TRANSCRIPT
A post-war plan for Gaza is circulating within U-S President Donald Trump's administration.
Under the proposal, the country will administer the Gaza Strip for at least a decade, temporarily relocate its population, and rebuild it as a tourist hub.
It's understood the administration and international partners are discussing proposals to build a “Riviera of the Middle East” on the rubble of Gaza.
The Washington Post newspaper has seen a 38-page prospectus which states Gaza's two million residents would either leave "voluntarily" for another country, or be confined to restricted zones during reconstruction.
Gaza City residents said they will stay because they are tired with being displaced many times, and there is no safe place to go in the enclave.
It comes as Israeli military launched what it called the "initial stages" of a planned offensive on the city [[last Friday]].
Akram Mzini is a resident from Gaza City.
"We will not leave because displacement is very difficult. We were displaced to the south before and displacement in the south is not simple and it is costly. We were displaced to Rafah, Deir al-Balah and Zawaida and life is very difficult. Life is difficult so we will stay in our home and whatever God wants will happen."
President Trump had earlier said after his inauguration at the Oval Office that Gaza looks like "a massive demolition site".
While signing a raft of executive orders he said, "It’s got to be rebuilt in a different way."
Two weeks after his inauguration, at a White House news conference with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump said the U-S will take over the Gaza strip.
He said that everyone he had spoken to about it "loves the idea."
Fedaa Hamad is a Palestinian who was displaced from Beit Hanoun.
"I have no plans to leave. We are tired from the first displacement. Where are we going to go? Is there a place in the south? We cannot find it. It’s good that I found this place and settled here. I have no plans to leave, and the girls (daughters) tell me everyday, 'Let's leave, mother, or we will die here.' Life is one and God is one. We will die there, and we will die here. Let me stay here in Gaza, it's better."
Over the weekend, an Israeli official said Israel will soon halt or slow humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza as it expands its military offensive.
The Washington Post also noted that landowners would be offered digital tokens in exchange for redevelopment rights, and each Palestinian who departed would receive A$7,645 and rent subsidies for four years.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz says its forces have killed a veteran Hamas spokesman in a strike on Gaza a day ago.
This marks the latest fatality in the group's senior ranks in the past two years of fighting.
Earlier Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was unsure if Abu Ubeida was killed, but noted he had been targeted in a strike.
"In another joint operation, the Shin Bet and the IDF attacked the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman for the murderous evil organisation, Abu Ubeida. We still don't know the final result. I hope he is no longer with us, but I notice that there is no one to address this question on the Hamas side. So hours and days will surely tell what they will say."
Shortly after he acknowledged in a video that Israel "eliminated one of the senior Hamas figures".
Israel seeks to eradicate Hamas from the Gaza Strip and has said it will return hostages seized by Palestinian militants in their October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.
Hamas has not yet confirmed the death.
Meanwhile in Israel's capital Tel Aviv and other parts of the country, thousands of protesters are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Relatives of those killed and still in captivity addressed the crowd over the weekend, accusing the government of prolonging the crisis.
A student protesting in Jerusalem, Shay Dickmann urges the U-S president to seal a ceasefire deal.
"We are standing in front of our prime minister's home asking for what the Israeli people want: a deal that will bring back 50 of our hostages now, before it's too late. We ask from him, from [[US]] President Trump, 'you did it before, do it again, seal the deal and bring back 50 of our hostages'. Only when the last hostage is back, peace will become here."
A flotilla of 20 boats has set sail from Barcelona for Gaza in what organisers call the largest bid yet to break Israel's blockade.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying food, water and medicine, with activists demanding safe passage and a humanitarian sea corridor as famine grips Gaza City and the IC - which provides research on food security - says over half a million people face catastrophic hunger.
Now in its 23rd month, the Gaza authorities say the war has killed more than 63,000, while health officials say 332 people, including 124 children, have died of malnutrition.
Participants from 44 countries are on board, among them Steve, who withheld his surname for security reasons, but said he could no longer stand by.
"It’s just gotten to the point where I can’t sit by and not do anything any more. I feel like really the fate of humanity is on the line and I need to do something, so I’m here."
An Australian citizen Abubakir Rafiq, who's an activist and content creator from Sydney, is travelling with the group.
In a social media post he said while on board, "It's so loud and so hot".
But he praised the large crowd that came to see the flotilla off, saying "This is what solidarity looks like, it's insane".
More ships are expected to join from Italy and Tunisia, with the flotilla aiming to reach Gaza by mid-September.
SBS News has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.
