In today’s newsletter: Donald Trump’s proposal is an attempt to reshape political reality that has historical precedent, explains architect and researcher Eyal Weizman
Good morning. Donald Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians should be forced out of Gaza so that it could be rebuilt as a US-run “Riviera of the Middle East” is so outlandish that many have returned to the reminder that we should beware of taking what he says too literally. And, it’s true, the comments don’t seem as if they came on the back of a detailed feasibility study; White House officials spent much of yesterday trying to walk his comments back.
But it’s also true that his proposal, which if enacted would amount to an unambiguous case of ethnic cleansing, tells us something about who Trump understands to be the stakeholders in Gaza’s future: not Palestinian civilians, but the United States, Israel, and the contractors who could make it happen. And the idea has so delighted the Israeli right that it is easy to see how, even if no American soldier ever sets foot in Gaza, it creates the space for serious discussion of the same project by other means.
UK economy | Bank of England policymakers are poised to cut interest rates and downgrade forecasts for economic growth, underlining the risks facing Rachel Reeves’s budget plans. With inflation falling, the Bank’s monetary policy committee is expected to cut rates by a quarter point to 4.5% – the lowest level since June 2023 – on Thursday.
Democratic Republic of the Congo | Hundreds of women were raped and burned alive after a Rwandan-backed rebel group entered the Congolese city of Goma last week. The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official.
Energy | Keir Starmer will unveil plans for a historic expansion in nuclear power across England and Wales, pledging to use Labour’s large majority to make new sites across the country available for new power stations. The prime minister said that he anticipated small modular reactors could be built by 2032 and could become commonplace across Britain.
UK news | The families of Valdo Calocane’s victims have called for doctors responsible for his treatment to be named and held accountable. The intervention followed the publication of a report detailing Calocane’s mental health treatment before the attacks in Nottingham in 2023.
Media | A high court judge has criticised lawyers representing Noel Clarke for “unacceptable” allegations against Guardian journalists which “should not have been made and publicly aired without foundation”. Mrs Justice Steyn dismissed claims there had been any fabrication of evidence by them and said any deletion of documents was “not in breach of any rule or duty” to preserve them.
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