Peloni: This is a must read article. Oded and Walter provide a careful and detailed analysis and critique of Trump’s 20 Points.
By Oded J. K. Faran and Walter E. Block
President Trump has released a 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. While some points make sense, others contradict basic principles of property rights, security, and economic freedom. Here’s our assessment.
Point 1: The Good Start
1. GAZA WILL BE A DERADICALIZED TERROR-FREE ZONE THAT DOES NOT POSE A THREAT TO ITS NEIGHBORS.
Excellent. This remains the essential prerequisite for any lasting peace.
Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007. In those 18 years, it has fired over 20,000 rockets at Israeli civilians. It built 300 miles of tunnels for smuggling weapons and launching attacks. It diverted international aid meant for schools and hospitals to fund terrorism. Its charter explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction.
A terror-free Gaza cannot be negotiated away. It forms the baseline. No country tolerates terrorist organizations on its borders almost continually launching attacks against civilians. Israel has shown remarkable restraint given the circumstances.
But here’s the question Trump doesn’t answer: who ensures Gaza stays deradicalized? Who prevents the next generation from being taught that martyrdom is glorious? Who stops the next terrorist organization from taking Hamas’s place?
Deradicalization requires more than destroying weapons. It requires dismantling an entire ideological system. Palestinian schools teach that Jews are descendants of apes and pigs. Summer camps train teenagers in weapons handling. Textbooks erase Israel from maps. This indoctrination starts at age five and continues through adulthood.
Real deradicalization means closing these schools or completely rewriting curricula and changing teachers. It means ending the “pay for slay” programs that reward terrorists. It means stopping the glorification of suicide bombers in public spaces. It means preventing imams from preaching jihad in mosques.
Can international monitors accomplish this? No. Can the Palestinian Authority? Absolutely not. The PA runs these very programs.
Only Israeli control ensures Gaza stays terror-free. That means security, not temporary occupation. And that means Gaza must become part of Israel permanently.
Point 2: The Property Rights Problem
2. GAZA WILL BE REDEVELOPED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE OF GAZA, WHO HAVE SUFFERED MORE THAN ENOUGH.
Who exactly are “the people of Gaza”? This vague phrase hides a crucial question of legitimacy.
John Locke established the foundation of property rights: rightful owners are those who first homestead land, who first mix their labor with it. Jews occupied and cultivated this terrain nearly four millennia ago. The archaeological record confirms continuous Jewish presence. Arabs arrived as conquerors and thus trespassers only centuries later.
The legitimate owners under Lockean principles are Jews. This includes the 8,000 Israeli citizens whom their own government forcibly expelled from Gaza in 2005. Those families built homes, farms, and greenhouses. They made the desert bloom. The Palestinian Authority destroyed those greenhouses within hours of taking control.
Trump talks about redevelopment. Fine. Redevelop it for its rightful owners: the Jews.
Gaza should become part of Israel. The IDF has no more reason to withdraw from Gaza than from Tel Aviv, Haifa, or Jerusalem. Gaza qualifies as Israeli territory. Treating it otherwise rewards aggression and validates the results of terrorism.
Point 3: Withdrawal Issues
3. IF BOTH SIDES AGREE TO THIS PROPOSAL, THE WAR WILL IMMEDIATELY END. ISRAELI FORCES WILL WITHDRAW TO THE AGREED UPON LINE TO PREPARE FOR A HOSTAGE RELEASE. DURING THIS TIME, ALL MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING AERIAL AND ARTILLERY BOMBARDMENT, WILL BE SUSPENDED, AND BATTLE LINES WILL REMAIN FROZEN UNTIL CONDITIONS ARE MET FOR THE COMPLETE STAGED WITHDRAWAL.
Gaza should become part of Israel. The IDF needs no withdrawal from that area, any more than the Israel military needs to withdraw from Tel Aviv.
The premise of withdrawal assumes Gaza is foreign territory that Israel temporarily occupies. This assumption fails on every level. Gaza is historically, legally, and morally Israeli land.
When nations win defensive wars, they keep territory. The United States kept California, Texas, and the Southwest after Mexico started the Mexican-American War. Russia retained Kaliningrad after World War II. Turkey took over Northern Cyprus. This is how international borders have been established throughout history.
Israel has fought and won multiple defensive wars launched from Gaza. In 1948, Egypt occupied Gaza and used it as a base to attack Israel. In 1967, Egypt again used Gaza as a staging ground. Israel captured it in self-defense. Since Israel’s 2005 withdrawal, Hamas has launched thousands of rocket attacks and then the October 7 massacre.
Every withdrawal has produced more violence. Every concession has been interpreted as weakness. Every time Israel gives up territory for peace, it gets rockets instead.
