Occupying Gaza

An incoherent foreign policy pokes the Middle East hornets' nest in the worst possible way

When you realize what your boss is saying is horrifyingly ridiculous (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Back in the good old days of November 6, 2024, the day Trump was declared the victor of the 2024 presidential race, a pro-Palestine Twitter (X) user tweeted: “Hey Kamala, GAZA is speaking now bitch.” Since then, social media users have repeatedly flocked to that particular tweet to mock sections of the pro-Palestine movement that either voted third-party or for Trump as a protest vote against the Democrats.

Looking at it now, it is a cruel irony to behold. What Trump said during his meeting and subsequent press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should shock and horrify everyone, regardless of their position in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington as the first foreign leader to meet with Donald Trump since his return to office. It was a notable moment, given negotiators are prepared to discuss the terms and conditions for a second Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

During a meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, the US president doubled down on proposing a permanent displacement of Gazans to Egypt and Jordan, saying “You can’t live in Gaza right now, you need another location.” Trump also told reporters: “The Gaza thing has never worked. If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places ... I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.” Trump’s advocacy for the mass displacement of Gazans has an inherent logistical problem, both Egypt and Jordan have refused to allow the relocation of nearly 2 million Palestinians away from their homeland, and other Arab countries are not willing to accommodate that plan either.

Later in a press conference with Netanyahu, Trump repeated his belief that Gaza is a “demolition site,” then shocked everyone by saying “The US will take over the Gaza Strip… we’ll own it.” In case ethnic cleansing and war crimes aren’t concerning enough, Trump confirmed plans to send US troops to Gaza, telling reporters “We're gonna develop it” to create the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

What Donald Trump is suggesting is a real-estate venture in the most politically volatile spots in the world, something he is only an expert in when it comes to failed ventures. Coincidently (No doubt…), Trump’s language of “a long-term ownership position” has echoed previous sentiments by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property.”

Trump claimed there was high-level support among unnamed leaders he had spoken to, telling journalists “This is not a decision made lightly.” Citing nobody in particular, the president declared “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” However, it is painfully obvious those people are not leaders of Arab States, given Saudi Arabia (Whose leader Mohammed Bin Salman is a close ally of Trump) reiterated the statement that it would rule out relations with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state just hours after Trump’s press conference.

The president concluded his statement by giving himself an ego boost: “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. I deserve it but they will never give it.” There is a special bit of irony for Trump’s Gaza “real-estate plan,” given it happened on the same day he withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council through an executive order.

Nobody knows whether Trump’s comments are concrete policy or negotiation threats, but if the president does stick with the plan to send US troops into Gaza, it would be a foreign policy nightmare. On the campaign trail, Trump has often blamed Biden for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, he even declared in his victory speech that “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars.” As the New York Times noted, any execution of what Trump has proposed is a political nightmare.

Never mind that he could name no legal authority that would permit the United States to unilaterally assert control over someone else’s territory or that the forcible removal of an entire population would be a violation of international law. Never mind that resettling 2 million Palestinians would be a gargantuan logistical and financial challenge, not to mention politically explosive. Never mind that it would surely require many thousands of U.S. troops and possibly trigger more violent conflict.

Hypothetically, if the US does send boots on the ground in Gaza to enforce a mass exodus of Palestinian people from the densely populated area, not only will it spark intense urban warfare against the terrorist group Hamas, it would gravely impact America’s credibility and diplomatic strength going forward. Not only will Arab nations deepen their angst against America’s policy in the Middle East, but the international community will be appalled by the United States’ role in potential ethnic cleansing in the Palestinian territories, which is a war crime.

The only person who benefited from that press conference is Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under renewed pressure to stick with the ceasefire deal and continue it to the next phase. Many (Including yours truly) have believed Netanyahu will see a far better ally in Trump than his predecessor Joe Biden, with the current POTUS giving free range for the Israeli leader to do whatever he wants.

Case in point, many in Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet have dismissed or undermined calls for a two-state solution. When asked about whether there will be a two-state solution, the president nearly dismissed it outright: “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life. They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”

This brings us to the voters who refused to support the Democrats over Gaza. I get it, the Biden administration has done far less than it could to rein in Netanyahu’s worst instincts and Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in Gaza that has left tens of thousands dead and allegations of crimes against humanity if not genocide. However, elections have consequences, and choosing the “lesser of two evils” means making unpalatable choices, even if you hate them.

The Muslim voters who voted for Trump because of his anti-war stance, third-party progressive voters who voted for Jill Stein or Cornell West, and the citizens of Dearborn, Michigan all took the bait. What they got is a US president openly advocating for ethnic cleansing because they want to reap their morality points.

Interestingly enough, there weren’t many pro-Palestine protests against Trump this time, partly because most of the fury by activists seemed to only target high-level Democrats, but also because the president recently signed an executive order that would cancel student visas of foreign pro-Palestinian protesters. You get what you wish for, I suppose…

So if we’re taking score, Trump’s list of countries and places to invade/conquer/occupy includes: Mexico, Canada, Greenland, Panama, and now Gaza.