How to End the War in Gaza and Restore Peace to the Middle East

My 15-point compromise peace proposal to end the destructive and deadly war in Gaza contains realistic provisions designed to be acceptable to both sides since a two-state solution is not possible

President Biden meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

May 20th Update: I support a two or three-state solution with regards to Israel and Palestine. If Israel can live with its Arab neighbors like Syria, Egypt and Iraq (as well as Persian Iran) that are much more powerful militarily than Hamas, there's no reason they shouldn't be able to live with one or two independent Palestinian states in the West Bank and Gaza particularly if Hamas were banned from holding public office and both states were demilitarized.

February 23rd Update—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a post-war plan providing for partial self-rule for Gaza. The biggest difference between his plan and the one I outline below is that his plan is for Israel to provide for security for all of Gaza after Hamas is driven out with no milestones for Israeli forces to be withdrawn. These is no chance that Hamas will agree to this plan and, in any case, Netanyahu has stated he is not willing to negotiate a peace agreement with Hamas only a temporary cease-fire to exchange hostages.

On October 7^th, Israel suffered an unprecedented and horrific Hamas terrorist attack with nearly 1,200 Israelis and 35 Americans killed, thousands of Israelis wounded, and 233 Israeli and foreign citizens taken hostage, 100 of whom remain in Hamas captivity. US leaders from President Biden on down rightly issued strong statements of support for the State of Israel and their legitimate right of self-defense against this largely unprovoked aggression. Virtually, the entire Western world united in opposition to the horrific Hamas attacks providing much sympathy and support for Israeli victims.

Following the Hamas attacks, I called for Israel to exercise restraint and refrain from invading Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks and focus on a bombing campaign to degrade Hamas and special forces raids to free the hostages. Failing that, I called for Israel to engage in a partial 2009 style Gaza offensive like the “Stop in Belgrade” option advocated by British Foreign Minister and Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1914 to avert the outbreak of World War One surrounding and laying siege to Gaza city where Hamas headquarters is located to cut off the head of the Hamas snake. However, Israeli opted to engage in a much more protracted invasion of Gaza which some Israeli officials are predicting may continue to the end of the year and perhaps beyond.

The Biden administration responded to the attacks by essentially offering a blank cheque of US military support to Israel to invade Gaza and crush Hamas without conditioning US lethal military assistance on Israel agreeing to limit civilian casualties in Gaza, ensuring continued humanitarian aid and coming up with a postwar peace plan which provided for a realistically achievable diplomatic solution to end the conflict as it should have done. However, the administration, along with an increasing percentage of Americans, have since concluded that the Israeli military response in killing approximately twenty times more Gazans than the number of Israeli’s killed by Hamas has been entirely disproportionate to the attacks which started the conflict.

President George W. Bush addressing his nation with a speech aimed at justifying what he subsequently admitted was “a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion” against Iraq

US ‘Forever Wars’ Have Greatly Empowered Iran

Over two decades of the US fighting endless no-win wars have served to seriously destabilize the region while greatly empowering America’s enemies. Stationing US troops in the Middle East for the past few decades has not brought peace. It has brought endless war beginning with the Al Qaeda attacks on the US. Had the US pulled them out after Operation Desert Storm, Osama Bin Laden never would have attacked us and the Global War on Terror would never have occurred. Then, the US doubled down by overthrowing Saddam Hussein destroying the balance of power in the region and effectively transforming secular Baathist Iraq into an Iranian proxy Islamic Republic and terror haven.

