What to do with Gaza? That is the question Israel has faced and much of the world has been asking ever since Israel launched its war against Hamas following the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s bloody October 7 attack on Israeli civilians nearly two years ago.

Indeed, Hamas invited the retaliation via its taking and holding of Israeli hostages, whom the jihadi group refuses to give up to this day. Meanwhile, significant parts of the Gaza Strip have been effectively turned into a pile of rubble, and there’s an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Hamas continuously attacks efforts by Israel and the U.S. to get aid and supplies to the Palestinians. Hamas is starving the children.

Now, with Hamas severely decimated yet still tenaciously holding onto power, Israel is left with a seemingly untenable situation.

First of all, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it abundantly clear that no matter the eventual outcome, Israel will not allow Hamas to return to power in the Gaza Strip. “Otherwise,” he astutely noted, “we will have many more kidnappings and many more hostages.”

Months ago, Donald Trump floated the idea of turning the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” It might be a nice thought, but such a suggestion is a practical impossibility, as it would effectively require the removal of the entire Palestinian population.

Trump has since left the question of Gaza up to Israel. “I know that we are there now trying to get people fed,” he said last week. “As far as the rest of it, I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel.”

And Israel has decided. After a vote from the defense Cabinet, Netanyahu announced that the Israel Defense Forces will take over control of the Gaza Strip in order to root out the remaining Hamas militants. After a couple of months, Israel will seek to have an Arab nation take over.

“We are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas,” Netanyahu explained. “Gaza will be demilitarized, and a peaceful civilian administration will be established, one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organization. This will help free our hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”

It is the only truly middle-ground solution, but it also has drawn condemnation from several European nations, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

These nations are demanding a two-state solution and effective action to recognize such a scenario, despite the fact that the Palestinians have steadfastly and repeatedly refused such an arrangement every time it’s been offered. These European nations don’t believe that Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism — for that is the message they are effectively sending. It’s as hypocritical as it is mind-boggling.

Unfortunately, with anti-Semitism on the rise across the West, Israel’s actions will likely only fuel greater anti-Zionist rhetoric. The fact of the matter is that this is exactly the type of attitude toward Israel that Iran, via its terrorist proxies of Hamas and Hezbollah, has long been fomenting.

Netanyahu frames the IDF not as an occupying force but as a liberating force. That may be genuine, but it will only work if the Palestinians themselves embrace such a narrative. And there is little history to suggest they will.

In truth, Netanyahu is acting to secure Israel, which is exactly what he should be doing. When Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, after having held it since the 1967 war, the belief was that this would quiet much of the “occupation” rhetoric and give the Palestinians the freedom of self-rule they were apparently pining for.

Apparently, all it yielded was an opportunity for Hamas to take over and wage an unending terror campaign against Israel. Given this fact, how willing will Israel be to hand over the Gaza Strip? Ironically, occupation may be the only solution for peace.