Trumps Gaza Takeover Plan May Sound Death Knell for the Two-State Solution

For decades, successive presidents in Washington have favored some version of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.What no one imagined until now was that the second state would be American, not Palestinian.President Trump’s stunning plan to displace the entire Palestinian population of Gaza and have the United States take over the seaside enclave has not only convulsed the Middle East.

It may have also all but written the obituary for the long-sought but maddeningly elusive goal of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel in peaceful coexistence.Any vision of a Palestinian state has included Gaza as an integral part of it, along with the West Bank.In Mr.

Trump’s vision, however, Gaza would become a U.S.territory transformed into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” It would not belong to the Palestinians anymore but would be open to anyone who wanted to live there.

And for that matter, he signaled openness to Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, promising to reveal his position within four weeks.The prospects for a Palestinian state had already dwindled in recent years, especially after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct.7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and led to the Israeli retaliatory war in Gaza that has killed 47,000 combatants and civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Neither Israeli nor Palestinian populations see the two-state scenario as a viable plan anymore, according to polls.But the rest of the world, led until now by the United States, has continued to cling to the idea as official policy, if for no other reason than a lack of alternatives.And Saudi Arabia has insisted that a Palestinian state has to be part of any deal establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, a goal avidly pursued by both Mr.

Trump and former President Joseph R.Biden Jr.“If Trump thinks that somehow the U.S.

owning Gaza and allowing Israel to annex parts of the West Bank facilitates a deal, he’s completely...