The IDF presence in Gaza serves defense, not occupation. Israeli soldiers in Gaza serve the same function as Israeli soldiers in Haifa: protecting Israeli citizens from attack. The only difference is that international opinion treats them differently.
Point 3 proposes the IDF withdraw to “an agreed upon line.” What line? Who agrees? And what happens when terrorists inevitably regroup in areas the IDF vacates? The answer is always the same: another war, more Israeli casualties, another military operation to clear areas that should never have been abandoned in the first place.
Stop the cycle. Annex Gaza. Station the IDF permanently. Treat it like any other Israeli city. That means reality, not aggression. That’s reality. That’s justice.
Point 4: Hostage Return
4. WITHIN 72 HOURS OF ISRAEL PUBLICLY ACCEPTING THIS AGREEMENT, ALL HOSTAGES, ALIVE AND DECEASED, WILL BE RETURNED.
Yes, God bless. This remains the only unambiguously moral point in the entire plan.
But let’s be clear: these hostages should never have been taken in the first place. Kidnapping civilians violates war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. Taking hostages violates every standard of international law and basic human decency.
Over 240 people were kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Babies, elderly Holocaust survivors, women, children, foreign workers. Hamas dragged them through tunnels, held them in darkness, denied them medical care. Some were tortured. Some were murdered. Families spent months not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead.
The world’s response? Muted outrage at best, complicity at worst.
The United Nations held no emergency sessions demanding immediate release. The International Criminal Court issued no arrest warrants for Hamas leaders who ordered the kidnappings. Human rights organizations that scream about every Israeli military action stayed largely silent about 240 civilians held in cages underground.
Instead, the world treated the hostages as bargaining chips. International mediators negotiated as if Hamas had legitimate grievances that justified holding civilians. The implicit message: kidnapping works. Take Israeli hostages, and the world will pressure Israel to make concessions.
This qualifies as a moral abomination. Hostage-taking operates as terrorism, not as a negotiating tactic. Every day the world allowed these hostages to remain in captivity, it validated Hamas’s methods. Every call for “proportionate response” from Israel implicitly accepted that holding civilians hostage is somehow normal, is somehow acceptable.
The hostages should be returned immediately and unconditionally. No negotiations. No prisoner exchanges. No deals. Hamas should release them because holding them is evil, not because Israel pays a price.
Returning the hostages within 72 hours is good. But the fact that it took a negotiated agreement to secure their release, rather than universal condemnation forcing Hamas to free them immediately, shows how broken the international system has become.
Point 5: The Prisoner Exchange Disaster
5. ONCE ALL HOSTAGES ARE UNCONFINED, ISRAEL WILL RELEASE 250 LIFE SENTENCE PRISONERS PLUS 1700 GAZANS WHO WERE DETAINED AFTER OCTOBER 7TH 2023, INCLUDING ALL WOMEN AND CHILDREN DETAINED IN THAT CONTEXT. FOR EVERY ISRAELI HOSTAGE WHOSE REMAINS ARE RELEASED, ISRAEL WILL RELEASE THE REMAINS OF 15 DECEASED GAZANS.
This qualifies as madness dressed up as humanitarian policy.
Israel released Yahya Sinwar in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit. Sinwar then became the architect of the October 7, 2023 massacre. He planned the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of over 240 hostages. That single prisoner exchange directly produced the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Now Trump proposes releasing 1,950 living detainees. Every one of them returns to Gaza or the West Bank as a hero. Every one of them becomes a recruiting tool for the next generation of terrorists. Every one of them has demonstrated willingness and ability to murder civilians.
The clause about women and children sounds compassionate. The reality proves otherwise. Gazan women have served as suicide bombers repeatedly. In 2002, Wafa Idris became the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, killing one Israeli and wounding over 100. Dozens followed. Hamas actively recruits women precisely because they face less scrutiny at checkpoints.
Children? Hamas begins military training for boys at age 15. The organization runs summer camps teaching weapons handling and bomb-making. These are trained combatants, not innocent kids caught in crossfire.
Not one single Israeli prisoner should walk free. By all means, exchange dead bodies if you want. The dead can’t kill again. But releasing nearly 2,000 living terrorists guarantees another October 7. The question becomes when, not if.
Israel has spent decades repeating this same catastrophic mistake. Each prisoner exchange emboldens Hamas. Each release proves that kidnapping works, that terrorism pays. This cycle must end.
Point 6: Amnesty for Hamas
6. ONCE ALL HOSTAGES ARE RETURNED, HAMAS MEMBERS WHO COMMIT TO PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE AND TO DECOMMISSION THEIR WEAPONS WILL BE GIVEN AMNESTY. MEMBERS OF HAMAS WHO WISH TO LEAVE GAZA WILL BE PROVIDED SAFE PASSAGE TO RECEIVING COUNTRIES.