The Biden administration’s decision to continue the Obama administration’s policy to appease, bankroll and strengthen Iran has proven disastrous. Now, Israel’s war on Gaza continues to radicalize the regions Arab governments against it including traditional US allies like Turkey and Egypt. The war has become a veritable humanitarian disaster with over 28,000 Palestinians killed to date amounting to over one percent of Gaza’s population with over seventy percent of them women and children, along with 67,000 wounded and 7,000 missing. Israeli officials have boasted that fully-one thirds of Gazans killed have been Hamas fighters, meaning that two-thirds have been civilians. Furthermore, there are now two million refugees, amounting to nearly eighty-five percent of its population, with hundreds of thousands of civilians on the verge of starvation while over sixty percent of Gazan homes have been seriously damaged or destroyed. In addition, thousands of Palestinians working in Israel on the eve of the war have gone missing. Human rights groups believe they have subjected to mass arrests by Israel, but Israel has refused to release the names of those whom they are holding. Back in November, Fox News reported Israel was offering to return Palestinian women and children they had imprisoned, not just men. These prisoners should be returned in exchange for the return of all hostages held by Hamas. Israeli casualties have been far lower with just over 1,400 dead and over two thousand wounded.

Ending America’s Proxy Wars in the Middle East

Two parallel wars are now being fought in the Middle East. The first between Israel and Gaza in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks and the second which is a proxy war between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran in response to Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza. Without congressional authorization, the US has been fighting this proxy war on multiple fronts in Yemen against the Houthis, against Iranian proxy groups in Syria as well as members of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. This organization consists of seven Iraqi militia groups which receive billions of dollars in funding from Iran and which are part of the Iraqi armed forces while the Biden administration continues to state it does not seek war with Iran. US forces have been attacked over 170 times with three US soldiers killed over 100 more wounded. The Biden administration has conducted multiple strikes against dozens of Houthi targets following successive anti-ship cruise missile and Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s ongoing war against Gaza.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving an address. Biden’s foreign policy of appeasing Iran by sending it billions of dollars, lifting almost all US economic sanctions against it and treating it as the dominant regional power in the Middle East has been exposed as a colossal failure.

Meanwhile, the US has struck dozens more Iranian-backed militia targets in Iraq and Syria including one that killed two senior Hezbollah lenders in Baghdad in response to the drone attack which killed three US soldiers in Jordan on January 28^th. The Iraqi government continues to fund the very Iranian proxy militias, which comprise part of their armed forces, that are killing and wounding US soldiers in Iraq, Syria and Jordan without any consequences. Iraq's Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani, declared three days of national mourning for the Iranian proxy militia fighters killed in US airstrikes for killing three Americans late last month demonstrating Iraq’s solidarity and subservience to Tehran. Meanwhile, 2,500 US troops in Iraq continue to help train the Iraqi military whose militias have been targeting and now killing US soldiers.

Foreign policy realists understand that this US-Iran proxy war is likely to continue to rage on indefinitely until the US either withdraws all of its troops in Iraq and Syria and northeastern Jordan, which Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has rightly described as “sitting ducks,” or successfully pressures Israel to agree to a permanent cease-fire which provides for minimal humanitarian rights and protections for Gaza civilians. However, instead of attempting to negotiate a diplomatic solution to end the conflict before it escalates into a full-scale interstate regional war, neoconservatives Republicans in and out of Congress are calling for direct US military strikes on Iran, which would be a very dangerous escalation of the war given Iran likely developed nuclear weapons years ago. The Biden administration has wisely rejected their calls. Furthermore, Iran likely has super-EMP satellites in orbit that could take out all electronics and critical infrastructure across the continental United States in an instant without warning and likely without attribution.

Gaza Cease-Fire Negotiations

While the Biden administration continues to press Israel for a permanent cease-fire and agree to a two-state solution establishing a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, Israel has declared its adamant opposition to both. It is ironic that Biden is championing a cease-fire in Gaza but is so adamantly opposed to Russia’s proposed cease-fire in Ukraine that Moscow has been pressing for nearly two years reiterated by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month. The administration's objective should be not just to achieve a permanent cease-fire in Gaza but in Ukraine as well ending both destabilizing wars that threaten to escalate to World War Three and restoring peace to both the Middle East and Europe in the interests of US national security interests and those of all our allies, saving hundreds of thousands and potentially millions of lives in the process.

