White House announces Gaza Board of Peace will include Rubio, Witkoff, Turkish reps. - Tobias Holcman

 

by Tobias Holcman

Egypt and Turkey issued responses to Trump's invitation, saying that they were considering accepting the offer to join Gaza's Board of Peace.

 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighbourhood, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 19, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS) 

The White House announced on Friday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Tony Blair will be among the founding members of the new Gaza Board of Peace (BoP), which will be responsible for rebuilding the enclave and ensuring the disarmament of Hamas.

The announcement includes a list of members of the BoP, alongside the designation of the commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), and the Gaza Executive Board, which includes representatives from Turkey and Qatar.

US officials Marc Rowan, Ajay Banga, and Robert Gabriel were also confirmed to be among the members of the BoP, the White House's statement added.

Reports by Canadian media claimed that Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney was invited to join the board and accepted the invitation.

Turkish authorities announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also among the possible new members of the BoP.

A United Nations vehicle drive past the destroyed United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's (UNRWA) headquarters, in Gaza City on January 11, 2026. (credit: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images)

"US President Donald Trump, on January 16, 2026, in his capacity as the founding president of the Peace Council, sent a letter inviting our President, His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to participate as a founding member in the Board of Peace," said Burhanettin Duran, spokesperson of the Turkish presidency.

Birleşmiş Milletler Güvenlik Konseyi 2803 sayılı kararıyla, ABD Başkanı Donald Trump tarafından açıklanan Gazze İhtilafını Sona Erdirmek için Kapsamlı Planı (Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict) desteklemeyi kararlaştırmıştır.

Bu çerçevede, Gazze'de güvenliğin…

— Burhanettin Duran (@burhanduran) January 17, 2026

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a response to Trump's announcement on the BoP and Egypt's role in the Gaza Executive Board, saying in a press conference that the government is examining the invitation for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to join the board.

Argentine President Javier Milei announced that he was invited by Trump to be a part of the BoP, and issued a statement accepting the invitation and thanking the US president.

"It is an honor for me to have received tonight the invitation for Argentina to join, as a Founding Member, the Board of Peace, an organization created by President Trump to promote lasting peace in regions affected by conflict, starting with the Gaza Strip," he said in a post.

"Argentina will always stand with the countries that confront terrorism head-on, that defend life and property, and that promote peace and freedom. It is an honor for us to share in such a great responsibility," he added.

GRACIAS PRESIDENTE TRUMP @realDonaldTrump@POTUS

Es un honor para mí haber recibido esta noche la invitación para que la Argentina integre, como Miembro Fundador, el Board of Peace, una organización creada por el Presidente Trump para promover una paz duradera en regiones… pic.twitter.com/ORalzkzhlv

— Javier Milei (@JMilei) January 17, 2026

Gaza Board of Peace: Palestinian leaders in technocratic administration

The statement also detailed that Dr. Ali Sha’ath will be in charge of the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will "oversee the restoration of core public services, the rebuilding of civil institutions, and the stabilization of daily life in Gaza, while laying the foundation for long-term, self-sustaining governance."

The statement also confirmed that former UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov will have an executive role "on the ground" as the High Representative for Gaza and serve as a link between the BoP and the NCAG administration.

The ISF will be commanded by Major General Jasper Jeffers, the White House revealed, explaining that he will "lead security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials."

The announcement also includes the names of several members of the Gaza Executive Board, who assume the responsibilities of helping "support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza."

Its members, alongside the already mentioned members of the BoP, will include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, Egypt's General Hassan Rashad, Emirati Minister Reem Al-Hashimy, Yakir Gabay, and Sigrid Kaag.

Trump commented on Thursday: "I am backing a newly appointed Palestinian Technocratic Government, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, supported by the Board's High Representative, to govern Gaza during its transition."

Lapid calls Gaza plan 'diplomatic failure'

Former prime minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid called the recent announcement on the Gaza BoP a "diplomatic failure for Israel, claiming that for the last year he has been warning the government that "if you don’t advance the Egyptian solution with the US and the world, you’ll end up with Turkey and Qatar in Gaza.”

כבר שנה אני אומר לממשלה: "אם לא תקדמו את הפתרון המצרי מול ארה״ב והעולם, תגמרו עם תורכיה וקטאר בעזה."

אתמול בלילה פורסם הרכב "מועצת השלום" - תורכיה בפנים, קטאר בפנים ולפי צה״ל החמאס עם 30 אלף חמושים בעזה.

זה כשלון מדיני גמור של ממשלת נתניהו אחרי הגבורה וההקרבה האין סופית של…

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) January 17, 2026

"Last night the composition of the 'Board of Peace' was published – Turkey is in, Qatar is in, and according to the IDF, Hamas still has 30,000 armed men in Gaza," he posted in X/Twitter.

"This is a complete diplomatic failure of the Netanyahu government after the endless heroism and sacrifice of the soldiers and commanders of the IDF," he added.

Tobias Holcman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-883624

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Rand Paul presses Congress to vote on ending refugee welfare, forcing charities to pick up tab - Amanda Head

 

by Amanda Head

With federal programs that cost the American taxpayers billions every year, members of Congress are trying to find a remedy to tighten purse strings.

 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who serves as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is drafting a transformative new bill that will return the responsibility of care for refugees to their sponsors and the charitable organizations who brought them to the United States, removing them from the tax bill of Americans. 