We support this completely.
Amnesty for Hamas members who genuinely decommission weapons and commit to peace is reasonable. If they truly abandon terrorism, they deserve a path forward. Peaceful coexistence requires offering former enemies a way out.
More importantly, safe passage out of Gaza for Hamas members solves a critical problem. These individuals will never integrate into a peaceful society. They’re too indoctrinated, too committed to jihad, too dangerous to remain. But they also won’t simply disappear.
Giving them safe passage accomplishes several goals. First, it removes committed terrorists from the territory permanently. Second, it avoids the bloody urban warfare required to hunt down every last Hamas member. (as occurred with the perpetrators of the Olympic massacre). Third, it gives them an honorable exit that doesn’t require them to die as martyrs, which might actually appeal to some who are tired of fighting.
The key question: which countries will accept them? Qatar has harbored Hamas leaders for years. Turkey has provided support. Let these nations that have championed the Palestinian cause take in some actual Palestinians. Let them demonstrate their commitment by accepting Hamas members into their societies. If not, hypocrisy speaks.
This combines mercy with pragmatism. Offer the exit. Let those who want peace prove it by leaving. Those who refuse reveal their true intentions and can be dealt with accordingly.
Point 7: Aid Delivery
7. UPON ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT, FULL AID WILL BE IMMEDIATELY SENT INTO THE GAZA STRIP. AT A MINIMUM, AID QUANTITIES WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE JANUARY 19, 2025, AGREEMENT REGARDING HUMANITARIAN AID, INCLUDING REHABILITATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE (WATER, ELECTRICITY, SEWAGE), REHABILITATION OF HOSPITALS AND BAKERIES, AND ENTRY OF NECESSARY EQUIPMENT TO REMOVE RUBBLE AND OPEN ROADS.
After the peace is concluded, if it is to be a just one, there will not remain any Palestinians in Gaza. Israel continues to win its defensive wars and continues to lose the subsequent peace. This must stop. Israeli forces never should have withdrawn from the Sinai in 1982, from southern Lebanon in 2000, or now from Gaza. Israel’s enemies must learn that when they initiate a war against this country, they pay a severe price.
Point 8: UN Involvement
8. ENTRY OF DISTRIBUTION AND AID IN THE GAZA STRIP WILL PROCEED WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM THE TWO PARTIES THROUGH THE UNITED NATIONS AND ITS AGENCIES, AND THE RED CRESCENT, IN ADDITION TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS NOT ASSOCIATED IN ANY MANNER WITH EITHER PARTY. OPENING THE RAFAH CROSSING IN BOTH DIRECTIONS WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME MECHANISM IMPLEMENTED UNDER THE JANUARY 19, 2025 AGREEMENT.
Yes, by all means, let us support the Jews who will now rightfully take over the territory of Gaza.
Aid and infrastructure rehabilitation are necessary. Gaza’s water systems, electrical grid, sewage treatment, hospitals, and roads need extensive repair. The destruction is real. People need help.
But here’s what Trump’s plan ignores: who benefits from this rebuilding?
If aid flows to rebuild Gaza under Palestinian control, we’re simply funding the next war. We’ve seen this movie before. After the 2014 conflict, billions poured into Gaza. Where did it go? Hamas diverted concrete meant for homes to build tunnels. Steel meant for infrastructure became rockets. International aid became weapons.
The same will happen yet again unless Israel controls the territory.
Rebuild Gaza for the Jews who rightfully own it. The 8,000 Israeli settlers expelled in 2005 built thriving communities. They created greenhouses that exported produce across Europe. They established farms, schools, and synagogues. They proved Gaza could flourish under proper management.
Those expelled families deserve to return. Give them the aid. Let them rebuild. They’ll create prosperity, not terrorism.
The UN and Red Crescent can deliver aid, but only if it goes to the legitimate owners. International institutions have a dismal track record in Gaza. UNRWA schools taught hatred of Jews. UN facilities stored Hamas weapons. International aid workers looked the other way while terrorists operated openly, if they did not actively cooperate with these terrorists.
Trump’s point about aid “without interference from the two parties” is backwards. Israel should absolutely “interfere.” The IDF should control who receives aid, where it goes, and how it’s used. That means oversight, not obstruction. That means ensuring aid builds peace rather than funding the next massacre.
Rebuild Gaza. But rebuild it as an Israeli terrain, for Israeli citizens, under Israeli law. Anything else just finances future terrorism.
