Trump’s Board of Peace: A Coastal Tourism Strip in Gaza? Here’s What Would Need to Happen First

Jared Kushner’s Davos slides showed a Gaza transformed: a coastal tourism strip, data centers, industrial zones — a modern, prosperous territory rebuilt from the rubble. It is a vision that has been simultaneously mocked and genuinely considered. As Trump’s Board of Peace held its first meeting Thursday, the question was not whether the vision is appealing but what would need to happen before a single tourist hotel could be built.
First, Hamas would need to disarm. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has made this an explicit prerequisite for reconstruction, specifying that Hamas must surrender approximately 60,000 automatic rifles in addition to heavy weapons. Hamas has not agreed to this.
Second, the transitional governing committee — the US-named body designed to replace Hamas’s governance — would need to enter Gaza and establish functioning administration. Currently it is in Egypt, blocked from entering by Israel’s refusal to grant permission.
Third, the International Stabilization Force would need to deploy, providing the security environment necessary to attract the international investment that Kushner’s vision requires. Countries contributing to the force have said they will not participate in Hamas disarmament, complicating this prerequisite.
Fourth, the estimated $70 billion needed for reconstruction would need to be raised and committed. Trump claimed $5 billion in pledges this week — unverified — against a total need that is fourteen times larger. And fifth, the legal and political framework for international investment, including land rights, regulatory structures, and governance accountability, would need to be established in a territory that has been under Hamas control and wartime conditions.
The coastal tourism strip is a vision. The Board of Peace meeting Thursday was a first step. The distance between them is measured in years, billions of dollars, and political agreements that do not yet exist.