There's location, location, location.
Then there's homes and loved ones lost.
As the IDF's offensive in Gaza City
intensifies, new details have emerged of
a development plan that was doing the
rounds in Washington. An attempt to
realize Donald Trump's vision for Gaza,
articulated like this back in February.
>> The Riviera of the Middle East. This
could be something that could be so bad.
This could be so magnificent.
>> Cue the AI generated content reposted by
Trump. But before the real estate pitch,
the reality
>> in the last 24 hours, according to
Gaza's Hamasan Health Ministry, 98
Palestinians were killed by the IDF.
>> Abu Muhammad Dalul's brother, for
example, died in an air strike today.
>> What did he do wrong? He had nothing on
him. He has young children. They've now
been orphaned. For the sake of God, stop
the war.
>> Officials said today that 46 people were
killed while trying to access aid. Over
2,000 people have now died in similar
circumstances.
Most of those deaths occurred near sites
run by the controversial USbacked Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation. Some of the
people behind it are also reportedly
behind a proposal for a postwar Gaza. A
separate group looked at the money.
Financial planning around the proposal
was done by a team working for the giant
management consultancy Boston Consulting
Group. They have offices in that return
to shape skyscraper behind me here in
Tel Aviv. Now, they've subsequently
distanced themselves from this proposal
and a number of executives involved have
been fired. Nonetheless, this proposal
was obviously designed to appeal to
Donald Trump, America's estate agent
president. For one thing, it's called
the Gaza Reconstitution Economic
Acceleration and Transformation Trust,
acronym great. It is blue sky thinking,
where the blue skies are on a different
planet.
The idea, a network of sci-fi style AI
powered smart cities along the length of
the strip. The plan envisages the
relocation of all of Gaza's 2 million
plus population. Their options:
voluntary relocation to another country
or into restricted secured zones. Those
who own land would be offered a digital
token in exchange for rights to
redevelop their property, to be redeemed
for an apartment in a rebuilt residence,
or to fund a new life elsewhere. Each
Palestinian who chooses to leave would
be given a $5,000 cash payment and
subsidies to cover four years of rent as
well as a year of food. There are some
words noticeably missing from this
estate agent style pitch. ethnic
cleansing, forced displacement, post-war
sustainable governance. The whole thing
is almost laughable, except for the fact
that critics would say it was designed
by the authors because they thought it
would appeal to the president of the
United States.
>> According to Gaza's health ministry,
nine people died of hunger and
malnutrition on the strip in the last 24
hours.
You can't eat digital tokens, our
management consultants reports.
>> Now, perhaps to underline how bolted
together this proposal is on the
infrastructure rebuilding Gaza section,
IKEA's logo features. Now, today we
reached out to IKEA and cue the sound of
corporate jaws hitting the floor. They
responded to our question. Are you going
to be involved in rebuilding Gaza with
the following statement? This is
surprising and new information for us.
IKEA is not aware of this initiative and
can confirm that we have not approved
the use of the IKEA logo in this
context. Now listen, back in the real
world of Gaza's future, there was a
cabinet security meeting last night here
in Israel. And according to Israeli
media, the chief of staff of the IDF
wanted to talk about furthering
negotiations around a hostage deal. But
the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
again rejected that idea, wanting
instead the meeting to exclusively focus
on this rebooted military operation
inside Gaza City. And one more thought
if I may. Those images you saw in our
report from inside Gaza were brought to
you by journalists who live and work
there. Journalists like myself are not
allowed there. And those journalists,
just like many Gazins, are looking for
food for themselves and their family,
but they are doing so at the same time
as wanting to shine a light on what's
happening in their home.
>> Thanks, Poric. Poric Brian live in Tel
Aviv.
Well, the world's leading genocide
scholars association has passed a
resolution saying the legal criteria has
now been met to establish that Israel is
committing genocide in Gaza. Israel's
foreign ministry branded the decision
disgraceful, saying it was based on
Hamas's campaign of lies. Professor Tim
Williams is the second vice president of
the International Association of
Genocide Scholars and professor of
insecurity and social order at the
University of the Bunsv Munich.
Professor Williams, could you have
reached this conclusion realistically a
year ago? A lot of the things you
describe in your reasoning appear to
have been going on for some time in
Gaza.
>> Absolutely. I I think it would have been
difficult to um to pass the resolution a
year ago. um because I think there were
many more balls in the air in terms of
knowing reliable numbers um and of
knowing really the intent of the um
Israeli government and military. Um
having said that, I mean, yes, the
resolution could have probably been
passed um sooner than it than it was,
but I think that's one of the hallmarks
of academic research is that it really
wants to wait until there is enough
evidence to make a very strong call. And
I don't think any of our members were
going to pitch a resolution until they
could be certain that a strong majority
of the members were going to also um go
with it. And in the end um 86% of our
voting members did um vote to pass the
resolution.
>> Yeah. And just over a week ago, we had a
a declaration of famine in parts of
Gaza. And today, little seems to have
changed as a result. And we've had
another statement through um on Twitter
this time from the Israeli government
accusing your association of being an
embarrassment to the legal profession.
What do you make of that?
>> Well, I don't don't think anyone
expected the Israeli government to be
particularly supportive of our um
resolution. Um but I don't think that
changes uh anything about the the facts
on the ground that we were analyzing and
uh that the vast majority of our members
came to to believe that the the crime of
genocide is being committed. There are
very specific uh violent actions which
are connected to that. Um killing uh
mental and physical harm uh being being
uh committed and the deliberate
destruction of um the conditions of life
calculated to bring about the
destruction of a group and we see that
happening um but the Israeli government
denies it.
>> Do you think this will have a tangible
difference in any way, shape or form on
the Israeli actions?
I think what it does do is it it it
tells governments around the world that
the foremost uh association on on
genocide scholars that and we do that
every day. We look at genocides various
different cases thinks that this is a
genocide and it can have a certain
amount of academic uh credentials to
anyone now claiming that it is um
genocide. So I do hope that governments
around the world I don't think it's
going to persuade the Israeli government
to change its mind as in and of itself
but hopefully it will figure into some
of the political debates happening in
third countries.
>> I mean a lot of people may look at
what's happening in Gaza and for them
that automatically reaches the threshold
of genocide. But do you think there is a
difference between what parts of the
public think and the legal definition of
genocide which actually sets quite a
high bar?
>> Absolutely. Um
genocide is not just mass killing. um
one of the it's also other crimes like I
was saying for instance also the the
destruction the deliberate destruction
of um foundations of life but also there
is a high bar set by the intent to
destroy there has to be the the
perpetrators of genocide have to want to
um eradicate um the target group in
whole in part and I think that's where
um there's been most debate but we have
seen many um government leaders cabinet
ministers and senior army officials um
making explicit statements ments um over
the last now almost two years um and uh
through that I think eventually our
members see that the bar has been
fulfilled.
>> Professor Williams
>> I mean just briefly under article one of
the genocide convention it states that
you know other states also need to
prevent acts of genocide. Do you think
this will have any effect in focusing
minds in that respect?
>> I hope so. I think we've seen over the
last couple of months that um
particularly several European powers um
the UK, France, Germany are starting to
shift their thinking uh and their their
um relations to Israel. And I hope that
this is sort of one piece of the mosaic
of um of of evidence and of appeals to
change those policies and to exert
pressure on Israel to change uh the way
that they are fighting the war um in