By: Hisham Jabi, Founder & CEO
The situation in Gaza and the West Bank has deteriorated sharply since October 7, 2023. Gaza faces unprecedented devastation, while economic strangulation and security clampdowns in the West Bank have created intolerable conditions for daily life. Over 400 permanent Israeli checkpoints now divide Palestinian communities across the West Bank, severely disrupting movement, trade, and human dignity.
Despite these conditions, one truth remains unshaken: Palestinians—whether in Gaza or the West Bank—have no desire to leave their land. This reality, inconvenient to many within Israel’s current far-right government, underscores a political deadlock that refuses to break.
The trauma of October 7 sent a profound shock through Israeli society. Understandably, it silenced voices once open to coexistence and the two-state vision. However, the pain of that day—and the suffering that followed—does not negate the existence of over 5.5 million Palestinians living under Israeli control (directly or indirectly, including Gaza). What long-term political solution can possibly ignore this fact?
When President Trump floated the idea of relocating Gaza’s population to other countries, Israel’s leadership—particularly Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition—no longer disguised this policy of demographic displacement. It moved from whispered strategy to public agenda. Meanwhile, despair is rising in the West Bank, and many who can afford to leave are doing so. But mass exodus is not the solution—nor is it realistic.
The Palestinians are not willingly leaving their homeland for Egypt or Jordan. Both nations are bound to the same land, locked in a shared and inescapable reality—two peoples whose futures are intertwined, not separable.
So where does this leave Trump?
Despite his polarizing image, Donald Trump retains considerable leverage over the key players: Israel, the Arab Gulf states, and the pro-Israel political class in Washington. If he can use this leverage—not merely to impose, but to broker—he might help deliver what no one else could: a sustainable peace rooted in realism, not illusions.
Palestinians are not looking for handouts. They are seeking dignity and self-determination. There is a real and growing desire, especially among the educated and professional classes in Palestine and the diaspora, to rebuild—to turn Gaza and what remains of the West Bank into a hub for innovation, technology, and regional cooperation. But this requires a viable, demilitarized Palestinian state that is allowed to function—not as a threat, but as a partner.
In an interview decades ago, the iconic Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once told an Israeli journalist: “Being occupied by the Jewish people is what made us known to the world—and what made us suffer the most.” The world still sees Israel through the moral lens of post-Holocaust survival. But true security for Israel cannot be built in isolation from its neighbors—especially not in a region that is culturally, digitally, and economically interconnected.
If Trump wishes to leave behind a legacy of global impact, a serious, pragmatic push for a sovereign Palestinian state—supported by the Gulf, safeguarded by the U.S., and recognized by Israel—is the only path forward. This would be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. It is difficult, but not impossible. Especially for a dealmaker who understands power, pressure, and performance.
The Middle East doesn’t need another plan. It needs the will to act—and the courage to include Palestinians in shaping their future.