Point 9: The Governance Delusion
9. GAZA WILL BE GOVERNED UNDER THE TEMPORARY TRANSITIONAL GOVERNANCE OF A TECHNOCRATIC, APOLITICAL PALESTINIAN COMMITTEE, RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERING THE DAY-TO-DAY RUNNING OF PUBLIC SERVICES AND MUNICIPALITIES FOR THE PEOPLE IN GAZA. THIS COMMITTEE WILL BE MADE UP OF QUALIFIED PALESTINIANS AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS, WITH OVERSIGHT AND SUPERVISION BY A NEW INTERNATIONAL TRANSITIONAL BODY, THE “BOARD OF PEACE,” WHICH WILL BE HEADED AND CHAIRED BY PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, WITH OTHER MEMBERS AND HEADS OF STATE TO BE ANNOUNCED, INCLUDING FORMER PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR.
This bureaucratic fantasy ignores the reality on the ground.
No such thing as an “apolitical Palestinian committee” exists in Gaza. Hamas controls every institution. Every teacher, every civil servant, every administrator either supports Hamas or keeps quiet in order to survive. The idea that you can assemble a technocratic committee untainted by terrorism is wishful thinking.
The Palestinian Authority, which Trump expects to eventually take control, runs a “pay for slay” program. It pays monthly salaries to terrorists and their families. The more Jews you kill, the higher your salary. In 2023 alone, the PA spent over $300 million on these payments. This operates as official policy enshrined in PA law, not as a fringe program.
PA schools use textbooks that erase Israel from maps. They teach children that martyrdom is the highest calling. They name public squares after suicide bombers. This is the organization Trump wants to reform and put in charge of Gaza.
Tony Blair as an overseer? The former British Prime Minister spent years as a Middle East peace envoy and accomplished nothing. He collected millions in fees while the region burned. His presence signals this plan is more about optics than outcomes.
Gaza should be policed by Israeli police, administered by Israeli civil authorities, and governed under Israeli law. This would be the same system that works in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. No international committees. No transition periods. No waiting for Palestinian Authority reforms that will never come.
The PA belongs in Israeli prisons, not in Israeli government.
Point 10: The Central Planning Trap
10. A TRUMP ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO REBUILD AND ENERGIZE GAZA WILL BE CREATED BY CONVENING A PANEL OF EXPERTS WHO HAVE HELPED BIRTH SOME OF THE THRIVING MODERN MIRACLE CITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
Central planning doesn’t create prosperity. Free markets do.
Israel tried socialism for its first three decades. The government controlled major industries, ran agricultural collectives, and managed vast swaths of the economy. The result? Hyperinflation, stagnation, and economic crisis. In 1985, inflation hit 445 percent.
Then Israel changed course. It privatized state companies, reduced regulations, cut tariffs, and opened markets. GDP per capita quintupled. Israel became the “Start-Up Nation,” producing more NASDAQ-listed companies than any country except the United States and China. This happened because the government got out of the way, not because so called “experts” crafted development plans.
The “thriving modern miracle cities” Trump references were built by Gulf states using oil wealth and imported labor under authoritarian rule. That model produces dependence, not sustainable prosperity.
Gaza doesn’t need a Trump Economic Development Plan. It needs property rights, rule of law, and free enterprise. Let entrepreneurs start businesses without bribing officials. Let investors buy property with secure title. Let workers keep what they earn without it being stolen by Hamas or taxed away by bureaucrats.
Adam Smith explained this in 1776 in his “The Wealth of Nations.” Free people trading voluntarily create wealth. Government planners, no matter how expert, cannot replicate this process. They lack the local knowledge. They face the wrong incentives. They make decisions with other people’s money.
A panel of experts designing Gaza’s economy means central planning with better PR. It means socialism by another name. It will fail for the same reasons socialism always fails. The “experts” should read Ludwig von Mises on this matter.
Point 11: Special Economic Zones
11. A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED WITH PREFERRED TARIFF AND ACCESS RATES TO BE NEGOTIATED WITH PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES.
Special economic zones are second-best solutions for countries unwilling to embrace full economic freedom.
China created special economic zones because the Communist Party refused to liberalize the entire economy. These zones succeeded compared to the rest of China precisely because they had fewer government controls. But they still underperformed what full liberalization would have achieved.
Why negotiate preferred tariff rates? Just eliminate tariffs entirely. Israel should declare unilateral free trade for Gaza and all its territories. No tariffs, no quotas, no trade barriers of any kind.
The standard objection goes like this: “But other countries have tariffs. We need tariffs to negotiate their removal.” This is backwards. Tariffs hurt the country that imposes them. They raise prices for consumers and protect inefficient domestic producers. Keeping tariffs to use as bargaining chips means continuing to harm your own people while you negotiate.
