Where Would a US Takeover of Gaza Leave Middle East Reconciliation?

Published in The United Daily News
(Taiwan) on 6 February 2025
by Kung Ling-hsin (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Matthew McKay. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
In response to Donald Trump's proposal that the United States take over the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia immediately jumped to its feet in opposition, and Jordan said it wouldn’t hesitate to declare war on Israel. Israel’s neighbors dealt an instant slap in the face to Trump’s opening salvo at Middle East rapprochement.

Benjamin Netanyahu was initially thrilled to visit the U.S. because he was the first foreign head of state Trump invited; he was also excited about Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip. The problem is that a takeover of Gaza would be tantamount to completely isolating the Palestinians or driving them out of their homeland, and isn’t it America and Israel’s cunning plan to have the Palestinians leave voluntarily? Yet, with the presence of U.S. troops in the region protecting Israel from attacks by Islamic countries, Gaza would effectively become a territory that the U.S. and Israel would jointly administer. Relatively speaking, Palestinians would thus be deprived of any land, much less able to establish their own state.

Trump’s plans are shrewd enough, but they completely violate the peace agreement on which the U.N. Security Council based its “two-state theory” regarding the Israel-Hamas war, and which would allow the Palestinians to have their own land, state and citizenhood, just like Israel.

When Netanyahu did Trump the sizeable favor of stopping the war and exchanging prisoners, many Israelis were grateful to Trump, believing he had pressured Hamas into releasing its hostages. However, when Trump proposed taking over Gaza, while the Israelis were naturally delighted, Hamas and the Islamic world realized that Trump was even more supportive of Netanyahu than Biden, and that he was paving the way for Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip and empty it of the Palestinians.

Ever since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. has been on Israel’s side. Not only will the U.S. veto all U.N. Security Council peace resolutions, but Trump has also now made it clear that he wants to use a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip to justify it becoming an Israeli territory.

It is not just that Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza to curry favor with Israel and Jewish voters back home could push the Middle East to the brink of a new war. What is even more troubling is that sending U.S. troops into Gaza would immediately fracture Middle Eastern geopolitics — and this would amount to the U.S. declaring that it is reentering the international arena. Will the shrewd and cunning Trump dare to throw so many resources into disrupting peace in the Middle East?


美接管加薩 中東怎能和解

2025-02-06 01:04 聯合報/ 孔令信/大學教師(台北市)

川普提議由美國接管加薩走廊,提議一出,沙烏地阿拉伯馬上跳出來反對,約旦也表示不惜對以色列宣戰。川普的中東和解起手式,馬上就遭以色列的鄰國重重打臉。

原本內唐亞胡興致勃勃赴美訪問,因為他是首位獲川普邀訪的外國元首,他也很興奮川普提出接管加薩走廊的建議。問題是接管加薩等於是將巴勒斯坦完全隔絕、甚至趕出,美以的算盤,不就是讓巴勒斯坦人自動離境,美軍進駐,等於保護以色列避免受到伊斯蘭各國的攻擊,如此一來加薩等於是美以共管領土。相對地置巴勒斯坦於「無地」,更談不上建國。

川普算盤打得很精,可是完全違背了聯合國安理會對以哈戰爭所做的「兩國論」為基礎的和平協議,讓巴勒斯坦與以色列一樣可以擁有自己的國土、國家與國民。

內唐亞胡給足川普面子,停戰換囚,不少以色列人感激川普,認為是他壓迫哈瑪斯釋放人質!然而,當川普提議接管加薩走廊時,以色列人當然開心,可是哈瑪斯和伊斯蘭世界看出川普比拜登還挺內唐亞胡,根本就是在為以色列占領加薩走廊、清空巴勒斯坦斯坦人鋪路。

以哈開戰以來,美國就一直站在以色列這邊。不僅聯合國安理會的和平決議最後都會被美國的那一票給否決,如今川普更擺明,就是希望以美國接管來合理化加薩走廊成為以國領土的事實。

川普為討好猶太裔選民與以色列而倡議接管加薩,不但可能將中東和平推向新的戰爭邊緣,更麻煩的是,若是派遣美軍進駐加薩,馬上打破了中東地區的地緣政治,此例一開,等於宣布美國重新介入國際局勢。精打細算的川普真敢砸下這個重本來破壞中東和平嗎?
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