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War & Peace
'New Gaza' Plan by Far-Right Zionist Jared Kushner Decried as 'Ethnic Extermination'
"Not anchored in law, nor in facts. Just glossy real estate pitch decks dreamt up by Jared Kushner."
Jan 22, 2026
The presentation on the future of Gaza given by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, inyelloe Davos on Thursday, offered what one journalist called "a sanitized, cosmetic image" of an exclave that, due largely to US policy, is actually "a place that needs immediate help and support for people who are on the verge of collapse."
Kushner presented a four-phase "master plan" illustrated by CGI-generated images of luxury apartments, data centers, and futuristic-looking skyscrapers.
In the "New Rafah," built over the southern town that the Israel Defense Forces razed last year and forced hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to leave, Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" plans to build more than 200 education centers and over 180 cultural, religious, and vocational buildings.
The "New Gaza" plan seeks to build 100,000 permanent housing units in all as well as 75 medical facilities. A map presented by Kushner shows yellow "residential areas," bright pink zones set aside for what Kushner called "coastal tourism," sections of land dedicated to industrial data centers and "advanced manufacturing," and green sections for “parks, agriculture, and sports facilities."
The presentation showed that "the ethnic extermination plan is two-pronged: Kill as many as possible, then gentrify the rest out," said entrepreneur David Haddad.
Before Israel began its US-backed destruction of Gaza in 2023, which has killed more than 71,000 people, and destroyed more than 90% of housing units, the exclave's healthcare system included 36 hospitals, fewer than 14 of which were still partially functional as of October, when a "ceasefire" was agreed to and Trump began moving forward with his 20-point "peace plan."
The presentation Kushner gave Thursday was part of that plan, with four phases of transformation beginning with the opening of the Rafah crossing and moving northward through Khan Younis and Gaza City, with a seaport and airport also being built.
The master plan, said Kushner, is projected to cost $25 billion, and would ultimately result in "peace and prosperity" in Gaza.
“People ask us what our plan B is, we do not have a plan B. We have a plan, we signed an agreement, we are committed to making that agreement work,” Kushner said. “There’s a master plan. We’ll be doing it in phasing. In the Middle East, they build cities like this, in, uh, you know, 2, 3 million people. They build this in three years. And so stuff like this is very doable if we make it happen.”
International lawyer Itay Epshtain said that as with the "'peace to prosperity' fantasy," the so-called master plan "won't come to pass."
The proposal, he said, is "not anchored in law, nor in facts. Just glossy real estate pitch decks dreamt up by Jared Kushner. Meanwhile, real humanitarian relief, recovery, and peace for Palestinians are sidelined—sacrificed to delusions of grandeur and war profiteering."
At the "signing ceremony" for the Board of Peace—which includes no Palestinians and has no support from the United States' major longtime European allies—Trump said he approached the development of Gaza as "a real estate person at heart."
"It’s all about location, and I said, look at this location on the sea, look at this beautiful piece of property, what it could be for so many people,” Trump said. “It’ll be so, so great. People that are living so poorly are going to be living so well."
That outlook, said Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera, is one that views Gaza as a "future investment project."
"That’s the problem," said Mahmoud. "It is not being dealt with as a place where people are being killed and starved, and being pretty much cornered in every way possible by the acts that the Israeli military is conducting on the ground. The danger stems from the fact that Gaza is being discussed as an investment and a planning site, rather than as a place where people are being killed on a daily basis—largely ignoring the displacement, the genocidal acts, the starvation, and the misery."
Dilly Hussain of the UK-based news outlet 5 Pillars, said Kushner had proudly presented a plan for a "mega city built on the mass graves of Palestinians after a two-year genocide sponsored by the US."
"No accountability, just business as usual," said Hussain, "with the chief genocider [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu sitting on the 'Board of Peace.'"
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Wanted for War Crimes, Netanyahu Skips Signing of 'Board of Peace' Charter at Davos
One UN expert said it shows "why the ICC and the Rome Statute are so important, even if Israel and the US work to undermine it."
Jan 22, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on President Donald Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" for Gaza. But he couldn't attend the ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday because he'd likely be arrested for war crimes if he set foot in the country.
In 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s genocidal military assault in Gaza.
At least 71,000 Palestinians—the majority of whom were women and children—have been killed by Israeli forces, and at least 169,000 more have been injured during the military campaign, according to official numbers.
Other estimates suggest the real death toll is much higher when taking into account the results of Israel’s crushing blockade of humanitarian aid and its destruction of infrastructure that has made the Gaza Strip virtually unlivable, and which has continued despite a "ceasefire" reached in October.
These deaths are the result of what the ICC said has been a systematic campaign by Netanyahu to use starvation as a method of warfare and enact collective punishment against the strip's civilian population.
Switzerland is one of 125 nations that have ratified the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 1998 as an international body to prosecute leaders who commit genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
Prior to Davos, the Swiss government stated a firm commitment to arresting Netanyahu if he ever sets foot in its territory.
"As a party to the Rome Statute, Switzerland is obliged to cooperate with the International Criminal Court," the nation's Federal Office of Justice told Haaretz. "Switzerland would in principle be required to arrest accused persons if they were to enter Switzerland at this time, provided that a corresponding arrest warrant or an arrest request based on it had been issued by the ICC, and to initiate the surrender proceedings to the International Criminal Court."
Several other countries, including the Netherlands—where the ICC is based—as well as Spain, Ireland, and Australia, have also said they'd comply with the warrants if Netanyahu were to visit.
