This Is Not a Plan to End the War but a Plan to Reshape the Middle East

By Dr. Nasser Al-Laham

Many thinkers are occupied with scoring points to determine who won and who lost in the Gaza war. This is a sterile line of thought, because no side truly wins in this criminal war; rather, if the war ends we should say we have left one era and entered a new one.

If President Trump’s plan to halt the war succeeds, it will automatically and immediately lead to a change of rule in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and in Israel before it does in the Gaza Strip. The holding of elections will upend Palestinian and Israeli internal balances and make it difficult to remain in the position authorities have occupied for the past twenty years.

The Trump plan explicitly and effectively calls for Hamas to be removed from power in Gaza, but it also envisages changes of government in Israel, in the Palestinian Authority, and in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and possibly beyond.

Reconstruction — although the companies of Egyptian businessman Talaat Moustafa could, by themselves, rebuild what the occupation destroyed — has become complex, entangling cartels and major global firms with opportunistic governments, with remnants of old colonialism linked to new forms of domination, with Palestinian compradors awaiting shares of token contracts, with political money and with hunger. We hope reconstruction proceeds quickly, free from extortion and under clean administrations capable of preserving citizens’ dignity.

The rebuilding of what the occupation destroyed in the West Bank has gone unmentioned, even though the occupier demolished entire camps, devastated vast areas and cut off people’s means of livelihood.

The internal Palestinian and Israeli situations will be directly and sharply affected by the end of the war, if it ends. Strongholds will fall, horses will flee and mountains will shake violently. History repeatedly shows that the masses do not re-elect warlords, even if they present themselves as victors.

The coming phase will not only bring new political faces; its most important feature will be new political programs. Old programs have been exhausted, and the electorate feels worn out, tired of repetition and frustrated by the same words, the same programs and the same results.