Israeli estate agent defends ads offering beachfront villas in Gaza
The owner said the ads were a ‘joke’ intended to open discussions of what could happen in Gaza after the war, including the re-establishment of Israeli settlements there
An Israeli estate agent has faced backlash after posting images online advertising “pre-sale” settlements in war-torn Gaza, with its owner defending the adverts as “somewhere between a joke and wishful thinking”.
Harey Zahav, self-described as a leading property company building settlements in Judea and Samaria – the names used by Israeli authorities to refer to the occupied West Bank – posted an image last week on its social media channels outlining plans for beachfront villas amid the destruction in Gaza, with a message reading “Wake up, a house on the beach is not a dream”.
A caption in Hebrew reads “We at the Harey Zahav company are working to prepare the groundwork for a return to Gush Katif”, referring to a bloc of Israeli settlements located in southern Gaza before Israel’s withdrawal from the territory in 2005.
The caption continued: “Several of our employees have started working on land reclamation, clearing waste and expelling squatters. We hope that in the near future, all of the hostages will return home safely, the soldiers will return home and, God willing, to start building in every part of Gush Katif.”
A separate post advertises units along the Gaza Strip that is divided into regions named after previous Gush Katif settlements, including Neve Katif, Atzmona and Morag. The accompanying message says: “Now at presale prices!” with a smiling face emoji.
The images met fierce criticism online, with Facebook users inundating the comments sections on the posts to express support for Palestinians.
The images were shared widely on X, formerly Twitter, with users describing them as “beyond horrendous”.
“Hey there how do you fancy a lovely beach house on the land where dead babies and children are buried? Apply now. Renovations taking place by the IDF [Israel Defence Forces],” said the British presenter and actor Adil Ray.
“Imagine being this cruel,” said Marc Owen Jones, associate professor of Middle East studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.
However, despite the uproar, Zeev Epshtein, the owner of Harey Zahav, defended the adverts, telling the Israeli media outlet Mako that they were “somewhere between a joke and wishful thinking”.
Confirming the comments to i, he said the social media posts were to open discussions for possible solutions after the war in Gaza ends.
“What we did on social media was picture how one of the outcomes of the war could look like,” he said. “One of the possible outcomes is Israelis going back.”
He stressed that no construction work was taking place in Gaza and that it was up to the Israeli authorities to decide what happened to the territory and its population.
Mr Epshtein said he had not anticipated the huge reaction to the posts, saying he was “overwhelmed”. “I have never seen such a media storm in my life,” he added.
Several members of his team are in Gaza as recruits for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), with videos shared on Haray Zahay’s social media channels showing their deployment there.
One video shows the company’s business associate, Shlomo Warmstein, in military uniform saying: “We are here in the heart of Gaza, doing what we do.”
Another video appeared to show a team member on a digger in Gaza saying: “Going out to build another new neighbourhood.”
Mr Epshtein said 90 per cent of his staff were in Gaza and that he was in regular contact with them. “It has been really intense for them,” he said.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israeli military occupied the West Bank, which had been ruled by Jordan, and which Palestinians want as part of an independent state.
Continued settler expansion there remains a contentious issue, with many in the international community and human rights organisations considering them illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.
Israel hurtled into a new war in Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which left 1,200 people killed and more than 240 taken hostage into Gaza.
Now in its 10th week, the war has devastated the Gaza Strip, with nearly 20,000 Palestinians killed and some 1.9 million – nearly 85 per cent of the population – forced to flee their homes.
Original article
Image on front page: Israeli estate agent firm Harey Zahav caused a social media storm after it uploaded an advertisement for settlements in Gaza. Image on this page: The ad shows the Gaza Strip divided into regions named after previous Israeli settlements that existed there before Israel’s withdrawal in 2005. Source: Harey Zahav/Facebook.
