Trump’s Gaza Proposal

During a press conference held at the White House on February 4th, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, “The US will take over the Gaza Strip.” 

 

Trump on other occasions has said ‘he would like to see all Palestinians move to other Arab countries.’ He further proffered that Palestinian control of Gaza “will never work.” And he added: “You have to learn from history.” It should also be noted that there is no Palestinian state and no sovereign power in the territory.

 

When I was doing a residency with the Department of Hospitals, New York City, in 1968, the Commissioner would allow me to attend many of his staff meetings, in which one short phrase would silence the room: “let me tell you how it is.” Well, regarding Trump’s Gaza proposal, let me tell you how it is. As in many of President Trump’s pronouncements, the truth is in the details, and hidden from naive eyes. 

 

The idea of Gaza as an American protectorate is a red herring. Technically since Gaza is not a State, it cannot be a US protectorate. However, it can be a US quasi-protectorate, giving the US exclusive control or influence in the territory. I would posit that the Middle East would have difficulty accepting Israel's return to Gaza. however, the US in Gaza is ‘a horse of another color,’ and therefore is feasible.

 

The Palestinians, of course, don’t get it, or more likely don’t want to. This is the hard truth that Trump understands. The Palestinian population’s attitudes and ideology towards Israel have not been broken by its latest war. The war against Israel has been the policy of the Palestinians since, at least, 1948, in which every child has been indoctrinated into the hatred and destruction of the Israeli people and their state, i.e. "from the river to the sea."  

 

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya repeated the terrorist organization’s commitment to the destruction of Israel in his first public remarks (January 17, 2025). Al-Hayya described the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people in Israel as a “miraculous” achievement, declaring the atrocities would “remain a source of pride” for Palestinians, “passed down through generations.” Hamas terrorists “will expel the occupation from our land and from Al Quds [Jerusalem] at the earliest time possible.” (Jewish News Syndicate)

 

Now, let me tell you this. Trump’s proposal changes the conversation, which is genius. Without a culturally bankrupt terrorist territory on Israel’s southern border, one gigantic obstacle to peace in the Middle East is solved, which also would allow Israel and other actors to concentrate on Iran, the real tyrannical state in the Middle East. Public enemy number one if you will.

 

In conclusion, the Palestinians essentially had a “Palestinian State” in Gaza and the West Bank, since the Oslo Accords in 1993. But, have created nothing; absolutely nothing except tunnels to destroy Israel. Someone should have told them that this is not the 7th Century. Maybe living elsewhere, in a civilized society, will destroy the ideology that has prevented peace in the Middle East.