On January 5^th, in response to continued pressure by President Biden, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant released a post-war plan for Gaza in which Gaza would be permanently demilitarized with Israel taking control of security for Gaza including control of all of its border crossings. The plan, while including some good elements would essentially see Gaza transformed into an Israeli-protectorate permanently occupied by IDF troops. According to a Time magazine article:

“Under Mr. Gallant's new "four corner" plan, Israel would retain overall security control of Gaza. A multi-national force would take charge of rebuilding the territory after the widespread destruction caused by Israeli bombing. Neighboring Egypt would also have an unspecified role to play under the plan. But the document adds that Palestinians would be responsible for running the territory. "Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel."

However, the article adds that an Israeli official has stated there is no official postwar plan to Gaza so the one presented by Israel’s Defense Minister may never be adopted. Furthermore, Netanyahu himself has not denounced the proposals of senior far-right Israeli politicians calling for the mass deportation of all the Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and other countries in furtherance of an Israeli plan to annex Gaza and achieve the dream of “Greater Israel.” This is something that Netanyahu himself supported as far back as 2007 but which would be impracticable given no other countries have agreed to accept Gaza refugees. One Knesset member from Netanyahu’s Likud Party has even called for all Gazan citizens to be destroyed, taking a page from Hitler’s infamous Final Solution for the Jews, while two other Israeli leaders have stated the use of nuclear weapons against Gaza was an option that could not be ruled out.

Israel’s Heritage Minister, Amichai Eliyahu, who said Israel should consider nuking Gaza back in November

I think there are a number of senior Israeli officials who would just as soon drive a couple million Gaza citizens into the sea on small boats. The Arabs want to expel the Israelis from Israel and the Israelis want to expel and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Palestine so the hatred runs strong on both sides. Accordingly, the calls for genocide are coming from both sides not just Islamists. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Israel and Hamas are getting closer to negotiating a temporary cease-fire to exchange prisoners in phases over a six-week period but negotiations for a permanent cease-fire are at an impasse over Israel’s refusal to withdraw its troops from all Gazan territory. Israel has offered to let senior Hamas leaders relocate to other countries as part of their cease-fire proposal.

My Proposal to End the Israel-Gaza War

During a recent interview, I was asked about my peace plans to end the war in Gaza and how we could establish a more just and lasting peace for both sides of the conflict. At the time, I was somewhat stumped given all the obstacles to implementation of such a peace agreement. These include the fact that Hamas has not yet been defeated militarily, Israel refusing to agree to Western proposals for a two-state solution (or presumably a three-state solution with the West Bank and Gaza as two separate states for that matter) and Israeli opposition to even to allow the Palestinian Authority to return to administering Gaza after the war was over. I therefore resolved to publish a new detailed proposal which could be implemented to accomplish this laudable objective. It is imperative that the US act to end this increasing humanitarian as expeditiously as possible.

While the Biden administration reportedly supports a two-state solution in which Gaza would revert to the control of the Palestinian Authority and all Israeli troops have been withdrawn, it’s inconceivable that Netanyahu would agree to a two-state or even a three-state solution as it would almost certainly lead to the downfall of his government as the far-right Israeli party would leave his coalition government. Accordingly, in recognition of Israeli dominance and control of most of Gaza, no peace agreement is feasible without being minimally acceptable to the State of Israel just as any peace proposal ending the war in Ukraine must be minimally acceptable to Russia given their massive military superiority over Ukraine and the fact they have been winning the war

Last week, Biden declared its opposition to Israel’s planned offensive against the southern city of Rafah to complete the Israeli Defense Force’s encirclement of Gaza until it came up with a plan to protect the over one million Gazan civilians which it had encouraged to seek refuge there. Continuing to fight a counterinsurgency war against Hamas of indefinite duration in an attempt to make Israel more safe and secure may end up having the exact opposite effect of provoking a direct war with Iran that could threaten Israel's very existence for the first time in over half a century.

