Gaza and Trump 2.0

From its inception, the genocide in Gaza has been both an Israeli military and ideological crusade, revealing a calculated indifference to the future of the Palestinian people. While political transitions, negotiations, and planning for the “day after” are usually essential components of conflict resolution, they seem to be entirely absent here. The intent, it seems, is not to build bridges or pathways to peace, but to dismantle any prospect of Palestinian statehood. Given the scale and precision of the destruction in Gaza, one must ask: what else would be the point of such devastation, if not to make recovery impossible?

For Palestinians, this approach represents a dark strategy to make tomorrow as unbearable as today – a perpetual cycle of loss that undermines the very foundation of a viable future. Every bombed-out building, every displaced family, and every erased neighborhood tells a story not just of wartime suffering, but of a deliberate push to make any semblance of normalcy in Palestinian life nearly impossible. At its core, this war isn’t just about today’s strategic gains, it’s about erasing the possibility of a Palestinian tomorrow.

As Israel advances its military objectives, the question arises: at what point will the international community deem it appropriate to call for a cease-fire? There is an assumption that when enough has been achieved and enough targets neutralized, a ceasefire will restore balance. But there is a “but” and it’s critical to recognize that.

The Israeli government has made its position abundantly clear: it intends to maintain a military foothold in Gaza. It’s not about temporary control or temporary security measures; it’s about establishing a permanent presence. And the debate within the Israeli leadership goes beyond military strategy. They are now debating whether to stop at the occupation or to go a step further by reintroducing civilian settlements in Gaza, a move with ominous implications.

This choice is not a minor detail – it reflects the heart of the conflict’s trajectory. What was once a question of defense or withdrawal has become a struggle between two extremes: those who advocate apartheid-like policies and those who favor even harsher measures. For the Palestinian people, it’s a staggering dichotomy that leaves no room for dignity or autonomy.

In recent years, the two-state solution-a cornerstone of peace negotiations for decades-has been largely sidelined, if not outright abandoned. The Abraham Accords, a diplomatic initiative championed by the first Trump administration, shifted the focus from Palestinian statehood to normalized relations between Israel and other Arab states. While heralded as a breakthrough in regional diplomacy, the Accords effectively buried the two-state solution and cast doubt on any meaningful path to Palestinian sovereignty.

What we’re witnessing is not just a military campaign; it’s a campaign of annihilation. A future for Palestinians, if left to its current trajectory, is being systematically narrowed, erased piece by piece. The erasure goes beyond physical structures, striking at the social, cultural and political foundations of Palestinian society. It’s a future held in chains, where aspirations are crushed under the weight of calculated indifference and ideological hostility.

In such a landscape, the question of peace fades, replaced by a harsher reality: the persistence of oppression as policy. The conflict in Gaza has become more than a war; it’s a statement. And until the international community recognizes that statement for what it truly is, a future in which Palestinians are treated as equals, with dignity and rights, will remain a distant dream. 

With Trump back in office, the prospect of this vision – what can be called Nakba II – being fully realized alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime opponent of Palestinian independence, seems imminent. Together, they are in a position to put a definitive end to the concept of a separate Palestinian state, wrapping it up as part of what could be considered the ultimate “Art of the Deal.”