Israeli analyst: Trump's Gaza plan too soft on ethnic cleansing of Palestinians

An Israeli economic analyst has criticised US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, warning it would not carry out the scale of ethnic cleansing many in Israel expect.

Eyal Ofer, known in Israeli media and policy circles as an analyst specialising in the finances and economic strategies of Hamas, told the Israeli paper that Trump would "not have to pay the price" for his promises about rebuilding Gaza.

"The biggest problem, as with any real estate contract, is that Israelis are dazzled by the presentation, but do not read the fine print," he said, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.

According to Ofer, Israeli media rushed to sell the public "a new-old dream" in which two million Palestinians would be expelled from the Strip.

"This idea appeals to many," he said. "The truth must be said, if it were practical... many would welcome it." He added that "the people of Israel have long dreamed of how to disconnect from Gaza," remarking that "if it had been possible to saw off the Strip and let it float away, we would have done so".

The plan drafted by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, envisions 25 percent of Gazans leaving temporarily, with the right to return once reconstruction is complete.

The remaining 75 percent would be confined to "secured areas" inside Gaza for up to a decade, provided with food and basic services while new housing is built. Ofer dismissed the proposal as "castles in the air".

The plan has already drawn widespread international criticism.

Amnesty International warned it could amount to ethnic cleansing and a potential war crime under the Geneva Conventions, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described it as an attempt at ethnic cleansing and a grave breach of international law.

Legal experts and rights groups have similarly condemned the proposals as a forced population transfer, prohibited under international law.

Kushner suggested Israel could establish camps for Gazans in the Negev. Ofer said such facilities would inevitably be surrounded by barbed wire, walls and armed guards to prevent people "spilling into the rest of Israel".

While he admitted that Palestinians would see such camps as a form of “right of return”, he argued they would instead become tools of propaganda to be used against Israel.

The plan also promises that each Gaza family will receive an apartment in new luxury towers valued at up to one million dollars. Ofer questioned why, under such conditions, anyone would want to leave. Ultimately, he noted, the plan ends with Gaza being handed back to the Palestinian Authority. "Sounds familiar," he remarked.

Ofer warned that Israel’s military would bear the brunt of the plan, forced to secure demolition and construction projects inside Gaza. “Practically, this is a mission for tens of thousands of soldiers for many years, during which every week we will wake up to another ‘cleared for publication’ announcement as Hamas guerrilla operations and explosives wait in every alley.”

He also attacked the underlying assumption that improving living conditions could reduce hostility to Israel, repeating the genocidal claim that every resident of Gaza must be seen as worthy of collective punishment.

"Someone forgot what Gaza’s population really is, what the Palestinian ethos is, and how deeply Gazan society is religious and inseparable from Hamas’s ideology,” he said.

"Those living in Gaza are bound by religious commands telling them to cling to the land and continue jihad until the total destruction of Israel."

Israel's war on Gaza has so far killed at least 63,633 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are innocent civilians. Much of the enclave has been rendered uninhabitable. 

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Eyal Ofer as an Israeli businessman. The comments cited are from an Israeli economy expert of the same name. The article and headline have been updated on 3 September 2025 to reflect this clarification.