Israel's goal is to eradicate Hamas from Gaza while the goal of Hamas is to survive and remain in power. Realistically, Israel's stated objective of eradicating Hamas could take years of brutal counterinsurgency warfare to accomplish while Israel’s international support continues to erode the longer the war continues. But what if Israel could accomplish its goal of largely eradicating the Hamas threat from Gaza by peaceful diplomatic means at no additional cost to Israel in terms of blood and treasure? Israel has already provided much of the basis for a potential compromise solution including its proposal for senior Hamas leaders to leave Gaza. The following peace plan incorporates some of the provisions of Israeli Defense Minister Galland’s ‘Day After’ four-point peace proposal with some additional, more specific provisions to make it more realistically achievable.  

1. Both sides agree to implement a permanent cease-fire ending the conflict.

2. Israel will immediately lift its land, air and sea blockade of Gaza and restore food, water, power and internet services as well as fuel shipments.

3. Israel will agree to permit all international humanitarian assistance shipments to reach Gaza civilians and allow the restoration of international trade.

4. All two million Palestinian refugees in southern Gaza will be allowed to return to their homes in northern and central Gaza.

5. Hamas will release all remaining hostages and pledge to never engage in terrorist attacks against Israel again. In exchange, Israel will release thousands of Palestinian prisoners including all guest workers imprisoned after the October 7^th attacks.

6. Gaza will be divided into two zones with their borders delineated along the current line of control—West Gaza and East Gaza. Israeli troops will remain in East Gaza to oversee new elections for a new Gazan parliament to help govern both zones. In exchange for senior Hamas leaders agreeing to leave Gaza and never return, Israel agrees not to send its troops into West Gaza.

7. East Gaza will be demilitarized and become a temporary protectorate. Israel will provide for the external and border security of both zones including for its seaports, airports and airspace. A Palestinian-led security force will be organized to provide for Gaza’s internal security.

8. Gaza will be granted partial self-rule by Israel. A new Palestinian Authority will be appointed to administer the Gaza Strip with responsibility for domestic affairs including economics, education, trade, taxation, domestic and humanitarian services. Hamas and Islamic Jihad members will be banned from holding political office at any level. The newly appointed President of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza shall preside over the Executive Branch of the new government and the Palestinian security force. Multiparty elections will be scheduled within one year for a new Gazan parliament.

9. The new Palestinian Authority shall appoint a Constitutional Commission to draft a new Constitution for Gaza based on Israel’s Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty granting Gaza residents the same rights and liberties accorded to Israeli permanent residents living in East Jerusalem. These rights shall include protections for the rights to life, liberty, free speech, religion, and assembly as well as the rights of freedom of thought and expression guaranteed by Israel. The protection of property, freedom of movement and the right to leave Gaza shall also be assured.

10. The new Constitution will call for peaceful co-existence with the State of Israel, ban implementation of sharia law, criminalize any kinetic or cyber-attacks against Israel, outlaw all acts of terrorism and prohibit antisemitism while creating a public education system that trains Palestinian children to embrace these principles in the interests of maintaining law, order, peace and stability.

11. There shall be no war crime tribunals for either side except for Hamas militants that violate the terms of this agreement.

12. There shall be no war reparations aside from monetary judgments against Hamas militants who violate this agreement and are convicted of terrorist acts to repay the families of the victims.

13. Israel pledges not to allow the construction of any Jewish settlements in Gaza.

14. A multi-national force led by Egypt will take charge of Gaza’s reconstruction. Israel pledges to assist in rebuilding Gaza’s critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed during the war beginning with hospitals.

15. Israel commits to withdraw its troops to their pre-war positions and restore full sovereignty to Gaza after a new constitution has been approved and implemented, new democratic elections have been held and a Palestinian security force has been trained to counter a potential resurgence of Hamas in East Gaza.