"They will survive the way we traditionally did. When we admitted people, if you sponsored them, they're your responsibility," Paul told Just The News.

"You have many of these church charities involved in bringing people here, and then the church charity thinks that charity involves signing them up for welfare. No. Charity is if your charity brings them here, and they can't or aren't working enough to have food, you feed them. It's charitable to give your own money. It's not charitable to take someone else's money."

Paul, along with other members of Congress in both the House and the Senate, have been sounding the alarm on a key component of welfare program eligibility, which was redefined by the Biden administration, who ushered in millions of illegal immigrants under novel parameters for eligibility.

Under U.S. law, most legal immigrants are subject to a five-year waiting period before becoming eligible for major federal means-tested public benefits like Medicaid, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), but refugees and asylum-seekers are fully exempt from this bar and can access these programs immediately.

$1.6 trillion in wasteful spending identified

However, Paul argues, "What we have done is we've gone around the legal immigrant status, and we've added this whole other category of a special visa or refugee status, which is hundreds of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of people come in on this, and they're on welfare. It's supposed to be against the law."

Paul, who began publishing his annual Festivus Report to highlight examples of federal government waste through his "airing of grievances," has been a consistent voice opposing government waste and fraud. In the December 2025 edition, he identified approximately $1.6 trillion in wasteful spending, including funding for cocaine experiments on dogs, payments to influencers promoting COVID vaccines, and massive interest on the national debt. 

The name of the annual report was inspired by the TV show Seinfeld, in which Festivus was a humorous, anti-commercial holiday invented by Frank Costanza. 

The report harkens back to Senator William Proxmire, D-Wis., who awarded the "Golden Fleece Awards" on a monthly basis from 1975 to 1988, spotlighting what he deemed the most "wasteful, ridiculous or ironic use of the taxpayers' money," often targeting seemingly silly scientific studies. 

Paul went on to warn against other Senate Republicans who are inclined to keep the refugee funding as a part of the next federal budget. "I found out in the last couple of months that the refugee money, the $5 billion, is still in the appropriations process. In the Republican Senate, virtually every Republican senator voted to keep the refugee money in."

Paul is prepared to throw a wrench in the machine. As of now, that bill was slated to come up this week. "They delayed it because I think they heard that I'm going to bring an amendment to strip it, and so it'll still be in the money January 30. If there's 4, 5, 6 million in there, I will do whatever it takes to get an amendment vote. And usually if I threatened to slow the process up, I can get a vote," Paul said.

In an effort to get members of Congress on record, Paul cautioned, "I think all Republicans and Democrats ought to vote on whether we're going to look at Somali fraud and look the other way and just keep funneling the money to the refugee welfare programs."

"We can't take care of our own, much less admitting hundreds of 1000s of new people. So I'm following this closely."

Broad-stroke spending cuts to control waste

Examining the overarching issue of wasteful spending in Washington, Paul proposed a blanket reduction in spending that might be more palatable than previous approaches. 

"What I've proposed for everything is to balance the budget, you have to have 6% less spending," Paul told Just The News. "And what I like about doing it across the board, is everybody comes in and has a sad story like research money for Alzheimer's. I have family members with it. Everybody does. I have sympathy. We're a wealthy country. Can't we afford it?" Rand asked rhetorically. 

"And so if we spent 100 million last year. I'll say, could we spend 94 million? And you know, most of the families that come in say, well, that's not that unreasonable. We'll still be doing Alzheimer's research. We're just going to do 6% less so we don't bankrupt the country. But I think it's the same with refugee money. 6% would be the minimum."

Amanda Head is the White House Correspondent at Just The News. Follow her on X.

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/congress/refugees-wont-get-welfare-under-groundbreaking-new-bill-care-will-transfer

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A Human Wave of Hope: The Iranian People Demand Freedom - Thaddeuas G. McCotter

 

by Thaddeuas G. McCotter

Appeasement has failed Iran before; liberty will come not from Western neutrality or foreign bombs, but from standing with Iranians as they force the regime’s implosion.

 

 

The lessons of history regarding the barbarous Iranian regime have been ignored for too long by the West. As was noted on the floor of the U.S. House by a representative long opposed to the reign of terror of these murderous mullahs:

“Mr. Speaker, from the hellish streets where Iranians demand freedom, voices arise to pray for deliverance and liberty; but, elsewhere, safely ensconced in freedom, others argue for appeasement and ‘neutrality.’ We must choose wisely between these competing voices and visions, lest we betray our allegiance to liberty.

“Some voices allege America’s support of Iranian democracy demonstrators harms their cause, strengthens the regime, increases the repression, and, once the freedom seekers are slaughtered, precludes ‘good’ relations with the murderous mullahs. Their siren song is wrong.”

After enumerating all the measures and encouraging they be linked into a singular policy, the Representative concluded:

After enumerating and encouraging to be linked into a singular policy, all the measures short of kinetic military intervention at the United States’ disposal to support the Iranian people and depose the regime, the representative concluded:

“If we pale and fail to take these measures, we will be haunted by the cries of the oppressed Iranians abandoned to preserve our neutrality in this time of moral crisis. But when we act, we will expand freedom to the oppressed and enslaved and ensure it for our children and ourselves. Only then will we have honorably performed our duty to liberty by guaranteeing generations of Americans and Iranians may proclaim, ‘We are free.’’’

