Emptying out Gaza

If you’re one of those people who have wondered how it will be possible to weed out Hamas terrorists from the general Gazan public, here is the answer. There is no way to do that, since it’s a well-known fact that these murderers are very adept at embedding themselves within the local population, in order to blend in.

And that is one of the best arguments for the need to empty out Gaza of all its residents. To quote U.S. President Trump, on his recent visit to Qatar, he said, “Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction.”

It’s why his initial plan to have the area evacuated, for a period of 15 years, while it is restored and turned into a top vacation spot, rivaling anything on Europe’s Riviera coastal resorts, has come as a welcomed suggestion – at least to Israel who has suffered the consequences of having this bad neighbor on its border. 

In practical terms, Gaza is really no longer inhabitable. Trump, himself noted that “aerial shots show that there’s practically no building standing and people are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed.”

So, from his point of view, turning it into a “freedom zone” makes the most sense.  Of course, before any plan can go forward, Gaza must be emptied out, and the question is, “where will 2 million people go?” Among those who have expressed an interest to take them in are: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and other unspecified countries. The only problem is that all of them have “conditioned such assistance on a pathway to an eventual two-state solution.”

But any rational person knows that the brutal massacre of October 7th, became the official death knell for such a request, and to now make it a pre-condition of accepting Gazan refugees is to demand that penguins learn how to fly. It’s just not going to happen. 

According to a recent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll, nearly half of all Gazans would leave if given the chance to do so, and this is not surprising considering that many now have turned against Hamas, realizing that their misery is the direct result of their murderous actions. “A Gallup survey conducted in March reported that 52% of Gazans would leave the Strip either temporarily or permanently if possible.”

So, it all comes down to which country will accept them with no strings attached. Rumors had circulated that the Trump administration was exploring the possibility of Libya to take in at least one million, but that claim remains unsubstantiated. Others have floated the suggestion of the Sinai, Sudan and Somalia. 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating the obvious said, “It’s clear that people need to live somewhere else while reconstruction happens. Trump has offered with great generosity to remove the bombs, restore the infrastructure, rebuild homes and businesses so that people can return.”

But how likely is it that people who are finally settled, after a period of 15 years, will choose to return to a place that has no resemblance of where they once lived? And who can predict the Middle East political situation in 2040? 

One thing is for sure. Many agencies, countries and political actors have a vested interest in making sure that Israel is not allowed to live peacefully and unharmed. By removing the Gaza threat, that hope becomes an impediment to their goal of further igniting the flames which remain unextinguishable year after year.  

It’s important to recognize that maintaining that “thorn in the side” of Israel is part of a well-placed strategy to wear down Israelis who, in the end, may consider leaving for a more peaceful continent where rockets are not fired upon them each day. Using Gazans to accomplish that goal is just part of the collateral damage. In truth, no one really cares what happens to them. Insisting that they live under rubble, rather than be permitted to leave, displays that lack of regard for their welfare.

So, while disingenuous human rights groups characterize the emptying out of Gaza as Israel’s attempt to facilitate ethnic cleansing, a truthful evaluation of those charges should be directed at the disastrous choice made of voting in a terrorist government to represent people who willingly cooperated with a 20-year plan to destroy the Jewish nation. When you bet on the wrong horse, sometimes you can lose everything, and, in this case, they did.

Up until October 6th, Israelis were happy to live alongside of Gazans, even to the point of employing them to work in their communities, so the fallacious claim that Israel is out to displace Gazans is nothing more than a slanderous assertion in an attempt to cover up the unvarnished truth, which is that ridding the Middle East of its Jewish population has been the real ethnic cleansing story over the last 77 years.

Emptying out Gaza was never on the minds of Israelis whose lengthy tolerance level, despite unending attacks by neighboring countries, have done their best to overcome what most everyone would describe as an unbearable way to live. But, in spite of those conflicts, life went on – until October 7th – which became the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. 

For everyone who has criticized the proposition to empty out Gaza, they must ask themselves if they would be willing to put up with the same conditions under which those living in southern kibbutz communities have endured. Would they return to those homes, knowing that Hamas terrorists are still a stone’s throw away, capable of another massacre at any moment? Would they be willing to forget the horrors that took place in front of their eyes as loved ones and friends were brutally killed in ways that no one should ever have to witness?

The question is really rhetorical, because no one would agree to live under such conditions – not any human rights watch group workers, politicians or government leaders. Not even those ignorant campus protesters who are so proud to cover their faces with the checkered keffiyeh.  

Every last Hamas operative must be eliminated, and given their ease at disguising themselves as ordinary Gazans, that area must be emptied out for Israel to have any measure of safety for its citizens. In the end, it’s a consequence which they did to themselves, because when you play with fire, you’re likely going to get burned!