Unilateral free trade works. Hong Kong practiced it for decades and became one of the richest places on earth. Singapore followed the same path. Both tiny territories have no natural resources. Both thrived because they let people trade freely.
Gaza has a coastline, will have an entrepreneurial population, and proximity to major markets. Remove government obstacles and it could prosper. Create a special economic zone with negotiated access rates and you create a haven for rent-seeking, favoritism, and corruption. Some companies get special treatment. Others don’t. Officials decide winners and losers. That means cronyism, not free enterprise.
Point 12: The Relocation Question
12. NO ONE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAVE GAZA, AND THOSE WHO WISH TO LEAVE WILL BE FREE TO DO SO AND FREE TO RETURN. WE WILL ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO STAY AND OFFER THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD A BETTER GAZA.
This ignores the Lockean property rights we established earlier. Palestinians in Gaza are trespassers on Jewish land.
When Germany lost World War II, millions of ethnic Germans were expelled from Eastern Europe. Twelve to fourteen million people relocated. This was considered a legitimate consequence of Germany’s aggression. It prevented future conflicts and created stable borders.
After the 1947 UN partition plan, Arab states expelled nearly 900,000 Jews from their territories. These Jews fled to Israel, leaving behind property, businesses, and entire communities. No international body demanded their right of return. No one suggested they should go back and “build a better” Damascus or Baghdad.
Israel has won multiple defensive wars against Palestinian aggression. The 1948 war, the various intifadas, the constant rocket attacks, and the October 7 massacre were all Palestinian choices. Each was an act of aggression against Israel.
Why should aggressors who lose wars get to stay in disputed territory? Why does international law apply differently to Israel than to every other nation?
Point 12 also contains a logical absurdity. It says no one will be forced to leave, but those who wish to leave can return later. This creates a permanent refugee claim. It ensures Gaza remains a source of conflict for generations. Anyone who leaves becomes a “refugee” with international backing for their subsequent return claim.
All Palestinians should leave Gaza. Provide compensation if you want. Assist with relocation. But the territory belongs to Israel. Letting Palestinians stay guarantees another war within a generation.
Point 13: The Tunnel Confusion
13. HAMAS AND OTHER FACTIONS AGREE TO NOT HAVE ANY ROLE IN THE GOVERNANCE OF GAZA, DIRECTLY, INDIRECTLY, OR IN ANY FORM. ALL MILITARY, TERROR, AND OFFENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING TUNNELS AND WEAPON PRODUCTION FACILITIES, WILL BE DESTROYED AND NOT REBUILT.
The tunnel fixation misses the point.
New York City has 665 miles of subway tunnels. London has 250 miles. Paris has 133 miles. Tunnels themselves are morally neutral infrastructure. They serve as tools. A tunnel in Manhattan moves commuters. A tunnel in Gaza moves weapons and terrorists. The people using tunnels create the problem, not the tunnels themselves.
Hamas built over 300 miles of tunnels under Gaza. Some cost $1 million per mile to construct. Hamas spent hundreds of millions on this network while Gazans lived in poverty. That tells you everything about Hamas’s priorities.
But destroying the tunnels solves nothing if Hamas members remain free. They’ll dig new tunnels. Give them five years without IDF oversight and the entire network rebuilds. Tunnels can be excavated faster than peace agreements can be negotiated.
The plan says Hamas “agrees to not have any role in governance.” This is fantasy. Hamas doesn’t agree to anything. Hamas operates as a terrorist organization whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction. Point 6 offers amnesty to Hamas members who decommission weapons, but Point 13 pretends Hamas will voluntarily step aside from power.
Which is it? Do Hamas members get amnesty and walk free, or do they get excluded from governance? If they’re excluded from governance but free to walk the streets, they’ll govern from the shadows. They’ll intimidate anyone who cooperates with authorities. They’ll rebuild their infrastructure. They’ve done it before.
Hamas members belong in prison. Every single one. Not because of the tunnels they built, but because of the atrocities they committed and will commit again given the chance. Focus on incarcerating terrorists, and the tunnel problem solves itself.
Point 14: Regional Guarantees
14. A GUARANTEE WILL BE PROVIDED BY REGIONAL PARTNERS TO ENSURE THAT HAMAS, AND THE FACTIONS, COMPLY WITH THEIR OBLIGATIONS AND THAT NEW GAZA POSES NO THREAT TO ITS NEIGHBORS OR ITS PEOPLE.
Hamas members are terrorists. They belong in jail.
Regional guarantees are worthless. Which regional partners will Trump rely on? Egypt? Jordan? Saudi Arabia? Qatar?
