Published in the Jerusalem Post, 17 November 2025
Sooner or later the regeneration of Gaza will
have to be tackled. Before too long,
assuming the ceasefire holds, the nations which support President Donald
Trump’s peace plan will be initiating a reconstruction program – a task so huge
in scale and cost that it nearly beggars the imagination. In mid-October the UN Development
Program (UNDP), World Bank, and EU jointly raised their estimate
for full reconstruction to about $70 billion, replacing the earlier $53 billion estimate.
Preliminary but essential steps, especially in
Gaza City but also throughout the Strip.
will be to remove the mountains of rubble, clear away unexploded
ordnance, and provide temporary
housing for families returning to mere bomb sites.
After that, an early priority will
be to build hundreds of thousands of new permanent housing units. Allied to this will be the construction of
necessary infrastructure such as water and sewage, electricity and gas grids,
roads, telecommunication networks, shops and markets. Egypt’s widely backed plan for the
reconstruction of Gaza, officially adopted and endorsed by the Arab League on
March 4, remains a central blueprint for the coordinated multi-national
recovery agenda for Gaza. It envisages “a
commercial port and an airport”, together with industrial and commercial zones to
include factories and warehouses.
The whole reconstruction
project is expected to last at least a decade, and the US-backed Board of Peace
is being established to supervise the financing and contracting process.
WIRED, a respected monthly
publication, is focused on how technology can impact positively on culture,
business, and science. On October 14 it featured a comprehensive plan to reconstruct Gaza. Conceived by a small group of entrepreneurs, it had, they affirmed, been shared with
Trump administration officials. When
discussing the lucrative contracts that will be on offer once the program gets
under way, it highlighted more than two dozen multinational corporations (some of
whom told WIRED they did not know they had been named).
In fact the Gaza rebuilding environment is
already a fiercely contested global marketplace. The reconstruction process has
triggered intense lobbying and bidding from dozens of international consortia.
Leading Turkish and Egyptian construction firms are already openly competing
for contracts against major players from the US, Britain, the EU, the Gulf
states, and beyond.
Gulf states, especially Qatar and
the UAE, have pledged funds and are pressing to influence the process. Western diplomatic efforts, such as joint
investment conferences hosted by Britain, Egypt, and Palestinian authorities,
underline the competitive scramble for Gaza contracts.
Turkey’s involvement in Trump’s peace plan is heavily driven by self-interest — a mix of geopolitical ambition, economic opportunity, and domestic political gain.
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Egyptian contractors are also
aggressively positioning themselves for the rebuilding phase. Cairo-based firms
are compiling bids and prequalification documents, aiming to leverage Egypt’s
proximity, supply chains, and construction materials surplus.
US firms are expected to
participate. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed that while “contractors
from all of the Middle Eastern countries” are already in discussions, American
companies — particularly in technology, infrastructure, and logistics — will
have access through the Board of Peace procurement process. Major pro-Trump
tech investors are rumored to be preparing to fund reconstruction-linked
ventures.
Erdogan’s ambition to dominate the
Sunni Muslim world has long been an irritant in Arab circles. On October 20, Arab political commentator
Ayman Abdel Nour said: "Erdogan is
a master in…taking advantage of events, turning them to his own interest and
taking credit for them. Obviously the
Gulf countries were not happy about Turkey taking a leading role on Gaza, but
at the same time they wanted this conflict to end, to see an agreement and to
see Hamas sidelined."
Lebanese analyst Sarkis Naoum said
that while Arab states shared an interest with Turkey in ending the war,
recalling the long history of Ottoman imperial rule in the region Turkey’s
increased prominence was a worry for them.
Erdogan’s hostility toward Israel has
been amply demonstrated time and again, yet even as he vilifies prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu in public, he has consistently demonstrated a calculated pragmatism. Turkish and Israeli defense and intelligence
contacts remain in place and operational, particularly in counterterrorism and
energy coordination.
In his recent article on Turkish-Israel relations, Joseph Epstein describes this dynamic as “cooperation through gritted teeth”.
Erdogan’s agreement to back
Trump’s Gaza peace plan, for example, gained him renewed goodwill in
Washington, helped toward lifting US sanctions, securing F-16 and F-35 fighter
aircraft, and obtaining mediation influence in postwar Syria and Gaza. By vilifying Israel publicly while cooperating
with it under US sponsorship, he satisfies nationalist and Islamist audiences
at home, preserves strategic flexibility abroad, and repositions Turkey as an
indispensable intermediary in the new Middle East order.
The list of potential commercial
and industrial organizations keen to become involved in the lucrative
opportunities soon to be on offer in Gaza is large and growing. Companies like the Saudi Arabian Saudi
Tabreed (district cooling) and the state-owned United Arab Emirates Masdar
(renewable energy) are in the running to benefit from Gaza's multi-billion
reconstruction plan. In addition, Middle East SWFs (Sovereign Wealth Funds) are
accelerating investments in projects like green energy, possibly integral to Gaza’s
plan. US firms with expertise in
post-conflict security systems are likely to secure contracts.
In short, Gaza’s forthcoming
regeneration program offers significant investment, industrial and commercial opportunities
for a wide range of potential players both regional and international. The game is afoot.
Published in the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Post online titled: "The game is afoot: the race to rebuild Gaza and win its major investment opportunities", 17 November 2025:
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-874017
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