How Trump can save Gaza
It is a moral outrage to let babies starve. It’s also a moral imperative not to let Hamas continue its blood libel-soaked terrorist war by going back to the old ways. Trump can address both.
It’s true that Palestinians in Gaza are having trouble getting food, and that some may be in danger of malnutrition. It’s true that hospitals in Gaza may have trouble getting nutritious meals for the sick. It’s also true that rolling blackouts, infrastructure failure, communications interruptions, and the threat of open violence makes life difficult for civilians trapped in such a situation. Let me be clear here: the easiest way for Hamas to make life better, instantly, for Gaza residents is for it to capitulate, release all remaining hostages, and promise to stop launching rockets at Israel. Were this to happen, the IDF would pack up and leave the next day (after ensuring it really did happen).
Barring that, the IDF is not leaving Gaza anytime soon. And Hamas has a lifeline in that its propaganda campaign is finally getting some bite. Starvation has that kind of caché in diplomatic and liberal circles, especially when one state has de facto control of a the place that’s experiencing starvation. So the heads of state in Paris and London have declared that in September, if Israel cannot make some kind of deal with Hamas, France and the U.K. will formally, within the U.N. General Assembly, recognize “Palestine” as a state.
Of course, such a threat will not induce Hamas to offer Israel any useful terms, as in return of the remaining hostages, or promises to stop launching rockets at Israeli cities, or changing its charter which calls for the total destruction of Israel and slaughter of its Jewish population (not to mention a worldwide jihad against Jews). So Hamas propaganda, helpfully boosted by a willing media and a believing public, is now forcing Israel to capitulate, and go back to the old system where the U.N., embodied by the UNWRA, a Hamas-infiltrated organization, will distribute food, assist in Hamas collecting “tax” on the food, enable arms and prohibited items (like tunnel-building materials) smuggling, and cover for rocket launching sites. The old system where Egypt will run the Rafah crossing and Egyptian officers will fully participate in smuggling of all kinds. The old system where Qatar’s immense wealth, tacit Saudi approval, and some Israelis who are sympathetic to their cause, will fund and equip Hamas to its unending quest to defeat Israel.
Surely, this may have been the end from the beginning after the terrible events of October 7, 2023. It was impractical and even foolhardy for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set the total destruction of Hamas as his government’s objective. Predictably, in order to get there, many Palestinians had to die, even with the threat of Iran and its proxies removed, and the targeted assassinations of all Hamas leaders completed. And now, with Israel in full military control of Gaza wherever it plants its flag and parks its tanks, there is nobody left to blame for Palestinians not getting their food except Israel.
Over at National Review, Noah Rothman does a masterful job presenting “Israel’s Side of the Story.” It’s more complex than the propaganda claims. The U.N. refused to distribute aid, even when Israel, realizing its joint effort with the U.S. was insufficient (not in small part due to Hamas’ active disruption), allowed the U.N. to move.
According to the Israelis, the impasse stemmed from two disputes. First, the U.N. maintained that the IDF would have to lower its standards for what products it would allow onto the Strip. “But other reasons concerned the U.N.’s unwillingness to move through certain areas that the IDF said were secure, but that the U.N. did not take its word for it, refusing to advance,” the Jerusalem Post reported. That suggests that the U.N. sought to leverage food aid to secure for itself a veto over Israel’s security priorities in the Strip.
The Post continued:
A top IDF official met with leading UN bureaucrats regarding the issue on Tuesday, demanding to know how they could accuse Israel of causing famine in Gaza, which, again, has not happened yet but might shortly should the UN continue to abandon its trucks — while simultaneously leaving the aid trucks to sit there without distributing the food.
According to the senior IDF official, the UN bureaucrats sat quietly for at least 20 seconds, struggling to come up with a response. Eventually, one of them said that they would make more of an effort to get the trucks moving again, the IDF reported.
The problem is that Hamas considers starvation to be a political tool to get what it wants—a return to the old way, where it could rebuild its tunnel infrastructure, resume rocket attacks on Israel, and continue in its jihad. Standing with Hamas is UNWRA, an agency totally and completely committed to helping Palestinian “refugees” and I use the word in quotes because very few Palestinians in Gaza or in the West Bank (known as Judea and Samaria in Israel) are truly refugees from anywhere. Just about all Palestinians were born and raised where they now live. The fact that there is only one U.N. agency dedicated exclusively to a single group of people exposes the political agenda.