Egypt has spent decades allowing weapons to flow through Sinai into Gaza. Egyptian officials took bribes to ignore tunnel networks. When Egypt controlled Gaza from 1948 to 1967, it used the territory as a base for attacks against Israel. Egypt’s guarantee means nothing.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. That hasn’t stopped Jordanian mosques from preaching jihad. Jordanian textbooks still vilify Jews. In 2017, a Jordanian soldier murdered three Israeli civilians at a border crossing. He received a hero’s welcome. Jordan’s guarantee is empty.
Saudi Arabia talks about normalization with Israel but continues funding Wahhabi ideology that inspires terrorism. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in luxury hotels in Doha. These are the “regional partners” who will guarantee Hamas compliance?
The fundamental problem: you cannot guarantee terrorist compliance through outside monitoring. Terrorists don’t honor agreements. They view agreements as tactical pauses, opportunities to rearm and regroup.
Hamas’s charter explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction through jihad. This remains non-negotiable for them. It operates as religious doctrine. No regional guarantee changes that. No international monitoring prevents true believers from pursuing their goals.
The only guarantee that works is incarceration. Hamas members participated in the October 7 massacre. They murdered 1,200 people. They raped women. They burned families alive. They beheaded babies. These are war criminals, not misguided individuals who need rehabilitation.
Every Hamas member should face trial. Those convicted should spend life in Israeli prisons. Not house arrest. Not exile. Not monitoring. Prison.
That’s the only guarantee worth anything. Terrorists behind bars can’t fire rockets, dig tunnels, or plan massacres. Everything else is wishful thinking dressed up as diplomacy.
Point 15: International Stabilization Force
15. THE UNITED STATES WILL WORK WITH ARAB AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO DEVELOP A TEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL STABILIZATION FORCE (ISF) TO IMMEDIATELY DEPLOY IN GAZA. THE ISF WILL TRAIN AND PROVIDE SUPPORT TO VETTED PALESTINIAN POLICE FORCES IN GAZA, AND WILL CONSULT WITH JORDAN AND EGYPT WHO HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD. THIS FORCE WILL BE THE LONG-TERM INTERNAL SECURITY SOLUTION.
“Vetted Palestinian police forces” presents a contradiction in terms.
The Palestinian Authority security forces have long collaborated with terrorists. In 2023, PA security officers participated in attacks against Israelis. These are the people Jordan and Egypt supposedly have “extensive experience” training.
Egypt’s experience includes allowing weapons to flow through tunnels from Sinai into Gaza for years. Jordan’s experience includes the Black September crisis when Palestinian terrorists tried to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy. These are the consultants Trump proposes.
International stabilization forces sound good in theory. In practice, they become obstacles. They impose restrictive rules of engagement. They answer to distant bureaucracies. They lack the motivation and knowledge to actually stabilize anything. They become human shields for terrorists who operate with impunity knowing the ISF won’t act decisively.
Israel learned this lesson in southern Lebanon with UNIFIL. The force was supposed to create a buffer zone and prevent arms smuggling. Instead, Hezbollah built an arsenal under UNIFIL’s watch. When the 2006 war began, UNIFIL sat in its bases while Hezbollah launched rockets.
The same will happen in Gaza. The ISF will file reports, hold meetings, and issue statements. Hamas will rebuild in plain sight. When the next war starts, the ISF will evacuate, and Israeli soldiers will once again fight street by street through Gaza.
Skip the charade. The IDF has proven its competence. It knows the terrain. It has the requisite intelligence networks. It has the motivation to actually keep the peace because Israeli lives depend on it. That’s your long-term security solution.
Point 16: The Security Disaster
16. ISRAEL WILL NOT OCCUPY OR ANNEX GAZA. AS THE ISF ESTABLISHES CONTROL AND STABILITY, THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (IDF) WILL WITHDRAW BASED ON STANDARDS, MILESTONES, AND TIMEFRAMES LINKED TO DEMILITARIZATION THAT WILL BE AGREED UPON BETWEEN THE IDF, ISF, THE GUARANTORS, AND THE UNITES STATES, WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF A SECURE GAZA THAT NO LONGER POSES A THREAT TO ISRAEL, EGYPT, OR ITS CITIZENS.
This forms the core failure of the plan. It guarantees the next war.
Israel has a pattern. Win defensive wars decisively, then surrender the gains at the negotiating table. This pattern produces only temporary quiet followed by renewed aggression.
In 1982, Israel drove the PLO out of Lebanon and secured its northern border. By 2000, under international pressure, Israel withdrew. Hezbollah moved in. Today Hezbollah has over 150,000 rockets aimed at Israeli cities.
In 2005, Israel evacuated every Jew from Gaza. It dismantled settlements, destroyed synagogues, and left the territory entirely. Hamas took over within two years. Since then, Hamas has fired over 20,000 rockets at Israeli civilians.
