The population of Gaza was either actively involved or celebrated the horrific October 7 invasion, massacre, mass raping, and kidnapping of Jews. Those who didn’t participate cheered in the streets as they dragged our hostages – dead and alive – through Gaza.

It is an enemy population that has forfeited the right to live near Israel. And now, as a result of the war they launched, Gaza is in ruins.

Encouraging emigration is not ethnic cleansing. It is giving people a choice, one they never had under Hamas rule.

A recent public opinion poll conducted by the Arab World for Research & Development in 2024 said over 50% of Gazans want to leave.

But they can’t – because Egypt keeps its border closed, in violation of international asylum law. It is truly immoral to force people to stay in a war zone, with nowhere to live, with jihadist terrorists still roaming around and terrorizing, just to be used as political pawns against Israel. It is deeply moral to help them start new lives in other countries.

When Ukraine was invaded, millions of refugees were welcomed into Europe and the US.

When Syria collapsed into civil war, Syrian refugees were resettled around the world. When Afghanistan fell, Afghan refugees found asylum.

So why did the Biden administration, the UN, and the so-called “humanitarians” continuously demand that Gazans must stay in war zone Gaza?

There are 22 Arab-Muslim nations in the Middle East and 57 Muslim-majority nations worldwide. Not one offered or even agreed to take Gazans in until Trump applied pressure.

Qatar, which bankrolls Hamas, won’t accept a single Gazan refugee. Egypt, which claims to support the “Palestinian cause,” won’t open its borders. Jordan, run by a minority Hashemite Kingdom, only stated that they will take in 2,000 sick children due to pressure from Trump. Let’s stop pretending this is Israel’s problem.

While Trump’s humanitarian migration plan for Gazans is moral and just, his idea that the US should somehow control Gaza is deeply disappointing.

Gaza is Jewish land – from biblical times to modern history. When Israel expelled Jews from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinian Authority and then Hamas turned it into a terror state. But before that, it was home to thriving Jewish communities, on and off, for centuries.

Trump is wrong on this. Israel must remain sovereign in Gaza. Only the IDF can remain in Gaza to protect Israel. We do not want any American soldiers put at risk to defend us. The only military force that we can depend upon is our own IDF.

Only Israel can be the sovereign rebuilding Gaza with Jewish resettlement, acting as the most powerful deterrent against our enemies, ensuring that Trump’s “peace through strength” is truly implemented. Our challenge is to ensure that our entire homeland is controlled by Israel while allowing peaceful Arabs to live among us. The Druze in southern Syria are already asking Israel to stay and protect them because they know what happens when Israel leaves.

Israel is not the impediment to peace and security in the Middle East; it is the solution.■

Avi Abelow is the host of the Pulse of Israel daily video/podcast and CEO of the 12Tribe Films Foundation.