Conclusion

The risks to Israel of implementing this peace proposal would be far less than the risks facing Israel were it to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict. A long war could potentially enable Hamas to recruit more fighters to defend Gaza from Israel's collective punishment campaign, replenishing those already lost and serving to further inflame Muslim passions against Israel, greatly increasing the risk or a full-scale regional war which would include Iran.

Furthermore, a continuation of the war in Gaza could pose increasing risks to Israeli national security and could potentially spread to a war between Israel and Hezbollah leading to another Israeli invasion and occupation of Southern Lebanon. Given that Hezbollah is larger, more powerful, and better equipped than ever before and has 130,000 rockets it could rain on Tel Aviv and even Jerusalem such a war could lead to thousands more unnecessary Israeli deaths. Israeli leaders have even expressed concern that Hezbollah could target Israeli government buildings in Tel Aviv including Israel's Defense Ministry killing senior Israeli officials. Finally, an escalation of the conflict to a direct war between the US and Iran could end in a nuclear exchange that could potentially cause Israel to cease to exist.

Implementation of this peace plan would serve to end the death and destruction in Gaza which would result from an unnecessary prolongation of the war, ensure the security of Israel from future Hamas attacks and most importantly end the threat of escalation to a direct war with Iran which would pose an existential threat to Israel without the need for a single additional Israeli soldier to sacrifice their lives to do so. While this peace proposal would admittedly allow Hamas to remain in de facto control of 25-30 percent of Gaza, continued Israeli occupation of East Gaza would provide Israel with an effective buffer zone and increased security against the potential threat of future attacks on Israel while Israeli control of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt would effectively eliminating the ability of Hamas to replenish its heavy weaponry. The US should make all further military assistance to Israel conditional upon them agreeing to a humanitarian peace plan along the lines noted above.

In addition, the Biden administration should revamp its Iran strategy to replace its currently policy of military confrontation with Iran with one focused on the restoration of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign of harsh economic sanctions against Iran for its continued support of terrorism and to attempt to further constrain its nuclear capabilities. The US should also act to cut off all aid to Iran's proxy government in Iraq. Meanwhile, the US should continue its alliance with Israel as the lynchpin of US national security in the Middle East while encouraging it to adhere more closely to internationally accepted humanitarian norms.

The Biden administration should support this peace proposal and rally international support for it in the West and the Global South as the most realistic option to end the conflict. While concluding a more just and lasting peace in Gaza and the greater Middle East represents an enormous challenge, I believe this peace proposal offers the best hope of being accepted by both Israel and Hamas and accordingly should be employed as a potential blueprint to end the conflict. US national security interests demand that the war be ended as soon as possible to avert potential escalation to a broader regional conflagration to include direct conflict between Israel and Iran which could potentially draw in their nuclear superpower allies leading to the outbreak of World War Three.

© David T. Pyne 2024

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a former U.S. Army combat arms and Headquarters staff officer, who was in charge of armaments cooperation with the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas from 2000-2003, with an M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and as a member of the Committee on the Present Danger-China. He recently served as Defense and Foreign Policy Advisor to a top-tier presidential candidate. He has also co-authored the best-selling new book, “Catastrophe Now--America’s Last Chance to Avoid an EMP Disaster” and his new book “A Nuclear Posture Review for Advanced Technology Weapons” will be published in early fall 2024. He serves as the Editor of “The Real War” newsletter at dpyne.substack.com and as a contributor to “The National Interest”. Here is a link to his interview archive. He may be reached at emptaskforce.ut@gmail.com.

Recent Media Interviews

January 21st—Interview with former Salt Lake County District Attorney Republican nominee Danielle Ahn on her “Danielle Ahn Direct” podcast to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the ramifications of the Taiwanese presidential election. Here is the link to the interview.

January 23rd—Interview with Jon Twitchell on his Talk with Jon show to rebut Joel Skousen’s false claims about my positions on foreign policy issues and discuss the rising threat of the war with China following the DPP presidential election victory of a candidate which China has denounced as a harbinger for war with the PRC. Here is the link to the radio interview.