The lesson is clear: territorial withdrawal invites aggression. It signals weakness. It gives terrorists time and space to rearm. It teaches Israel’s enemies that patience pays off, that international pressure works, that terrorism achieves results.
Point 16 proposes repeating this disaster. The IDF will withdraw. An International Stabilization Force will take over. Standards and milestones will be set. None of this addresses the fundamental problem: Gaza in any hands except Israel’s becomes a terrorist base.
International forces have a perfect record of failure in the Middle East. UNIFIL was supposed to prevent Hezbollah from rearming in Lebanon. Hezbollah now has more weapons than most national armies. International observers were supposed to monitor Gaza’s borders. They looked the other way while Hamas smuggled in weapons.
The Israeli Defense Forces should control Gaza’s security permanently. Gaza is Israeli territory. The IDF defending it serves the same function as defending Tel Aviv or Haifa.
Point 17: Hamas Rejection
17. IN THE EVENT HAMAS DELAYS OR REJECTS THIS PROPOSAL, THE ABOVE, INCLUDING THE SCALED-UP AID OPERATION, WILL PROCEED IN THE TERROR-FREE AREAS HANDED OVER FROM THE IDF TO THE ISF.
If Hamas rejects this proposal (as amended by us), all hell should break loose until these terrorists realize they’re better off facing Israeli justice.
Point 18: The Moral Equivalence Problem
18. AN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE PROCESS WILL BE ESTABLISHED BASED ON THE VALUES OF TOLERANCE AND PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE TO TRY AND CHANGE MINDSETS AND NARRATIVES OF PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS BY EMPHASIZING THE BENEFITS THAT CAN BE DERIVED FROM PEACE.
This presents moral equivalence at its worst.
One side teaches children that martyrdom is glorious. The other side teaches children to build startups. One side names streets after suicide bombers. The other side names streets after Nobel Prize winners. One side celebrated in the streets when the Twin Towers fell. The other side sent rescue workers to help.
But Point 18 treats both sides as equally in need of mindset changes. It suggests Israelis and Palestinians are equally responsible for the conflict, equally in need of having their “narratives” adjusted.
Israeli “mindsets” don’t need changing. Israelis want peace. They’ve wanted peace since 1948. Israel accepted every partition plan offered. Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and honored them. Israel evacuated Gaza in 2005 hoping for peace. Israel’s “narrative” says it wants to exist as a good neighbor.
The Palestinian narrative, taught in schools and preached in mosques, says that Jews are occupiers who must be driven out. Maps in Palestinian textbooks show all of Israel as Palestine. Children learn that Tel Aviv is occupied territory. Teenagers memorize the names of Israeli towns their grandparents supposedly fled, places most of these towns no longer exist.
Yes, some Israelis need mindset changes. About half the Israeli electorate has spent years undermining Netanyahu’s security policies. These Israelis pushed for the 2005 Gaza withdrawal. They supported prisoner exchanges. They advocated for territorial compromise. Every concession produced more violence. These mindsets need changing through hard lessons in reality, not through interfaith dialogue.
But the real mindset problem is Palestinian. Until Palestinians accept that Israel exists and will continue to exist, no amount of dialogue changes anything. Until Palestinian schools stop teaching hate, until Palestinian leaders stop paying terrorists, until Palestinian society stops celebrating murder, peace is impossible.
Interfaith dialogue assumes both sides want the same thing and just need better communication. That assumption fails. One side wants peace. The other side wants victory. No dialogue bridges that gap.
Point 19: Palestinian Statehood
19. WHILE GAZA RE-DEVELOPMENT ADVANCES AND WHEN THE PA REFORM PROGRAM IS FAITHFULLY CARRIED OUT, THE CONDITIONS MAY FINALLY BE IN PLACE FOR A CREDIBLE PATHWAY TO PALESTINIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND STATEHOOD, WHICH WE RECOGNIZE AS THE ASPIRATION OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.
Palestinians should have their own state. Just not on Israeli land.
The “two-state solution” has become international dogma. Everyone from the UN to the EU to the Biden administration insisted Israel must accept it. But why?
No one demanded Poland give up territory to create a German state after World War II. No one suggested Japan carve out land for an Ainu state. No one tells China to create an independent Xinjiang. Only Israel faces constant international pressure to surrender territory to people who have repeatedly tried to destroy it.
Fine. Create a Palestinian state. But location matters.
Canada recently voted at the UN to support Palestinian statehood. Canada has 9.98 million square kilometers of land and a population of 39 million. It can easily absorb two or three million Palestinians. Give them Saskatchewan. Its bigger than Gaza by several orders of magnitude.