If France and the U.K. want to recognize Palestine as a state, what government are they talking about? It turns out, none at all. The recognition is merely a statement that Palestine should be a sovereign territory. But in fact, it pretty much already is. The Palestinian Authority has control over Judea and Samaria; in most places, Israelis are not allowed, and in some places, Jews from any country are barred from entry. In Gaza, Hamas exercised total control. The only area where Judea and Samaria, and Gaza, lack sovereignty is the ability to raise an army and make war. For that, they are confined to terrorism. And because they engage in terrorism, Israel enforces a blockade, to prevent arms from getting in, and bombs from getting out. And that has an economic cost on both sides, but mostly on the Palestinian side.
Were Palestine to have statehood and an army, it would use that army to attack Israel, as Israel’s enemy neighbors have done many times over the past 78 years. And Israel won all of those wars, because losing meant total destruction. So if the Palestinians had an army, Israel would defeat it, and we’d be back to where we are. Recognition is pointless except as a political and propaganda effort to get Israel to yield and go back to the “old way” where Hamas could go back to its core mission, although now weakened.
Personally, I think going back to the old way is mostly a given, because Israel is going to suffer political and economic isolation, and its citizens will bow before that pressure. They’ll accept a bad deal because it’s the best deal they’ll get. The screaming, frothing far right in Israel are not to be taken seriously. Even if Israel wanted to commit genocide on Palestinians in Gaza, it could not. Detection of that effort is impossible to prevent. The logistical scale is impossible to achieve without the whole world turning on Israel. And the moral cost to the soul of Israel is irreconcilable to its people. So Israel will capitulate and figure out a deal to eventually get the remaining hostages (if they are alive) returned.
The title of this post is “What Trump could do to save Gaza,” and no, reader, I haven’t touched that point yet. So let me do that now.
President Donald Trump has already called for Netanyahu’s government to “make sure they get food” in Gaza. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said that Trump is “the one who is able to stop the war, deliver the aid and end this suffering.” He added a plea to Trump, please, “make every effort to stop this war and deliver the aid. I believe that it’s time to end this war.”
What can Trump do to end the war and help Gaza?
First, he should call upon the U.N. to dismantle UNWRA as the agency responsible for helping Palestinians. The Israeli Knesset has already banned doing business with UNWRA and considers it an arm of its sworn enemy. The U.N. has an organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, that handles refugees all over the wold, except in Palestinian territories. Trump should negotiate a deal with the Security Council to transfer all authority for aid in Gaza to UNHCR.
A Security Council resolution to move aid to UNHCR could put both the IDF and U.S. efforts to run feeding centers under tacit U.N. control, and free up the stores of U.N. food and aid sitting waiting for distribution. Hamas would undoubtedly oppose this move, but if Egypt is on board, along with the Arab states, I can see that Russia and China might go along. Trump has a lot of carrots and sticks to offer Russia right now, as well.
Second, Trump should capitalize on el-Sissi’s remarks and get Israel and Egypt to agree on a solution for the Rafah crossing, and a permanent end to Israeli control there, however allowing Israel some say in inspection and security matters. Perhaps there might be a role for UNHCR to act as a buffer. But the IDF needs to leave Gaza in order for a cease-fire to take hold.
Third, Trump could get the European nations, especially France and the U.K., to support aid and reconstruction of Gaza. If they want to recognize Palestine, let them have skin in the game. Let them send their people to run the feeding centers, work with Israel, Egypt, and the U.S., and get Gaza back on its feet. Then if Hamas (when Hamas) begins attacking Israel again, they can take some responsibility for who they got in bed with. Trump just signed a monster tariff and trade deal with the E.U. He’s got some good vibes going, despite his unpopularity with many Europeans. This would be an ideal time to use a small amount of that capital to get a deal on Gaza.
President el-Sissi is right. Netanyahu can’t end the war, he can only capitulate, which won’t really end the war, but embolden Hamas to demand more. The UNWRA is a corrupted organization aligned against Israel. The U.N. itself is no friend of Israel, but it can be used and directed in a less divisive manner. The only person with that kind of sway is the President of the United States. The only person right now, who has the kind of deal capacity to pull this off is Donald Trump.
It’s a risk, of course. It might not work. Trump might have to make some uncomfortable trades, on Ukraine, or on European trade (not a bad thing), or on offering full support for Israel. It could go sour. But it’s worth the risk, because Hamas is just fine letting the world believe Israel is committing genocide, and that all its babies are starving, and in fact it’s fine if the babies do starve, not just as propaganda, if it means harming Israel. It is a moral outrage to let babies starve. It’s also a moral imperative not to let Hamas continue its blood libel-soaked terrorist war by going back to the old ways.
President Trump has an opportunity to help address both these bad outcomes, opening a small crack of hope to change the way things have been for decades between Israel and Gaza. In fact, it might be his best lasting achievement, if it works.
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This is total bullshit that you trade off of Taibbi's site. Shame on you.
Bottom line? There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace sets up His Kingdom on earth.