What I don't get is: why have the Israelis been -- essentially -- pussying around the matter, while still suffering the supposed fall-out of the "hard-line" approach, namely considerable push-back from the international community? Literally every other approach would have been better than what the Israeli government is currently doing. Consider options such as:
Scenario "Carthage"
When this whole thing started, I opined that the only way Israel will ever have stable peace is to remove all muslims from its territory, and deport all of them to the Arab regions to the East. (A viable way to do this without effective and organised state opposition is to forcibly march them all into Syria, which is in turmoil anyway.) Not just the Gaza Strip, mind you, but the West Bank as well. (And as I suggested then: an ideal follow-up move, if feasible, would be to occupy Lebanon, deport all Muslims therefrom as well, and make that into a state for Christian Arabs --
also with zero Muslims ever to be allowed in again.) Of course, make sure to destroy all mosques, and
especially the Al-Aqsa mosque. After that, rebuild the Jewish temple to make a clear statement: no place for Islam is this region, ever again.
Fortunately, Israel has an active nuclear deterrent to keep the Muslim states from playing stupid games when this plan gets carried out. It's always essential that you are able to 100% guarantee the annihilation of anyone who would existentially threaten you. Getting nukes and never giving them has probably been the wisest decision Israel ever made, and it's what would enable them -- if they ever stop being foolish -- to carry out a
real solution to their festering problem.
Scenario "Poznań"
If this approach is too hardcore for weak leaders to carry out (presumably due to a desire to avoid "internationalising" the conflict in
any way), then the second-best option would be to destroy only the Gaza Strip. This could be achieved by cutting off all access and utilities. Nothing in, nothing out. No water, no electricity, no internet. It would be necessary to ensure full control of the Egypt-facing border, but otherwise, no direct action needed. It would be best to actively bomb known food storages and water reservoirs, of course. They quicker they face thirst and hunger, the quicker they yield. When they do, forcibly deport them to the West Bank.
(Obviously, if you want to engage in active military incursions, that's an option, but I doubt it would be usefull. Regardless, I strongly advise against ever negotiating with terrorists. Treat all hostages as if they're already dead.
Always do that. Hostage-taking stops if there's no way it gets results!)
Annex the Gaza Strip, but (being reasonable), remove the Jewish settlers from the West Bank. Move those to the former Gaza Strip, to colonise that land for Israel. Fully annex East Jerusalem and surroundings, though, and remove all Muslims therefrom (and from anywhere else in Israel) to the West Bank. Wall it off completely, and declare the West Bank to be Palestine. Again, level the Al-Aqsa mosque and rebuild the temple. Issue a decree that for every attack from Palestine on Israel, there will be punitive action and subsequent annexations. (This is something
@Abhorsen suggested as a primary strategy, but I consider this plan to be second-best, because it demands that the will to actually follow up without mercy has to be maintained indefinitely. I prefer to solve the issue in one fell swoop, by removing all Muslims from the region forever.)
Scenario "Alesia"
If the second-best plan outlined above is still too hardcore for the pussies in charge, then at least make the "starvation strategy" for the Gaza Strip your main approach. Shut everything down and tell the fuckers that unless and until they release all living hostages, and all members of Hamas surrender in their underwear, you'll let everyone in the Gaza Strip starve to death. This doesn't solve the issue of all so-called "Palestinians", but it's at least a thorough and pretty definitive response to the terrorism of Hamas. And you don't have to send your own soldiers in to die.
...The main point here is that Gaza relies fully on water and food (and other supplies) from the outside. If you follow the principles of (any of) the scenarios briefly outlined above, the matter would be over in a month at the very most. Less, if you effectively target (especially) their pre-existing water supply. For instance, by air-dropping aggressive poison in all reservoirs. But instead, this shit has been dragged out for over half a year now. There is no good reason for this. All the above would result in condemnation from foreign actors, but... who cares? The current, weak and hopeless approach is
also getting that condemnation!
I add that my preferred approach -- the most drastic one -- will of course yield the strongest push-back, but it conversely has the inherent advantage that it ultimately presents the world with a
fait accompli. It might make Israel a bit of a 'black sheep' for maybe 20 years or so, but after that... people have moved on. Relations are normalised. And there will never again be talk of "Palestinians". They'll all just be Arabs, now living among other Arabs, to the East of Israel. Where they belong. The other scenarios might face less push-back, but they also address the problem less comprehensively. Leaving a rotting wound to fester is never good.
As such, my advice to the Israelis remains what it has been from the start: solve the matter, and solve it for good.
en.wikipedia.org