January 23rd—I will be presenting a briefing at the Food Storage Depot at 10366 Redwood Road in South Jordan, Utah from 6:30-8pm entitled “How American Can Avert World War Three and Ensure our National Survival.” The link to the presentation is listed above.

January 24th—Interview with Brannon Howse on his Worldview Weekend Broadcast Network to discuss this article. Here is the link to the recording.

January 25th—Interview on Living Hope Esparanza to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the coming war with China over Taiwan. Here is a link to my interview.

January 26th—Interview with Paul Jensen on KTALK AM 1640 from 7am-8am MDT to rebut Joel Skousen’s false claims about my positions on foreign policy issues and discuss the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the possibility they may escalate to World War Three. Here is the link.

January 31st—Interview with Brannon Howse on his Worldview Weekend Broadcast Network to discuss the increasing Chinese cyber threat, the chances of war with China over Taiwan later this year, the Iranian nuclear threat and how the US should respond to Iranian proxy attacks in the Middle East. Here is a link to the interview.

February 2nd—Interview with Jared Anderson and Holly Crowley-Rabanne who host the Tooele Happy Hour podcast to discuss what our citizens can do to help save America from an unnecessary world war with Russia and China as well as what they can do to help save their families in the event the power gets turned off for good at the start of a catastrophic war. Here is the link.

February 9th-Interview with REN TV to discuss Zelensky’s likely reasons for firing of Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zeluzhny and how it will likely affect the course of the war in Ukraine.

February 14th—Interview with Brannon Howse on his Worldview Weekend Broadcast Network radio and TV shows to discuss the threat of a Iranian nuclear/super EMP missile launch from a cargo ship as well as the request by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner to declassify a Russian plan to put a nuclear (likely super-EMP) weapon in orbit to use to destroy US satellites on the first day of any war with them. Here is the link to the TV interview.

Upcoming Media Interviews

February 20th—Interview on RT’s Crosstalk TV program hosted by Peter Lavelle to discuss the true origins of the war in Ukraine, who is winning the war, how it is likely to end and what security arrangement can be made between Russia and NATO to prevent it from re-occurring.

February 20th—Interview with Jon Twitchell on his Talk with Jon show to discuss Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the state of the war in Ukraine, Russia’s new super EMP satellites which can destroy the US and my peace plan to end the Gaza War.

February 21st—Interview with Brannon Howse on his Worldview Weekend Hour show on Patriot TV to discuss the news that Biden is trying to stop the Russian super-EMP satellite from being tested as well as the story that 75% of components in a North Korean KM-23 SRBM were found to be made in America.

February 22nd—Interview with Brannon Howse on his Worldview Radio network broadcast on 67 affiliates to discuss the effects of EMP on cellphone networks and US communication systems.

February 24th—Interview with former Salt Lake County District Attorney Republican nominee Danielle Ahn on her “Danielle Ahn Direct” podcast to discuss the threat of EMP attack and super geomagnetic storms.

February 27th—Interview with Jon Twitchell on his Talk with Jon show to discuss the latest developments with regards to Russia, the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the increasing threat of war with China.

February 27th—Interview with Nima Alkhorshid on his Dialogue Works podcast to discuss the 2nd anniversary of the war in Ukraine as well as my newly published peace plan to end the war on Gaza on fair and reasonable terms while also ending America’s proxy war with Iran.

March 5th—Interview on the COL Rob Maness (USA Ret) on the Rob Maness Show to discuss the Russian super-EMP satellite threat, the potential vulnerabilities of America’s Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3) system and what we can do to reduce America’s vulnerability to a nuclear/EMP first strike.

April 18th—I will be presenting an extensive briefing at the Firm Foundation Expo at the Mountain America Expo Center at 9575 South State Street in Sandy, Utah at 5pm to discuss the increasing threat of World War Three with Russia, China, North Korea and Iran and what we need to do to avert it.