Donald Trump’s Project Sunrise promises to rebuild Gaza, but beneath its glossy rhetoric lies a plan that many see as transforming occupation into opportunity.
Introduction
Since then, Israel, through carpet bombing and various other vicious means, has destroyed every corner of the country with a bogus claim of dismantling Hamas beneath the tunnels. As of 2025, the Trump administration has so far been successful in concluding a so-called Gaza ‘ceasefire’ with the Muslim world’s acceptance. The famous 20-point Gaza peace plan, which is labelled as the ‘model of Trump’s colonialism’ in the Middle East, needs no introduction. Recently, another major post-conflict reconstruction plan has been passed on to the Gulf nations by the Trump administration, called ‘Project Sunrise.’ The project seems to be more political rhetoric with overconfident claims, a fractured past, and an uncertain future.
Project Sunrise or Sunset?
According to the Wall Street Journal, the project is a $112 billion transformative project spanning over a decade or two. This newly released 32-page document is the corollary of Trump’s vision of making Gaza the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’ Entitled with the name ‘sunrise,’ the project entails an immense economic investment in the Gaza Strip by the world’s renowned economic tycoons, stakeholders, and investors, including the United States. According to the Times of Israel, this plan has already been shared with key Gulf partners to deliberate and exploit the opportunity to rebuild Gaza into the world’s most iconic destination.
This plan involves beachfront resorts and tourism infrastructure, which are luxurious and will be designed to establish a Mediterranean destination economy. New transportation networks and high-speed rail networks to connect the economic zones along the Strip. Artificial intelligence-controlled smart grids and electronic governance: Gaza will become the epicentre of the next generation. On paper, this plan appears to be a massive construction project, but it is shrouded in a cloud of uncertainties and blatant exaggerations.
Key Stages
- Stabilization
This first stage of the project is in line with phase two of the 20-point peace plan, which is mainly focused on disarming or dismantling Hamas operatives from the territory so that future peace efforts can’t be ruined. In this first stage, all the war debris created by the IDF’s bombing and shelling should be removed. The unexploded material from the territory would be exterminated to clear the ground for infrastructural development. This stage would also provide immediate humanitarian and health facilities to the Palestinians.
- Infrastructural Reconstruction
This stage revolves around the restoration of civilized life through massive infrastructural investment for building houses, schools, religious sites, water facilities, electricity grids, etc. The reconstruction would start from southern Gaza, i.e. Rafah and Khan Yunis, to the northern Gaza Strip. This stage aims to restore normal civilian life and basic governance capacity.
- Economic Development
This stage is where the actual players would put their stakes. This stage would be centered on the growth of transport routes, industries, factories, and employment projects. This is proposed to be done through modern highways, rail connectivity, ports, and integrated utility systems to facilitate trade and movement. This period aims at helping Gaza to become less aid-dependent and less reliant on the economy through attracting investments and employment opportunities.
- Urban Riviera
The fourth and final stage of this project is to transform Gaza into a high-tech Riviera of the Middle East. This stage is entirely focused on making Gaza one of the world’s most advanced areas, with ‘New Rafah’ as its administrative center. This stage would enable Gaza to become the world’s most integrated economy.
Business Diplomacy or Family Politics?
Besides the features of the project, this initiative is more inclined towards personal benefits rather than a contribution to international peacebuilding efforts. All major negotiators, investors, and stakeholders are either family members or close friends of President Trump. This is evidenced by the fact that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are the two prominent figures pushing for this plan. Steve Witkoff is a very close friend and former business partner of President Trump. Being a real estate developer, Witkoff is currently serving as the US special envoy to the Middle East, but President Trump has made him the de facto representative of the US to nearly all the major regions, including Europe, Russia, Afghanistan, etc. On the other hand, Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of President Trump and has served as a senior advisor in Trump’s first term. Kushner belongs to a Jewish family, which provides another major appreciation for Israel to pursue its Gaza mission. This project can be considered as the ‘Trump’s Corollary’ to Kushner’s 2019 economic plan. In June 2019, during the first term of President Trump, Kushner proposed a $50 billion ‘peace to prosperity’ plan to upgrade the economic condition of Palestine, which gathered immense hatred and criticism from the locals and experts.
Last but not least, Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, is a very close buddy of Trump and remains the most prominent figure during Trump’s 2025 election campaign. His inclusion would enable the US to finalize the fourth stage of the project, transforming Gaza into the finest achievement of human intellect. The inclusion of all these personalities is clearly pointing towards one fact: capitalism at its peak, with money flowing from one hand of the family to the other.
New Era of Colonialism
Project Sunrise is none other than a colonialist plan of action, which, through absurd declarations and statements under the guise of prosperity and peace, is basically a target of pursuing economic deals at human cost. The question of the right of self-determination of Palestinians finds no room in the plan. Even the project is ambiguous on where the people of Gaza would be accommodated during reconstruction. Who would control and govern the reconstructed Gaza — Israelis, Palestinians, or an international government? The 2025 inaugural speeches of President Trump clearly stated that the US would take control of — and own the Gaza Strip. What does this mean? Moreover, the dismantling or disarming of Hamas is also a confusion. How and whether Hamas will be disarmed or eliminated? All these questions remain unanswered, and no one knows exactly what may occur. This kind of ambiguity is actually a Trump trap for the Muslim world to gradually but effectively accomplish the core objective of Jewish colonialism in Gaza.
Conclusion
In essence, the project’s ambiguity is actually not ambiguous; it’s obvious — the Israeli occupation of the Muslim holy land. The future of the innocent Palestinians, which has already been fractured, is now facing another major impediment. It is now completely upon the Muslim world whether they will accept the civilizational erasure of their Palestinian brethren or resist the plan. However, the current geopolitical scenario is not going in favour of Palestinians, with the Muslim world completely surrendering to the American wish box.
Aleena Im is an independent researcher and writer and is interested in international relations and current affairs
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