In an interview with Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren, former Trump envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt's associate and real estate executive Jeff Witkoff warned that rebuilding Gaza could take up to two decades due to extreme levels of destruction and underground instability.
Witkoff, who played a key role in Trump-era regional discussions, said it was “tragic” that Hamas launched the October 7th attack, sparking a war that “just kept getting worse and worse.” He added that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s Gaza leader, would “never surrender,” making a prolonged conflict inevitable.
When asked by Van Susteren whether it was too soon to discuss Gaza’s future, Witkoff said, “It’s early—and I’ll tell you why.” He referenced a so-called “May 27th Protocol” reportedly signed by Hamas, Israel, and the Biden administration, which outlined a three-phase plan including hostage releases, military operations, and ultimately a five-year reconstruction plan.
Witkoff dismissed that reconstruction timeline as "preposterous". “Just cleaning out the unexploded ordnance is probably a two-year job,” he said, describing Gaza as a vast minefield. “Then you’ve got at least another three years of clearing debris from everything that was demolished.”