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

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?