Achieving Gazan Peace

Gazan civilians are being denied aid, including food, adequate temporary shelter, and clean water, and subject to mortal danger by a conflict between the Islamist militant organization Hamas and Israel Defense Forces implementing the policy of the right wing Likud coalition. It is suggested here that the harm to Gazans can be reduced at the same time that Hamas influence inside Gaza can be eradicated, leading to a peace process culminating in a Palestinian State.

The policy to do this is twofold. Substantial amounts of Gazan civilians, who volunteer to do so, would be eligible to go to over 100 countries that recognize the “State of Palestine.” A Palestinian poll in May 2025 shows about half of Gazans want to emigrate to other countries. This must be legislatively accompanied with the conditions for a right of return to Gaza. A key element here is to prohibit Hamas members or sympathizers from going to these countries that are welcoming to Gazan refugees. In the main, welcoming governments would not want to invite refugees that could sow domestic discontent or threaten violence. Hamas partisans would be prohibited from participating in this immigration-to-safety policy by background investigations, traditional polygraph and VerifEye lie detector tests, and signing of an affidavit based on the Singapore’s Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, whose non-compliance would negate eligibility to emigrate or result in deportation if non-compliance occurred after immigration.

The second element of this is for Hamas military, political, and administration members to be amicably expelled from Gaza to Iran; and once this is accomplished, for Israel to start a process of moving towards the creation of a Palestinian State or Province. The latter is suggested in my proposal for a confederation of three provinces.

An amical expulsion provides safety in transit along with household goods, a lump sum start-over grant, and after a period of five years, a consideration for a right to return to Gaza following the same conditions for detecting anti-Israel or anti-Jewish propensity to violence for safety refuge to welcoming countries. It should be recognized that some Gazans express alliance to Hamas in order to survive under Hamas threats to them; and not because that is what they truly believe.

Of course, the remaining hostages have to be released prior to or co-terminus with the cessation of warfare. I nominate the US, EU, and Abrahamic Accord countries to monitor Israeli compliance. Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Qatar would monitor Hamas compliance. Israel needs to have a temporary peace-keeping and police presence in Gaza until that can be comfortably transitioned to Gazans along with Third Party countries such as Qatar, Ireland, Spain, and Norway. Israel also must be a planning and construction co-supervisor with Gazans, the US, and Saudis to oversee the reconstruction and make sure that that there is adequate security for Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This peace plan seems to meet most of the normalization concerns for Israelis and Palestinians and, at this time, President Trump has the moral flexibility to make a deal with Iran that the Likud coalition will not push back on.

The rationale for Iran to accept Hamas members into their country is that they: (1) have been and are financial patrons for Hamas, (2) have some sympathy to stop the harm inflicted upon Gazans because Iran was substantially responsible for the initiation of this current war, (3) can place Hamas members into their military and propaganda infrastructures, and (4) can be economically rewarded through the removal of sanctions placed upon them. For example, sanctions can be removed for purchasing or facilitating the delivery of Iranian oil, unfreezing Iranian governmental assets in the United States and overseas, and allowing the sale of U.S.- origin aircraft or related goods, technology, or services to be sold to Iranian civilian aviation companies.  President Trump’s foreign policy team is right now in negotiations in Oman with Iran to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon.  It seems he wants to create a new atmosphere of peace between Iran and the US and Israel. Iran de-militarizing Hamas and taking in their bellicose members, would be one way to grease that normalization process.  Trump said,” I want them [Iran] to succeed, I want them to end up being a great country.”

To encourage participation of countries to accept Gazan immigrants, the U.S. has to show willingness to be part of this process. I originally thought of the U.S. temporarily or permanently taking in 1,214,000 Gazans, mainly in the Detroit and Chicago areas. I now think that number is way too high to create the housing, education, and medical infrastructure necessary for a quick resettlement. But the US can and should be taking in 200,000 (100,000 Gazans per year spread over two years) in Detroit and Chicago and other US areas as well.

While the Trumpian political faction is currently antagonistic towards immigrants and refugees, this would be a way to show serious intent on the part of the US to protect Palestinians and solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, leading to a Palestinian State and Saudi recognition of and alliance with Israel. Trump has taken in South African Afrikaner immigrants who are threatened by violence. Likewise, he can take in Gazans threatened by violence, the violence from Hamas enforcement of their political and religious ideology and the side-effect violence from the Israeli war against Hamas.

President Trump has asked for countries with humanitarian hearts to take in Gazans. On Feb. 5, 2025 Trump said, “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this, and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck.”

With regards to the recent refugee immigration of Afrikaners, Trump said that he was doing this because they were victims of violence and “their race makes no difference to me.”  Likewise, protection of Gazans from violence is paramount and the Arab ethnicity of Palestinians should make no difference to him.

In this context, Trump has to demonstrate that the US also has a humanitarian heart if he expects those 100 plus countries to actively help out in this peace and reconstruction process.  To encourage Trump to do this, proponents should urge the Norwegian Nobel Committee to create a quid pro quo arrangement that President Trump receive the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 if he successfully engages in this peace process or one similar to it.

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