Trump administration weighs $5,000 incentive for Palestinians to leave Gaza

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a controversial plan to offer Palestinians $5,000 each to voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.

The proposal, titled the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust (GREAT Trust), outlines incentives including a year’s worth of food and four years of rent subsidies for those who accept relocation. In exchange, the U.S. and its partners would pursue redevelopment projects aimed at transforming Gaza into a tourism and high-tech hub, described in the documents as the future “Riviera of the Middle East.”

The plan further proposes granting landowners digital tokens that could be redeemed for property rights in newly built “AI-powered smart cities” within Gaza or used to finance resettlement abroad.

Critics, including the United Nations and multiple human rights groups, have condemned the proposal as a violation of international law. Forced displacement, they argue, could amount to a war crime and undermine longstanding UN-backed efforts to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged discussions with countries such as Libya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Indonesia, and Somaliland as potential relocation sites for Palestinians.

While the Trump administration insists the plan would be privately funded through mega-investments in real estate, energy, and technology projects, analysts warn that it risks deepening the humanitarian crisis and escalating regional instability.

The European Union, Arab states, and global leaders have voiced concerns that the proposal reflects ongoing attempts to obstruct Palestinian statehood, despite broad international recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state alongside Israel.