rebuilding of Gaza would be used as a geopolitical bargaining tool and not a humanitarian operation. International responses have echoed these worries. Palestinians rights activists contend that forced or coerced emigration of Palestinians would be a violation of international law.

Foreign diplomats caution that references to a "real estate bonanza" have the potential to escalate regional tensions, and thwart any hope of lasting peace.

What Comes After the War

The argument over Smotrich's remarks raises a deeper issue. What does rebuilding Gaza entail? For Israel's right wing, it means building without the inhabitants currently residing there. For Palestinians, it means going home, regaining dignity, and rebuilding their lives on their own soil. For international players, it is a challenge of whether reconstruction can be respectful of human rights or demeaned to an investment endeavor.

Smotrich's address is a reminder that battles are not just lost on the field but also in the narratives about what follows. His idea of Gaza as an economic opportunity is one such future. But for millions of individuals whose houses are no more, the future is not economic gain. It is survival, justice, and being able to live where generations of their families lived.

Video Partner: DW