“Counting Without the Hotelier” in Gaza

The unilateral, arbitrary and unprovoked bombings of Gaza and southern Lebanon combined with the intimidating bombings in Yemen attempt to torpedo the ceasefire on both fronts and endanger the lives of Israeli prisoners in line with Trump’s statements about the “willing” or involuntary exile of Palestinians from the Strip. By counting without the hotelier and inviting himself to undertake the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Trump ignores basic parameters of reality in the Strip, and above all the fact that Gaza will not be rebuilt by the Americans or the Israelis but by the Palestinians who hold the fate of their land in their own hands. After sixteen months of war, Hamas stands unalterably strong and victorious against Netanyahu, who has failed to neutralize the Palestinian Resistance because he has failed to divide Palestinian civilians from militants. And herein lies the unique geopolitical ulterior motive of Trump’s intentions for ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.

Trump and Netanyahu’s reasoning is clear: since the strength of the Palestinians is the unity between civilians and fighters, then by forcibly removing civilians from the Strip, Hamas and the entire Palestinian Resistance will de facto lose popular support – since the Palestinians will have been exiled, support that constitutes the soul of the resistance and it will only be left with the ace of its underground military installations, an ace that will have little significance without the above-ground presence of the Palestinian People in the Strip. Netanyahu attempted to implement this scenario a year ago, when he had crowded most of the 2.5 million Palestinians into Rafah, a few meters from Egypt. But then the ethnic cleansing plan failed, because Biden rejected it due to pressure from the Axis of Resistance. But now Trump supports it, underestimating the preparedness of the Resistance Axis due to the fall of Assad. In reality, however, the Resistance Axis remains strong. Therefore, any attempt at ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip or annexation of the West Bank threatens to lead to the Third Intifada and the resumption of the war with Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iraq and Iran, while in Syria the civil war may begin again.

In this unstable environent and the violation of International Law, Greece and Cyprus are called upon to update their stance instead of remaining passive bystanders. Gerapetritis’ recent visit to Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem is fragmentary in order to synchronize Greek diplomacy with developments in light of Trump’s announcements. However, this visit could, under certain conditions, be the springboard for a deeper and constructive involvement of Athens in the Palestinian Issue by taking initiatives so that Athens can host part of the negotiations, firstly for peace, secondly for the reconstruction of Gaza and thirdly for building confidence measures with the aim of establishing an Independent Palestinian State on the basis of the Two-State Solution.