Regrettably, back in 2009, my urgent appeals went unheeded. President Obama paled and failed, and the Iranian people’s hopes for freedom died at the hands of the Iranian regime’s butchers. Nor did Mr. Obama secure anything from the regime but its undying derision and contempt for trying to seek better relations.

Today, with the death toll among protestors rising in the face of the Iranian regime’s lethal repression, the obstinate failure of the Western Left to understand the nature of, let alone utter obloquy about the crimes of, the Tehran government remains a matter of increasingly legendary shame. Instead, the left either harkens back to the U.S.- and U.K.-backed deposing of Mosaddegh to rationalize away the current regime’s democide or downplays the reason for the Iranian people’s protests as merely an economic one, rather than a cry for freedom.

In a January 12, 2026, Facebook post, Evan Sayet observed:

“I am truly baffled that so few—if any—commentators are even mentioning the water bankruptcy and the power shortages it has caused as being even a part of what’s behind this revolution in Iran. Instead, it’s about inflation and the tanking of the rial. I think that one of the major reasons this uprising is going to succeed where the others have failed is that the people know that they have a choice: they can die by an Islamicist’s bullet, or they can die of thirst, and only victory holds any hope for survival.”

The clarion logic of Mr. Sayet’s post was lost upon the left, as typified by this post on X by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres:

“Shocked by reports of violence & excessive use of force by the Iranian authorities against protesters resulting in deaths & injuries in recent days. The rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected. I urge the Iranian authorities to exercise maximum restraint & refrain from unnecessary or disproportionate use of force. I also urge steps that enable access to information in the country, including restoring communications.”

Shocked by an Iranian regime that has never respected the rights of its people? Shocked by an Iranian regime that during the Iran-Iraq War “repeatedly launched fruitless infantry attacks, using human assault waves composed partly of untrained and unarmed conscripts (often young boys snatched from the streets), which were repelled by the superior firepower and air power of the Iraqis?” Shocked by an Iranian regime that killed Neda and Taraneh? Evidently, the U.N. Secretary General refuses to heed the wisdom of the former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky: “How a government treats its own people cannot be separated from how that government could be expected to treat other countries.’’

Fortunately, amid the Iranian regime’s intensifying human rights abuses and crimes being perpetrated against the Iranian people for the “sin” of wanting their liberty, on Truth Social, President Trump has signaled his support for the oppressed populace: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

Further, as reported by Reuters, the president

“…was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran,” a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions, and providing online help to anti-government sources. ‘The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,’ Trump told reporters travelling on Air Force One on Sunday night. Trump said he was in contact with Iranian opposition leaders. He also said, without elaborating, that Iran’s leaders had called him on Saturday and want to negotiate, and that he might talk to them.”

It is here, however, that this president’s ardor for the expansion of liberty must be informed by prudence, for it to be realized by the Iranian people.

First, there is nothing to be gained by talking to the Iranian regime. There is no grand bargain to be struck. They are not even deserving of a bidden “good riddance” as they are ushered into the sh-t can of history.

And they will be ushered into it not by the military might of the U.S. or other free nations. It will be achieved by the Iranian people. As I have long noted, the end of this terrorist regime will not be accomplished by foreign explosions, but by an internal implosion beneath the weight of the Iranian people’s aspirations for liberty.

In consequence, any active, kinetic U.S. military involvement in these protests will be unhelpful at best; and, given the Iranian regime’s propaganda, which blames the U.S. and Israel for instigating these spontaneous popular protests, it would likely play into the hands of the heinous Iranian regime.

Notwithstanding these cautions, it is extremely heartening to witness President Trump and his administration’s support for the Iranian people. Unlike the timorous, left-wing Obama administration’s attempts to appease the terrorist-exporting Iranian regime, the courageous Iranian people know President Trump and the American people have their back. And, despite the cynical protestations of some, such support truly matters.

Let us give a gulag prisoner who fought against all odds and state-administered depravities in pursuit of freedom, the aforementioned Mr. Sharansky:

‘‘We developed our own tapping language to communicate with each other between the crawls of our cells. We had to develop new communication methods to pass on this great, impossible news. Reagan dared to call the great Soviet Union an evil empire. That moment made it impossible for anyone in the West to continue closing their eyes to the real nature of the Soviet Union. It was one of the most important, freedom-affirming declarations, and we all instantly knew it. For us, that was the moment that really marked the end for them, and the beginning for us. The beginning of a new revolution, a freedom revolution.”

No, the intrepid Iranian people are not yet free.

But they will be.

***

An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances. 

Thaddeuas G. McCotter

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/01/17/a-human-wave-of-hope-the-iranian-people-demand-freedom/

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Ayatollahs moving millions out of Iran as they 'abandon ship,' US Treasury chief says - Sam Halpern

 

by Sam Halpern

We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax.

 

A currency dealer poses for a photo with a U.S one dollar bill and the amount being given when converting it into Iranian rials in an exchange shop in Tehran, Iran December 25, 2022

(photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Iranian leaders are moving tens of millions of dollars out of the country as they begin “abandoning ship” amid the deadly protests in Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax on Wednesday.

“We are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship, because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership,” Bessent said. “So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world.

The ongoing protests in Iran began in response to the country’s plummeting economy, as the rial’s value fell to record lows. In the interview, Bessent attributed the downward spiral of the Iranian economy to the economic measures US President Donald Trump began implementing after being elected.

