Neil Hicks writes:

The most important outcome of President Donald Trump’s White House press conference this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not Trump’s lawless and immoral musing that the U.S. would “take over” Gaza to create a new “Riviera of the Middle East.” While Trump’s outrageous comments, as they so often do, ignited dutiful praise from his supporters and instant condemnation from his opponents, the intense focus on the U.S. occupying Gaza and forcibly displacing its entire Palestinian population—an obvious war crime—masks the more immediate disaster that emerged from the White House.

About three weeks from now, 42 days after the Gaza cease-fire that finally began on January 15, “phase two” of the agreement is supposed to take effect. Along with further exchanges of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, this second phase is meant to bring the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a declaration of a permanent cease-fire. Both steps now seem far away. Netanyahu himself vowed to restart the war during his press conference with Trump, comments that were overshadowed by Trump’s talk of a Gaza takeover. “We can’t leave Hamas there because Hamas will continue the battle to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu declared in the White House’s East Room. “You can’t talk about peace . . . if this toxic murderous organization is left standing.”

Since January 15, there has been some speculation about what the post-conflict governance arrangements for Gaza might look like. What will be the role of Hamas, or of the Palestinian Authority? Will there be an interim multinational force to replace Hamas and the Israelis? If so, what will it consist of? How will the gargantuan task of making Gazan towns and cities livable again be carried out? Who will pay for reconstruction, and what are the practical logistical steps needed to accomplish it?

There are no firm plans for any of this—and now it all might be off the table.

It appears that Trump and Netanyahu did not discuss any of these pressing matters at their meeting. This suits Netanyahu well. Continuing the war indefinitely serves his political interests, holding together his coalition with extreme ethnonationalists, many of whom have declared their own aims to reoccupy Gaza and drive out Palestinians. Apart from Trump sycophants in Congress and the Republican Party, the people who are most pleased by Trump’s flight of fancy are the Israeli right and far right. They might not care about or believe in his “Riviera of the Middle East,” but they very much approve of one element of Trump’s plan: the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. [Continue reading…]