TEHRAN – President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are walking the road towards Gaza with a controversial and fateful plan that will break the hopes of millions of Palestinians and sculpt the future of the region in ways that even harsh critics have not predicted.
Such accomplices, as revealed through new proposals and the ongoing increase in military operations, risk exacerbating humanitarian catastrophes and killing the small rooms left for peace to exist.
In early 2025, Trump announced plans to move the entire Palestinian population of Gaza. With 2.3 million people in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, the United States will take over Gaza itself.
Trump cast this as a humanitarian economic development project, and he imagined Gaza would become the “Middle Eastern Riviera” directed by the US. He suggested that Palestinians who wanted to leave Gaza would be allowed to return elsewhere or leave with the right to resettle. Netanyahu also publicly defended the vision, calling it “extraordinary” and “the most realistic idea,” and heard of it as rehabilitating Gaza.
However, the scheme is against international law, which forces the expulsion of civilians, has been criticized by human rights groups, Arab countries, and numerous politicians in the United States, and even some Republicans have been recoiled by the notion that the US has won Gaza or a population. However, the Netanyahu government, exposed to international legal pressure and rising political tensions within the country, appears to be willing to act with impunity from Trump’s withdrawal and implicit blessing.
This hard-line strategy is emerging on the ground as Israel is ready for a significant military escalation in Gaza. Plans to mobilize tens of thousands of reserves for a new attack called “intensive,” and perhaps “the move of conclusion,” were recently approved by Netanyahu’s security cabinet. The Israeli military intends to seize and secure a significant portion of Gaza, ousting Palestinians further south to strengthen lockdowns that have already resulted in severe food, water and drug therapy shortages.
Analysts warn that this escalation risks destroying last hopes for peace. Trump has been primarily distanced from conflict in recent weeks, essentially giving Netanyahu a free hand. Initially, he showed diplomatic involvement to release hostages and mediate a ceasefire.
This Trump Netanyahu conspiracy has widespread consequences. The proposal for forced relocation is reminiscent of past population relocations that have resulted in chronic instability and difficulty. Military escalation poses a threat to exacerbate Gaza’s humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at risk of evacuating due to continued artillery bombardment and blockade.
In the meantime, the lack of active US diplomatic involvement undermines the possibility of a negotiated settlement and eliminates important potential checks on Israeli military action.
Trump’s silence and Netanyahu’s militarism now serve as complementary pillars in policies that support domination and push away diplomacy. Unchecked, this accomplice not only crushes prospects, but also sows seeds of further instability far beyond Gaza’s boundaries. The world must mess this moment before peace can be handed over to forever into oblivion.