OPINION:
Once again, President Trump has shocked the world with his blunt assessment — this time regarding the future of the Gaza Strip. After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he declared what many refuse to acknowledge: Gaza, in its current form, has no future.
The global outcry was immediate, with critics raging and pro-Hamas sympathizers decrying his statement. But the real question remains: What is the alternative?
Israel has never sought to establish a mono-ethnic state. From its rebirth in 1948, its leaders envisioned a multiethnic, multireligious society, much like the Jewish homeland thousands of years ago.
The real rejection of coexistence did not come from the Jews; it came from the Arab world. On the very day Israel declared independence, six Arab nations launched a war to annihilate it. When they failed, they urged Arab residents to flee and promised them that Israel would soon be destroyed. The message was clear: There would be no peace, no compromise — only war until Israel was erased.
For decades, the Middle East has been plagued by this relentless hostility. The Nakba, the Palestinian exodus of 1948, was a tragedy. However, it occurred under the banner of a doctrine still chanted today: “From the river to the sea,” a genocidal slogan demanding Israel’s destruction. This was never mere rhetoric. Time and again, Arab states tried to make it a reality through war, and each time, they failed. Yet, instead of abandoning the dream of Israel’s destruction, the Arab world turned Gaza into its spearhead and Hamas became its weapon.
In 1948, Gaza’s population was roughly 200,000. Today, it exceeds 2 million. Israel withdrew entirely from Gaza in 2005, giving its people a chance at self-rule and an opportunity to build a functioning society. Instead of prosperity, Gaza became a hub of terrorism, corruption and suffering — all self-inflicted. Billions of dollars in international aid from Arab nations, the U.S. and the European Union vanished into Hamas’ vast tunnel networks and the offshore bank accounts of its leaders. While ordinary Gaza residents suffered, Hamas’ elite lived in luxury, their families enjoying lavish lifestyles in Qatar.
Hamas has deliberately sabotaged Gaza’s future. Water pipes meant for civilian infrastructure were repurposed for rocket launchers. Schools and hospitals were built atop terrorists’ tunnels.
Instead of governance, Hamas offered violence. When aid trucks arrived, Hamas’ police opened fire on desperate civilians trying to reach food. The suffering of Gaza’s people is real, but its cause is undeniable: the terrorists who rule them.
Mr. Trump has once again stated the obvious: This version of Gaza has no future. The international community will not continue to fund Hamas’ war machine. There will be no more blank checks for its leaders’ penthouses and yachts while its people starve in tent cities.
Israel will never again allow Hamas to rule Gaza. The Oct. 7, 2023, massacre made that clear. Hamas has openly declared that it will repeat such atrocities until every Jew is dead or gone. The international community must finally understand that Hamas is not interested in peace, not with Israel and not even with its fellow Palestinians.
The “two-state solution” is a fantasy because Hamas and its Iranian backers will never allow coexistence with Jews. Even within Palestinian politics, Hamas seeks not partnership but dominance. Its goal is to obliterate Fatah, the leadership in the West Bank, just as much as it seeks to destroy Israel.
Mr. Trump’s statement forces the world to confront hard truths. No Arab country is willing to take in Gaza’s refugees. Not Egypt. Not Jordan. Not even the Gulf states that claim to champion the Palestinian cause. Why? Because they recognize that importing Hamas’ terrorist network would be a death sentence for their own stability. That alone tells us everything we need to know:
1. No Arab country wants to host Iran’s terrorist proxy.
2. Israel was right about Hamas all along.
Gaza cannot continue as a terrorist stronghold. It cannot persist as a missile launch site for Hamas and Hezbollah. It cannot remain an Iranian smuggling hub for weapons aimed at slaughtering Israeli civilians. And above all, it cannot remain a prison where Hamas keeps its people as human shields while their leaders grow rich in luxury abroad.
Difficult decisions must be made. There are no simple solutions. But one thing is clear: Gaza, as it exists today, is unsustainable. If the world genuinely cares about the future of the Palestinian people, it must abandon the delusion that Hamas is part of the solution. The war must end, but only with the total dismantling of Hamas’ rule.
Mr. Trump is not the villain for speaking the truth. He is the only world leader willing to acknowledge it. The real crime is the global community’s continued tolerance of Hamas’ tyranny, its refusal to demand accountability, and its blind perpetuation of Gaza’s suffering under the guise of “resistance.”
It is time to face reality. Gaza has no future, and Israel does not have a partner for peace.
• George Harizanov is CEO of the Institute for Right Wing Policies in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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