Bessent: We are approaching Trump's endgame with Iran

“We're quickly approaching the endgame of President Trump's plan that he put into effect almost immediately when he came into office. We've been applying a maximum pressure campaign on Iran's oil exports to cut off the sources of the regime's funding. And what we have seen in the past month is a total financial collapse of the regime.”

After protests began, demonstrations broke out all over the country. The regime responded with deadly crackdowns. Iranian opposition outlet Iran International estimated that over 12,000 people were killed over the course of two days last week, however the true figure is unknown. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (C) speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump announces plans to host the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, Florida during a press availability in the Oval Office of the White House on September 05, 2025 in Washington, DC. (credit: KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES)

US-based Iranian rights group HRANA has thus far confirmed 2,615 deaths, a number that grows every day.

According to the group, 153 of those were either members of the regime’s security forces or government supporters.

Additionally, Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen told public broadcaster KAN News on Thursday morning that Israel had information that protesters had killed hundreds of Iran’s security personnel.

Further, while Trump has said the killings in Iran were "stopping," he has threatened military action against the country if they did not.

European officials on Wednesday evening told Reuters that US military intervention in Iran could come in the next 24 hours.

Sam Halpern

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-883473

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Trump would want US strikes to be a decisive blow to Iranian regime -NBC - Danya Saperstein

 

by Danya Saperstein

The officials are concerned that the Iranian regime is not yet weak enough to be effectively ended through US strikes.

 

US President Donald Trump speaks at the Detroit Economic Club in Detroit, Michigan, US, January 13, 2026.

(photo credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo) 

President Trump has said he would not want to bring the US into a war in Iran that could last weeks or months, NBC reported early Thursday morning, citing two people familiar with the discussions and a person close to the White House.

Trump wants any US strike to be a “definitive” blow, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions.

However, his advisers were unable to guarantee a total collapse of the regime after a US military strike, and there is concern that the US may not have all the assets it would need to defend against Iranian retaliation in the region. 

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran's Grand Bazaar against the failing economic policies in late December, which spread to universities and other cities (credit: MAHSA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Preparation may be underway

Trump has had multiple military options prepared and presented to him in recent days, with senior administration officials meeting to discuss military goals for potential strikes and the cost of Iranian retaliation, specifically on US forces and allies such as Israel in the region.

On Wednesday, hundreds of US troops were moved from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, one of the locations thought to be under threat, should Iran decide to attack US forces.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he had been told that the killings in Iran had stopped. When asked whether that meant military action is off the table, Trump responded, "We're going to watch and see what the process is."

Danya Saperstein

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-883432

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UN to Censor All Criticism of the Climate Agenda as Whistleblower Exposes it as a Total Scam - Robert Williams

 

by Robert Williams

Those who disagree with the UN and WEF agendas on climate change, regardless of their scientific credentials, are "denialists" who must be "defeated."

 

• "In the era of disinformation, obscurantists reject not only scientific evidence but also the progress of multilateralism.... They attack institutions, science, and universities. It is time to once again defeat the denialists." — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, November 10, 2025.

• Get it? Those who disagree with the UN and WEF agendas on climate change, regardless of their scientific credentials, are "denialists" who must be "defeated."

• "The United Nations is trying to control what people can hear, read and think about climate change just when social media companies like Meta are reversing their years-long policy of 'fact-checking,' climate change policy debate—which Meta admits resulted in censorship... The proposal that taxpayers spend hundreds of trillions of dollars on poor climate policies is surely worth debate. The UN has no place suppressing that discussion." — Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus, New York Post, March 6, 2025.

• "Most people there, overwhelming majority, they've never read anything. They get their speaking notes. There are speaking notes and this is the party line... Implement it and they know their job, you know, rests upon it. So, they're not going to read climate research. They're not going to go on an expedition to Antarctica or to the Arctic. They're not going to even look at real world effects...." — Desiree Fixler, whistleblower, former member of the WEF's Global Future Council on Responsible Investing, December 2025.

• Left out of these discussions, it seems, was any talk of nuclear fusion energy, "the holy grail of clean energy [that] promises abundant power without carbon emissions, long-term radioactive waste, or meltdown risk." Fusion energy, needed for the unimaginable amounts of electricity that will be needed to power AI and quantum computing -- is already under rapid development in China. If we do not urgently master nuclear fusion energy fast, the 21^st century will belong to China.

The UN is shutting down criticism of the ongoing climate scam: At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), held in Brazil in November, several states endorsed the UN's "Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change," professedly a pledge to "fight false information about climate change." Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in his speech, said: "It is time to once again defeat the denialists." Pictured: Lula da Silva speaks at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, on November 6, 2025. (Photo by Pablo Porciuncula/AFP via Getty Images)

The UN is shutting down criticism of the ongoing climate scam: At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), held in Brazil in November 2025, several states endorsed the UN's "Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change, an initiative recognizing and trying to combat the rise in climate disinformation in media and politics."

The UN declaration is professedly a pledge to "fight false information" about climate change.

"In the era of disinformation, obscurantists reject not only scientific evidence but also the progress of multilateralism," said Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his opening address at the conference. "They control algorithms, sow hatred, and spread fear. They attack institutions, science, and universities. It is time to once again defeat the denialists."

