Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pitched “Project Sunrise,” a $112.1 billion plan to rebuild Gaza as a high‑tech tourist metropolis with 20% U.S. funding and nearly $60 billion in grants or guarantees. The 32‑slide deck outlines high‑speed rail, AI‑managed power grids and luxury resorts but lacks concrete plans for housing roughly 2 million displaced Palestinians. Experts say the project depends on Hamas disarmament — a condition not met — and faces massive practical challenges, including clearing 68 million tons of rubble and recovering thousands of corpses.
Kushner’s $112.1B “Project Sunrise”: A High‑Tech Gaza Rebuild Faces Political and Practical Barriers
Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images, The Wall Street Journal
Jared Kushner and real estate executive Steve Witkoff have circulated a 32‑slide, “sensitive but unclassified” proposal called “Project Sunrise: Building a New and Unified Gaza.” The pitch envisions transforming the Gaza Strip into a high‑end, high‑tech tourist metropolis — complete with high‑speed rail, AI‑managed power systems and luxury beachfront resorts — at an estimated cost of $112.1 billion over ten years.
The plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, proposes the United States would underwrite roughly 20% of development costs and provide nearly $60 billion in grants and debt guarantees to support “all the contemplated work streams” during the project timeline. Kushner and Witkoff have reportedly presented the pitch to officials in Turkey, Egypt and wealthy Gulf states while courting private and public donors.
Jared and Witkoff are pitching a futuristic utopia built on the ruins of Gaza. / Wall Street Journal
Despite the glossy vision, the presentation leaves major questions unanswered. It does not provide a detailed plan for where an estimated 2 million displaced Palestinians would live during reconstruction; it only states they would be accommodated in “temporary shelter, field hospitals, and mobile clinics.” Slide 2 of the deck reportedly acknowledges the project cannot proceed unless Hamas disarms.
Political Obstacles
Middle East experts and officials have voiced deep skepticism. Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations, told reporters:
“Nothing happens until Hamas disarms. Hamas will not disarm, so nothing will happen.”
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff have been pressing their business connections to try and secure profitable peace deals in the Middle East. / Win McNamee/Getty Images
Senator Marco Rubio warned that donors are unlikely to invest if they expect renewed conflict soon:
“You are not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two, three years.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast inquiry. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Wall Street Journal, "The Trump administration will continue to work diligently with our partners to sustain a lasting peace and lay the groundwork for a peaceful and prosperous Gaza."
Reconstruction in Gaza would require the removal of 68 million tons of debris, undetonated land mines, and 10,000 killed Palestinians. / Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images
Practical Challenges
Even if political obstacles were resolved, reconstruction would be an enormous logistical and humanitarian undertaking. Estimates cited in reporting say builders would first need to clear unexploded ordnance and land mines, remove some 68 million tons of rubble, and recover and respectfully process the remains of approximately 10,000 people killed in the conflict.
Given the scale of clearance, demining, debris removal, and long‑term resettlement planning required — as well as the need for secure, sustained funding — experts say the gap between the pitch’s aspirational vision and on‑the‑ground reality remains very large.
Bottom line: Project Sunrise offers an ambitious, well‑financed blueprint for rebuilding Gaza as a technology‑driven tourist hub, but it faces acute political preconditions, unresolved humanitarian logistics and daunting reconstruction tasks that make its near‑term realization unlikely.