While the US and Israel itself have not ratified the statute, many of Israel's other allies—including the United Kingdom, France, and Canada—are also party to the agreement and obligated to arrest Netanyahu, though he has thus far not tested their willingness to do so, and many have not stated clearly whether they'd follow through on the obligation.
The only ICC nation Netanyahu has entered since the warrants were issued is Hungary, whose far-right leader Viktor Orban defied the mandate to arrest him and later withdrew from the ICC.
Meanwhile, the US has placed sanctions on the ICC and its chief justice, Karim Khan, and several judges who participated in issuing the warrants, while threatening to do so against any other entity that cooperates with the court.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who appeared at Davos in Netanyahu’s stead on Wednesday, called the ICC’s warrants “illegitimate” and said it was “unacceptable and shameful” for Netanyahu to be excluded from “a conference that aims to shape the future of the world and the Middle East.”
While the ICC's inability to act on its warrants unilaterally has led some to dismiss them as impotent, Beatrice Fihn, a Swedish senior fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, said blocking Netanyahu from events like Davos shows "why the ICC and the Rome Statute are so important, even if Israel and the US work to undermine it."
"The arrest warrant," she said, "is making Netanyahu's work harder."
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'None of This Is Normal': Trump Attacks Allies, Demands Control of Greenland in Rambling Davos Speech
"Our friends think we've gone insane and our enemies are celebrating."
Jan 21, 2026
President Donald Trump on Wednesday used his closely watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to threaten longtime US allies and once again demand control of Greenland, a performance that alarmed observers.
During his Davos address, the president took a shot at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who on Tuesday made a case for creating a new system of international order outside of US hegemony.
"Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way," Trump said. "They should be grateful also but they're not. I watched your prime minister yesterday, he wasn't so grateful. But they should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements."
Trump: "The Golden Dome is going to be defending Canada. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful but they're not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful. But they should be grateful to us. Canada. Canada lives because of… pic.twitter.com/pL1F9nppbx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2026
Trump also once again falsely claimed that Greenland was a US territory, even though it has been recognized as a self-governing territory of Denmark for centuries.
"We need Greenland for strategic national security and international security," he said. "This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western hemisphere. That's our territory. It is therefore a core national security interest of the United States of America."
Trump: "We need Greenland for strategic national security and international security. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western hemisphere. That's our territory." pic.twitter.com/PdAWZXdLAX
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 21, 2026
Although Trump claimed that he would not take Greenland by force during his speech, he still insisted that the US would take control of the territory, a demand the governments of both Denmark and Greenland have flatly rejected.
Journalist Spencer Ackerman warned mainstream news outlets to not emphasize Trump's claims to have ruled out starting a war to seize Greenland.
"If you're only reading headlines and see 'Trump Says He Won't Use Force' it will give you a misimpression of both how bellicose this speech is and how dug in he is on Greenland," Ackerman wrote on Bluesky.
MSNOW columnist Paul Waldman also chastised the media for not conveying the unhinged nature of the president's speech.
"Trump is giving a deranged, rambling monologue in Davos to an audience stunned into silence," Waldman wrote. "He sounds incredibly tired, his voice raspy; he keeps trailing off into long pauses. It's jaw-dropping. The sanewashing headlines are going to say 'Trump Doubles Down On Greenland Demand In Davos Speech.'"
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is also in Davos attending the World Economic Forum, was asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins if he noticed that Trump repeatedly misnamed the country he was demanding be given to the US during his address.
"Did it stand out to you that he said Iceland multiple times when he was talking about Greenland?" asked Collins.
Newsom indicated that it did stand out before noting that Trump also made an absurd claim about power-generating windmills costing $1,000 per rotation.
"A lot of stuff stands out," Newsom emphasized. "None of this is normal... It's really some jaw-dropping and remarkable statements that just, you know, fly in the face of facts and evidence."
COLLINS: Did it stand out to you that he said Iceland multiple times when he was talking about Greenland?
NEWSOM: And that every time a windmill turns it costs $1,000. A lot of stuff stands out. None of this is normal. There's a deviancy of consciousness. He's graded off the… pic.twitter.com/eIJmDWiKTn
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2026
Former Rep. Tom Malinkowski (D-NJ) said that Trump's belligerent address showed that Europe's attempts to appease the president for the last year have been a failure.
"I get why foreign leaders have tried to flatter Trump," he wrote. "But the problem is that flattery reinforces his delusions that what he's doing is working, that America is more respected, when in fact our friends think we've gone insane and our enemies are celebrating."
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Trump 'Piracy' Continues as US Hijacks 7th Venezuela-Linked Oil Tanker
The MV Sagitta is at least the second Chinese-owned tanker seized during Trump's nearly monthlong "quarantine."
Jan 20, 2026
US forces on Tuesday seized a seventh oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea linked to Venezuela as President Donald Trump's military campaign to control the source of the world's largest petroleum reserves continued.
According to US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), troops boarded and seized the MV Sagitta Tuesday morning "without incident."
"The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully," SOUTHCOM said.
The Sagitta is a Liberian-flagged vessel owned and managed by a company in China. It is at least the second Chinese-owned tanker taken by US forces since Trump's announcement last month of a "quarantine" on Venezuelan oil exports. Regional and world leaders have condemned the seizures as acts of "piracy."
International law experts contend that the blockade, sanctions, and strikes on boats allegedly transporting drugs—which have killed more than 120 people—are all illegal, as are the US bombing and invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The US Department of Justice indicted Maduro for alleged conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and possession of such weapons. Maduro has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and has called himself a “prisoner of war.”
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