Get it? Those who disagree with the UN and WEF agendas on climate change, regardless of their scientific credentials, are "denialists" who must be "defeated."

The declaration has already been endorsed by 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, and the Netherlands.

Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus and visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, wrote in March 2025 about the initiative presented at COP30:

"The United Nations is trying to control what people can hear, read and think about climate change just when social media companies like Meta are reversing their years-long policy of 'fact-checking,' climate change policy debate—which Meta admits resulted in censorship.

"The proposal that taxpayers spend hundreds of trillions of dollars on poor climate policies is surely worth debate.

"The UN has no place suppressing that discussion.

"If it is to survive, the UN and other multilateral organizations need to return to their roots of helping humanity to navigate the world for peace and prosperity.

"And they must learn that free and informed debate poses no threat to that cause."

The reason the UN and its member states – in cooperation with the World Economic Forum (WEF), as the two work in partnership "to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" – are shutting down criticism is because the climate change narrative is a hoax.

This was confirmed most recently, by Desiree Fixler, an expert in sustainable finance and investment banking and a former member of the WEF's Global Future Council on Responsible Investing. Fixler, a whistleblower, used to work as a sustainability officer for Deutsche Bank, until she exposed their "greenwashing" and was fired for it. Since then, she has been exposing (here and here) the climate change narrative and the "net zero" agenda as a scam. In a recent podcast, she explained how the UN and WEF agendas of net zero emissions and "stakeholder capitalism" -- a WEF concept -- are means to gain control and implement socialism. "They're lying to the public," Fixler recently said on the Winston Marshall podcast.

"They've manufactured a climate crisis. There is climate change, but there is no climate crisis... asset managers, consultants, and governments... they're all in on it because they all profit from it."

While the political and corporate elites claim that they are all about working for the people, ordinary citizens are in fact not part of their concerns, according to Fixler, who sat in on these meetings and questioned the agendas.

"The people are never spoken about," Fixler continued.

"It's the untruths that are told to the public... They would put out this propaganda, you know, net zero is profitable, renewable energy is profitable, it is going to lower electricity prices for everybody."

Fixler said that at these WEF meetings, she would push back against those untruths:

"If we look at the net zero countries, right, Germany and the UK unfortunately have some of the highest energy prices and you can see the economy is starting to flatline, particularly in Germany. Germany is going on its third year of actual shrinkage... I'd be in the room... here in the UK where some government person would say, 'you know, net zero is adding jobs to our economy' and I'd say, 'No, it's not... Joblessness is going up... the Office of National Statistics, has just told you in the last quarter, this country has lost over 100,000 jobs.' That's the real world. That's what it's like to be in these meetings. And I argue this all the time, right? There is no climate catastrophe. There is however... a cost-of-living crisis. We have a low birth rate crisis... And to address the cost of living, just repeal net zero... because that unleashes economic growth... Everything today is based on affordable, abundant, reliable... energy."

Apparently, no one at the WEF cared to listen. "There's no debate," she told Winston Marshall.

"I'll raise my issues. I'll put out my economic charts. Totally disregarded and personal attacks start coming... I'm called a flat-earther... a climate change denier. Most people there, overwhelming majority, they've never read anything. They get their speaking notes. There are speaking notes and this is the party line... Implement it and they know their job, you know, rests upon it. So, they're not going to read climate research. They're not going to go on an expedition to Antarctica or to the Arctic. They're not going to even look at real world effects... These people are so wealthy... they don't even care. I remember at one of the events where I was banging on about high electricity costs and... one of the guys in the room is like... 'Desiree, like this just gets really tiring from you. Like why is this such a big deal? It's not as if you struggle to pay.'"

Fixler warns that the UN and WEF agendas need to be stopped:

"It's not just that these are greedy control freaks. This is really harming society. And every single day I see it getting closer... to Klaus Schwab's ideals... Whether that is with energy prices and grid instability, digital IDs and central bank digital currency... The biggest thing is that... this agenda is coming down and... we the voters don't have a say on it... mainstream media doesn't objectively cover this ... People aren't taught [that] there's capitalism [and] socialism -- that stakeholder capitalism is not capitalism, it's socialism. It's about top-down mandate. It's about state control."

Still, the elites double down on the lies. "The science compels climate action," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a speech in September 2025.

"So does the economics. Clean energy is powering jobs, growth and sustainable development. Generating the fastest and cheapest electricity.... Now, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, and much faster: Delivering dramatic emissions cuts... covering all emissions and sectors; and accelerating a just energy transition globally...."

Left out of these discussions, it seems, was any talk of nuclear fusion energy, "the holy grail of clean energy [that] promises abundant power without carbon emissions, long-term radioactive waste, or meltdown risk." Fusion energy, needed for the unimaginable amounts of electricity that will be needed to power AI and quantum computing -- is already under rapid development in China. If we do not urgently master nuclear fusion energy fast, the 21^st century will belong to China.

Robert Williams is based in the United States.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22155/un-censor-climate-agenda-criticism

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China wants to dethrone US as world’s superpower, DOD says, after old reports cheered Beijing’s rise - Jerry Dunleavy

 

by Jerry Dunleavy

The Pentagon has provided the clearest picture yet on the CCP's global ambitions. Previous administrations sought to bolster China's rise to global eminence.