France loves the two-state solution. France has 643,000 square kilometers. Set aside a province for Palestinian self-determination. Let France demonstrate its commitment to the cause.
England champions Palestinian rights at every opportunity. England has plenty of land. Create a Palestinian autonomous region in Yorkshire.
These countries demand Israel take security risks and surrender territory. Let them show the world how it’s done. Let them demonstrate that living next to a population that celebrates terrorism is safe and manageable. Let them experience daily rocket fire and see if they still think territorial compromise creates peace. But be warned: this is a group that bites the hand that feeds them. Just ask King Hussain about that.
The obvious response: “But Palestinians want to live in the Middle East.” Fine. Egypt has the Sinai Peninsula, which is three times the size of Israel. Jordan is 89 percent Palestinian by population. Syria has vast empty spaces. Let the Arab world, which has 13.2 million square kilometers and enormous oil wealth, solve this problem.
Palestinian statehood? Absolutely. Just not in Gaza, the West Bank, or anywhere else in Israel. The Palestinians started multiple wars and lost. That has consequences, or, at least, it should.
Point 20: Political Dialogue
20. THE UNITED STATES WILL ESTABLISH A DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS TO AGREE ON A POLITICAL HORIZON FOR PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS CO-EXISTENCE.
Thank you, but no dialogue is needed if our suggestions are implemented.
Our Alternative: A Just Peace
Trump’s plan contains some good elements: hostage return, Hamas decommissioning weapons, and aid delivery. But its fatal flaws are clear. It treats Gaza as separate from Israel. It releases dangerous prisoners. It imposes central planning instead of free markets. It prevents annexation. It creates moral equivalence between terrorists and their victims.
A better plan: Gaza becomes part of Israel. No Israeli prisoners released. No IDF withdrawal. Free-market capitalism, not expert panels. Let Jews who rightfully own this land return to it and prosper.
That’s how you get real peace.
Sources
Trump’s 20-Point Plan: PBS NewsHour, “Read Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza” (September 2025) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-trumps-20-point-proposal-to-end-the-war-in-gaza – Full text of plan
Sinwar Prisoner Exchange: American Jewish Committee, “5 Things to Know About Hamas Terror Leader Yahya Sinwar” (October 2024) https://www.ajc.org/news/5-things-to-know-about-hamas-terror-leader-yahya-sinwar-the-architect-of-october-7 – October 7 mastermind
Sinwar Release Details: Jewish Insider, “No one appealed against Oct. 7 mastermind Sinwar’s 2011 prison release” (May 2024) https://jewishinsider.com/2024/05/emi-palmor-gilad-shalit-hostage-release-negotiations/ – Shalit deal context
PA Pay-for-Slay Program: Foundation for Defense of Democracies, “A Palestinian Authority that rewards terrorism has no place in Gaza” (February 2024) https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/02/12/a-palestinian-authority-that-rewards-terrorism-has-no-place-in-gaza/ – $300M+ annual spending
Taylor Force Act: U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Josh Gottheimer press release (July 2023) https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-bipartisan-group-of-50-to-administration-negotiate-an-end-to-martyr-payments-to-terrorists – Congressional efforts against payments
Israel 1985 Inflation: Brookings Institution, “How Shimon Peres saved the Israeli economy” (March 2022) https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-shimon-peres-saved-the-israeli-economy/ – 445% inflation crisis
Israel Economic Reforms: U.S. State Department, “Israel: Economic Policy and Trade Practices Report” (1996) https://1997-2001.state.gov/issues/economic/trade_reports/neareast96/israel96.html – Privatization and growth
Female Suicide Bombers: MEMRI, “Wafa Idris: The Celebration of the First Female Palestinian Suicide Bomber” (February 2002) https://www.memri.org/reports/wafa-idris-celebration-first-female-palestinian-suicide-bomber-part-i – First female bomber
UNIFIL Failure: Foundation for Defense of Democracies, “Presumed Hezbollah Rocket Injures Several UN Peacekeepers” (October 2024) https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/10/30/presumed-hezbollah-rocket-injures-several-un-peacekeepers/ – International force ineffectiveness
Hezbollah Arsenal Growth: Center for Strategic and International Studies, “The Coming Conflict with Hezbollah” (October 2024) https://www.csis.org/analysis/coming-conflict-hezbollah – 150,000 rockets post-2006
Gaza 2005 Withdrawal: Anti-Defamation League, “Disengagement” (August 2023) https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/disengagement – 8,000 settlers expelled
Gaza Settlements: Britannica, “Israel’s disengagement from Gaza (2005)” (October 2023) https://www.britannica.com/event/Israels-disengagement-from-Gaza – Withdrawal details
Murderers should be executed. Prison sentences incentivize hostage taking.