Donald Trump speaks of Gaza in the past tense. The violence continues. Ceasefires are announced and ignored. On the same day reconstruction plans circulate, four Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Violence persists on the ground whilst development schemes multiply above it.

Trump frames Gaza as a development opportunity. “Once this board is completely formed,” he says, “we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations.” Whatever we want to do. Power grants itself permission to act. Palestinians are denied input. Justice is not sought out or made relevant. The same UN that reported Israel has committed genocide in Gaza still welcomes initiatives from the same colonial powers to “reconstruct Gaza”.

The language of the Board of Peace belongs to a tested repertoire. The League of Nations Mandate system promised to “prepare” populations for self-governance whilst extracting resources. The Oslo Accords formalised occupation through administrative zones and economic protocols. Iraq’s post-2003 reconstruction opened the country to private contractors whilst Iraqis were excluded from decisions about their own infrastructure. In each case, development and aid provided international legitimacy for foreign control.

The mechanisms are specific. Special economic zones offer tax incentives to foreign investors whilst local labour is cheapened and controlled. Public-private partnerships lock territories into decades of debt servicing to international financial institutions. Humanitarian corridors are managed by private contractors who profited from the destruction. Development........

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