 

The Department of War is arguing that the Chinese military is boosted by the Chinese Communist Party in an effort to fulfill China’s goal to replace the United States as the globe’s preeminent superpower — a striking change from just over a decade ago when the Pentagon was welcoming the rise of China.

The Pentagon’s annual report, put out just before Christmas to little fanfare, noted that the Chinese military “has for decades marshaled resources, technology, and political will to achieve its vision of a world-class military” and assessed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is a key component of China’s ambition to displace the United States as the world’s most powerful nation.”

This represents a rhetorical shift, especially as compared to the annual Pentagon reports between 2006 and 2011, during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, where the Defense Department repeatedly spoke of the U.S. “welcoming” China’s rise, with the reports even bragging about the extent to which the U.S. had facilitated China’s ascent on the world stage.

A number of U.S. national security and foreign policy assessments during the Trump and Biden presidencies also found that China was seeking to replace America as the preeminent world power, but it took years for these findings to make it into the Pentagon’s annual reports on China in a direct way.

The threat posed by China has been a major influence on many of the Trump Administration’s recent foreign policy moves, including the U.S. military raid aimed at and the arrest of CCP ally and Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro. President Trump has also pointed to the Arctic threats posed by Russia and China in arguing that the U.S. needs to acquire Greenland from Denmark.

Pentagon's latest annual China reports show shift in recent years

The 2025 report which called out the CCP’s ambitions to “displace” the U.S. on the global stage in part through the growth and modernization of the Chinese military, noted that “the PLA measures its concepts and capabilities against the ‘strong enemy’ of the United States” and that “China’s top military strategy focuses squarely on overcoming the United States through a whole-of-nation mobilization effort” that Beijing had dubbed “national total war.”

The Pentagon report warned that “China’s historic military buildup has made the U.S. homeland increasingly vulnerable. China maintains a large and growing arsenal of nuclear, maritime, conventional long-range strike, cyber, and space capabilities able to directly threaten Americans’ security.”

“China’s National Strategy is to achieve ‘the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ by 2049,” the 2025 report said. “In this vision, a rejuvenated China would have raised its ‘influence, appeal, and power to shape events to a new level,’ and it would field a ‘world-class’ military that can ‘fight and win’ and ‘resolutely safeguard’ the country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.”

The report also pointed to “Beijing’s stated ambition to field a ‘world-class’ military by 2049” and assessed that the PLA “has already made significant progress in this regard.”

The 2024 report — the final one under the Biden era — repeated similar language about China’s “great rejuvenation” goals and assessed that “the PRC’s strategy entails deliberate and determined efforts to amass, improve, and harness internal and external elements of national power that will place the PRC in a ‘leading position’ in an enduring competition between systems.”

The Pentagon’s annual reports in 2023, 2022, and 2021 had all also used the “great rejuvenation” and “leading position” language when describing Chinese grand ambitions.

Interestingly, the annual report in 2020 came closest to the eventual 2025 assessment, with the Pentagon again using the “great rejuvenation” and “leading position” language but also stating more than half a decade ago that “it is likely that Beijing will seek to develop a military by mid-century that is equal to — or in some cases superior to — the U.S. military, or that of any other great power that the PRC views as a threat.”

The 2019 report said that “China sees itself as an emerging major power that will be able to gain influence as long as it can maintain a stable periphery.” The assessment said that “the CCP’s contemporary strategic objectives” included the perpetuation of CCP rule, the maintenance of domestic stability, the defense of national sovereignty, and the securing of “China’s status as a great power” — without a mention of Chinese ambitions to displace America.

The report in 2018 had found that “In support of the goal to establish a powerful and prosperous China, the ‘China Dream’ includes a commitment to developing military power commensurate with that of a great power.”

The reports in 2017, 2016, and 2015 all said that “China’s leaders remain focused on developing the capabilities to deter or defeat adversary power projection and counter third-party intervention — including by the United States — during a crisis or conflict” with the Pentagon assessing Chinese ambitions were more local or regional in nature.

The 2014 and 2013 reports found that China “continues to pursue a long-term, comprehensive military modernization program designed to improve the capacity of its armed forces to fight and win short-duration, high-intensity regional contingencies.”

The 2012 report by the Pentagon had similarly assessed that China “is pursuing a long-term, comprehensive military modernization program designed to improve the capacity of China’s armed forces to fight and win ‘local wars under conditions of informatization,’ or high-intensity, information-centric regional military operations of short duration.”

Pentagon under Bush and Obama said U.S. “welcomes” rise of China

The chasm between the current assessments about Chinese ambitions and the assessments from earlier in the 21st century are striking, with the Defense Department claiming that the U.S. welcomed the rise of China not too long ago.

The 2006 version of the Pentagon’s annual report said that “China’s rapid rise as a regional political and economic power with global aspirations is an important element of today’s strategic environment — one that has significant implications for the region and the world” and that “the United States welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China.”

The report added that “U.S. policy encourages China to participate as a responsible international stakeholder by taking on a greater share of responsibility for the health and success of the global system from which China has derived great benefit” and that “China’s leaders face some important choices as its power and influence grow” with the choices spanning a range of issues including “China’s expanding military power.”

U.S. under Bush "welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China"

The report in 2007 repeated that “China’s rapid rise as a regional political and economic power with global aspirations is an important element of today’s strategic environment — one that has significant implications for the region and the world.”

