Israelis must repopulate Gaza

The Middle East needs peace to come once and for all, and for this to happen, it is paramount that the genocidal intentions of Israel's neighbors cease.

With this in mind, the borders of the Jewish state must be made secure, and perhaps this is a good time to do so, taking advantage of the momentum provided by the fact that Trump has resumed the presidency in the United States, as he is not going to have the Democrats' patience and tolerance for terrorism. His plan to relocate Palestinians to other countries, especially Jordan and Egypt, while Washington rebuilds Gaza, is a good step toward the goal of peace, but it is not enough.

Israel needs secure borders

The current geopolitical situation may result in some of the problematic borders becoming more secure.

The border with Syria is calmer now with the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime last December. Yes, it is true, the jihadists who seized power are not to be trusted, but for the moment they are trying to present a more moderate image, and their problems today revolve around not letting in again their most immediate enemies: the Shiites, represented by Iran and its proxies. Therefore, it will be difficult for Tehran to send weapons to its regional terrorists and attack Israel through them.

The other problematic border, with Lebanon, has been the source of Hezbollah attacks against the Jewish state incessantly from the day after Oct. 7 until the ceasefire was reached in late 2024. However, it will no longer be able to be used as easily by the Lebanese terrorist group because of the heavy blows it received from Israel since the war broke out in late 2023 and the pressure from the United States for the Arab country's government to isolate Hezbollah politically and militarily and have the group withdraw once and for all from Lebanon's southernmost region. Moreover, as mentioned, due to the situation in Syria, Iran will no longer be able to send weapons so easily to the terrorists.

The borders with Jordan and Egypt, countries with which the Jewish state has diplomatic relations, are relatively secure. While there have been isolated incidents on both and there is concern about arms smuggling from Jordanian territory, the truth is that they do not constitute a great danger to Israel.

The Jewish state has suffered the greatest drawbacks on its borders with Gaza and the West Bank.

In Gaza, it has already been seen what happened on Oct. 7, 2023, but also before and after that attack. As for the West Bank, it is true that the danger is less, but terrorist activity has always been there and in the last few months it has intensified, especially in the north of the region, where Israeli forces are carrying out a large-scale operation to neutralize the radicals.

In short, at the border level, the main drawback at present goes through Gaza and the West Bank, although especially the former.

The conflict is not territorial

Therefore, it needs to be solved somehow, and it cannot be solved until the Palestinians stop having genocidal intentions, since it is essential to understand that the conflict is not territorial. Until this is understood, it will never be resolved.

This conflict was always based on hate and the intention of one side to exterminate the other. Had it been a territorial conflict, as many claim, it would have been settled long ago, even before 1948, Israel's Independence Day.

The Palestinians have had a great many opportunities to achieve peace; too many, even before they started calling themselves Palestinians, an invention that arose with the sole purpose of destroying the Jews.

It was they, accompanied at first by several Arab countries, who tried to exterminate the Jews again and again, and failed again and again. Then, even the Arabs slowly began to let go of their hand.

The Palestinians, for their own sake, have to stop being treated like teenagers who are allowed to do anything without having to deal with the consequences. Israel has done too much to achieve peace. Time and again, it has made painful concessions and offered more, even though the Palestinians did not deserve them and did not plan to bring any calm to the region.

Israelis must repopulate Gaza

Indeed, many, including this writer, supported at the time the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, thinking naively that this would be a step toward peace. But the situation, as some warned, got worse. Hamas took power, with the support of the majority, and the attacks against the Israelis intensified.

As Israeli-Arab activist Yoseph Haddad says, in the Middle East you have to "speak Arabic," ergo only the language of force is understood. Respect is thus earned in that part of the world. Israel would never have signed peace with so many Arab countries had it not won great victories against those who wanted to destroy it.

However, the Palestinians, valuing death over life, prefer to continue to cause the death of their own children rather than live in peace with the Jews; they will continue to try to carry out the genocide they have long craved. In this way, they are the architects of their own destruction, but none of that matters to them.

Yes, it is true, this is mainly due to indoctrination based on hatred and incitement to violence to which they are subjected from an early age, with the help of the U.N. in the schools of the UNRWA, another terrorist organization that must be eradicated.

This must change now. But it won't change if everything stays the same. Trump understands that it is not enough to rebuild Gaza's roads and buildings, the restructuring must be complete, also on the mental level. And this is not going to happen if Hamas remains in power and the Palestinians continue to receive the same indoctrination imparted by this terrorist group and the U.N. They must change their destructive, utterly unproductive, racist, violent, genocidal and even suicidal mentality. It is not only about their leadership, but also about their population, since as several polls show, the vast majority does not want peace and justifies Oct. 7. The problem is deeper. In fact, despite the fact that many "defend" them, no one wants to have them around.

But the conflict must end. Millions of people have been and are being unjustly displaced in various parts of the world, but no one seems to care. However, the Palestinians, who deserve everything that happens to them and much more, are being justified, even in the West.

The Palestinians can't get enough of starting wars, losing them, and then playing the victim when they suffer the consequences. They must grow up at once, and they can only do so when the change is drastic. Yes, they must leave, and Gaza must be repopulated by Israeli inhabitants, but not in settlements that are regularly attacked as was the case before 2005, when the IDF forcibly removed Israeli residents. No. They must populate the entire territory to make it productive again so that people can live in peace.

Instead of tunnels to smuggle weapons and murder civilians, roads will be built for trading and walking; instead of storing missiles, large areas will be designated for different crops, businesses will be created, families will live peacefully in their homes and violence will disappear. Of course, this will allow the area to progress and create jobs for many people, from Israel and other countries, and why not for the Palestinians themselves who are willing to value their lives and the lives of others.

This will serve as an example to the Palestinians in the West Bank, who will understand that they too have the opportunity to obtain a life of progress and peace if they so desire, or else pay the consequences.

For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Palestinians, for the sake of the Middle East and for the sake of the whole world, Israelis must repopulate Gaza.