Most of them are descendants of the refugees who were forced to leave their homes in Israel in the aftermath of the 1948 war. (Photo: Reuters)
Feb 10, 2025 15:00 IST First published on: Feb 10, 2025 at 15:00 IST
Who is the best friend of Hamas? Egypt? Jordan? Hezbollah? Iran? The Palestine Authority (PA) based in Ramallah? The answer is: None of the above. Egypt has no love lost for Hamas, an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has done his best to eradicate from Egypt, evidently more successfully than Israel has been with Hamas. There are so many Palestinians settled in Jordan who, given a chance, would be quite happy to get rid of the ruling monarchy in Amman. Hezbollah is already much diminished after Israel eliminated its top leadership and weakened it to the extent that it readily agreed to a truce. Iran did take some bold steps to retaliate against Israel but has apparently concluded that it is not worth its while anymore, considering that there is a new sheriff in town in Washington. The PA hates Hamas even more than Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas’s best friend is none other than President Donald Trump. When, a few days ago, he threw out the idea that Palestinians living in Gaza should leave the Strip and that Egypt and Jordan should absorb them, people thought that he was just kite flying. When asked about Egypt and Jordan having rejected his proposal, he said, confidently, on February 4 that they will agree. On the same day, in a joint press conference with Netanyahu, he elaborated on his proposal. He said Gaza is rubble, littered with unexploded mines and bombs, and the Gazans had no homes to return to. He added that the Gazans should and would welcome his idea. By settling in other countries, they would be able to live in peace, take up nice jobs, educate their children, and so forth. He avoided answering a question about the two-state solution. To leave no doubt about the seriousness of his proposal, he added that America would “take over” Gaza by sending American troops if necessary. The New York Times columnist Peter Baker puts it succinctly: There will be two states — Israel and an American state. The US would “own Gaza”, he said. The US would develop Gaza, and in 15 years, it would become the “Riviera of the Middle East”. Not only Palestinians but anyone from any country would be free to settle in Gaza. Trump’s appetite for real estate keeps increasing by the week: Panama, Greenland and now the Gaza Strip. It is noteworthy that all these three places have great strategic importance.
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Trump’s scheme will unite the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank behind Hamas. Egypt and Jordan have categorically rejected his plan. This has managed to forge a united front of the important Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, against the proposal. Saudi Arabia, keen as it is to normalise relations with Israel, will find it impossible to pursue the trilateral negotiations. It has reiterated its demand that an independent Palestinian state must be assured. Given all this, it is likely that Hamas’s popularity and following will increase among the people of the Middle East. How the proposal will affect the three-phase ceasefire deal remains to be seen. Why would Hamas not be happy with Trump?
Trump’s proposal must have been music to Netanyahu’s ears. When asked about the three-phase ceasefire agreement concluded with Hamas, he said President Trump had taken the whole thing to a different, higher level. Was this a hint that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement might not be pursued? What added to Netanyahu’s joy was when Trump said that he would decide on the occupied West Bank’s annexation in four weeks.
Of course, the people of Gaza are deeply attached to their homes. Most of them are descendants of the refugees who were forced to leave their homes in Israel in the aftermath of the 1948 war. They reject, wholly, Trump’s ideas. There is one destination which they might just take to, well: Their homes in Israel from which they were evicted. Many of them still have legal documents of ownership of those homes. After all, their right to return to their homes has been unambiguously recognised in Article 11 of UN Resolution 194. The Israelis, who are, in effect, illegal occupants of those houses, would be free to migrate to Gaza, something that the extreme orthodox in Israel have been demanding. Gaza would have become, like the infamous saying goes, a “land without people”. Israelis can populate it with perhaps a few Palestinian “settlements”.
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This was kite flying on my part to match Trump’s. My kite will not fly, but what about his? Who knows. It cannot be completely ruled out that some Arab, or even a non-Arab country, might offer to host a few thousand Palestinians. One African country did agree to take a few thousand illegal migrants from Britain in return for monetary compensation.
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One must always expect the unexpected in the Middle East.
The writer is India’s former permanent representative to the UN and author of Centres of Power: My Years in the Prime Minister’s Office and Security Council