“The United States welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China, and it encourages China to participate as a responsible international stakeholder by taking on a greater share of responsibility for the health and success of the global system,” the report added. “However, much uncertainty surrounds the future course China’s leaders will set for their country, including in the area of China’s expanding military power and how that power might be used.”

The 2008 report said that the U.S. “welcomes the rise of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China” and bragged that “no country has done more to assist, facilitate, and encourage China’s national development and its integration in the international system” than the U.S. had.

“China continues to face many problems, but the CCP’s accomplishments cannot be overlooked,” the report added. “The United States welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China. However, there are forces — some beyond the control of China’s leaders — that could divert China from a peaceful pathway. Which pathway China pursues, or finds itself upon, will be determined in large part by the choices of China’s leaders.”

The report in 2009 echoed the U.S. previous sentiment. 

“China began a new phase of military development by articulating roles and missions for the People’s Liberation Army that go beyond China’s immediate territorial interests,” the 2010 report said. “Some of these missions and associated capabilities have allowed the PLA to contribute to international peacekeeping efforts, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and counterpiracy operations. The United States recognizes and welcomes these contributions.”

The 2011 report assessed that “China’s rise as a major international actor is likely to stand out as a defining feature of the strategic landscape of the early 21st century” and claimed that the U.S. “welcomes a strong, prosperous, and successful China that reinforces international rules and norms and enhances security and peace both regionally and globally” and that the U.S. “welcomes PRC contributions that support a safe and secure global environment.”

Pentagon’s latest China report catches up with other U.S. assessments

The Pentagon’s recent Chinese military power assessment now assessing that the CCP is seeking to displace the U.S. as the leading superpower brings the department’s annual assessments more in line with other recent findings by a number of U.S. agencies.

The Defense Department’s own 2018 National Defense Strategy had stated that China was “asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy” and that “it will continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future.”

It is unclear why this displacement language didn’t make it into the Pentagon’s annual China reports until nearly a decade later, in late 2025.

Defense and State Departments saw China's grasp expanding 

The State Department’s Policy Planning Staff issued its own 2020 report on “The Elements of the China Challenge” arguing that an “examination of the CCP’s conduct in light of its communist and hyper-nationalist ideas demonstrates that by achieving ‘the initiative’ and attaining ‘the dominant position,’ Xi means displacing the United States as the world’s foremost power and restructuring world order to conform to the CCP’s distinctive way of empire.”

The 2022 National Security Strategy published by the Biden Administration argued that China “is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it” and added that “Beijing has ambitions to create an enhanced sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and to become the world’s leading power.”

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission last year also put out an assessment arguing that “Beijing has also continued its concerted efforts to establish regional economic and military hegemony in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands as stepping stones for projecting power toward its long-term goal of displacing the United States as the dominant power in the Indo-Pacific and, eventually, the world.”

The U.S. military’s recent air campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, the U.S.’s years-long effort to supply a massive number of armaments to Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders, and U.S. assistance in the defense of Israel against Iranian missile barrages have all eaten into the U.S. weapon supply. In addition, Taiwan is facing a feared invasion by the Chinese, with the potential for the U.S. to get involved in defending the island nation against a near-peer and nuclear-armed adversary.

It remains unclear whether the defense industrial base would be able to manufacture the number of weapons and ships needed to sustain a long-term engagement against the PLA and the Chinese navy, but Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has been encouraging defense company leaders to ramp up production and ordering military leaders to innovate, and the War Department now directly acknowledges the true scale of Chinese ambitions. 

Jerry Dunleavy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/security/china-wants-replace-us-most-powerful-nation-dod-says-after-old-reports-welcomed

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Why Gaza Should Be Placed Under US and Israeli Control - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

The last thing Israel and the US need in the Gaza Strip is another Oslo Accord-style counterfeit agreement.

 

• Placing the Gaza Strip under the jurisdiction of an international body that includes longtime supporters of Hamas and other terrorists will unfortunately be even more disastrous than the 1993 Oslo Accord, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

• The last thing Israel and the US need in the Gaza Strip is another Oslo Accord-style counterfeit agreement.

• In reality, there are only two countries capable of carrying out this task: the US and Israel. Other countries -- not only Arab and Muslim, as Jordan's King Abdullah II warned, but also European, including, Germany, Italy, Britain and Canada -- clearly have less than no interest in actively combating terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

• [A]s Trump said about Venezuela, "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and secure transition... We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over... that doesn't have the good of the... people in mind."

• If the US can run Venezuela or Greenland, or set up "security" for Ukraine consisting of US businesses, why not in the Gaza Strip -- smaller but geopolitically just as critical for the US -- as well?

• US and Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would, ironically, provide the least risk to all the parties involved -- most of all to the Palestinians of Gaza. Such an arrangement seems the only realistic solution that could lead to reduced violence and long-term regional stability.

• A joint US and Israeli security and business presence there could result at last in the emergence of moderate, pragmatic Palestinians. Such an outcome will certainly never take place if Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan or the Palestinian Authority are allowed inside the Gaza Strip. There is a far higher probability of accords being torn up and a new war launched after Trump leaves office.

• American or Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would not only prevent Palestinian terrorists from gaining more power and launching attacks again but also send a reassuring message to neighboring Arab and Islamic states that they would be able to rely on the US when it comes to combating Islamist terrorism against their own regimes as well.

• A strong US and foreign business presence, with the knowledge that these investments are safely protected, would not only create job opportunities and improve living conditions for local residents but could also make Gaza the spectacular "Gaza Riviera" it is waiting to become.

• At the moment, many countries are hardly rushing to invest in Gaza. If countries aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood were in charge, there would be no way of protecting their investment, or even enforcing law and order.

• If the US Administration thinks that an Arab and Muslim "Peace Board" will actually take any significant action to ensure that Hamas disarms and disbands, they are in for a nasty shock. The minute the first shot is fired, the last thing on the minds of the "Board of Peace" will be enforcing "Peace."

• After two years of death and destruction, many Palestinians would prefer to live under American or even -- without admitting it of course --- Israeli control, than under a terror group that has brought them nothing but death, destruction and a new nakba (catastrophe).

• Saudi Arabia and other Arab and Islamic countries would most likely be happy to be on the side of the "strong horse."

• Strange as it may seem, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are popular among many Arabs and Muslims: they are viewed as reliable, sturdy and uncompromising leaders who can be counted on to keep their word.

• If Arab and Muslim states disagree, they are welcome to stay behind and watch the train leave the station. If not, the Gaza Strip and the "Board of Peace" will be just another failed experiment.

Placing the Gaza Strip under the jurisdiction of an international body that includes longtime supporters of Hamas and other terrorists will unfortunately be even more disastrous than the 1993 Oslo Accord, signed between Israel and Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The last thing Israel and the US need in the Gaza Strip is another Oslo Accord-style counterfeit agreement. Pictured: Arafat stands next to a machine gun emplacement in 1983 in Lebanon. (Photo by Palestinian Press Office/Getty Images)

US President Donald J. Trump is expected to announce the formation of a "Board of Peace" to oversee temporarily the running of the Gaza Strip and manage its reconstruction. According to multiple reports, Qatar and Turkey are among several countries that have been invited to join the board.

Both countries are widely known as major international supporters of political Islam, specifically through their historical and ongoing backing of terrorist and Muslim Brotherhood groups – including Hamas, which is currently ruling the Gaza Strip and has shown no signs of letting up. With countries such as these, it is, frankly, hard to see how the new board would be able to bring peace, security and stability to the Middle East.

The assumption that Qatar or Turkey would participate in any effort to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip is perhaps well-intentioned but excruciatingly misguided. Both Qatar and Turkey have always served as defenders of Hamas, and both countries have warmly welcomed its leaders and top activists as residents of Doha and Ankara.

Placing the Gaza Strip under the jurisdiction of an international body that includes longtime supporters of Hamas and other terrorists will unfortunately be even more disastrous than the 1993 Oslo Accord, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The Oslo Accords were based on, again, the well-intentioned but false assumption that the PLO and its leader, Yasser Arafat, would serve as real peace partners and combat terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On September 9, 1993, Arafat wrote to Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin:

"The signing of the Declaration of Principles marks a new era in the history of the Middle East. In firm conviction thereof, I would like to confirm the following PLO commitments:

"The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.

"The PLO accepts United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

"The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations.

"The PLO considers that the signing of the Declaration of Principles constitutes a historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts which endanger peace and stability. Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators..."

Shortly before signing the Oslo Accord, however, Arafat compared them to the Treaty of Hudaibiyya, in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad had pledged not to attack the Quraysh tribe in Mecca for ten years. Nonetheless, within two years, Muhammad assembled an army of 10,000, marched into Mecca, and conquered it.

Shortly after signing the Oslo Accord, Arafat was caught trying to smuggle four arch terrorists into Israel in his official convoy: "Three terrorists were in the trunks of each Mercedes, and the fourth, Jihad al-Amarin, was lying on the back seat and Arafat was sitting on top of him," Avi Dichter, former head of Israel's security, Shin Bet, reported at the time.

More than 30 years later, it is clear that the Oslo experiment has failed utterly. Under Arafat's newly created Palestinian Authority, a governing body dominated by his loyalists in the PLO's ruling Fatah faction, Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas, actually flourished. They were aided by lavish unconditional donations from Europe -- "almost 30 billion euros since 1994" -- which spared Palestinian leaders the effort of actually having to develop an economy. As a result, these funds were free to be used for terrorism and corruption. Arab countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also generously pitched in. Consequently, ever since the PLO was imported by Israel into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, thousands of Israelis have been killed in continuous terror attacks.

The last thing Israel and the US need in the Gaza Strip is another Oslo Accord-style counterfeit agreement. Gaza already has too many Islamist terror groups roaming its streets. Like the US Department of Defense -- now the Department of War, to achieve real peace, Gaza too needs a "Board of War" that will combat terrorism and destroy the terrorists' military and political infrastructure for good.

In reality, there are only two countries capable of carrying out this task: the US and Israel. Other countries -- not only Arab and Muslim, as Jordan's King Abdullah II warned, but also European, including, Germany, Italy, Britain and Canada -- clearly have less than no interest in actively combating terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

That is why the Trump administration needs to seriously consider placing the Gaza Strip under the exclusive control of the US and Israel – at least, as Trump said about Venezuela:

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and secure transition... We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over... that doesn't have the good of the... people in mind."

If the US can run Venezuela or Greenland, or set up "security" for Ukraine consisting of US businesses, why not in the Gaza Strip -- smaller but geopolitically just as critical for the US -- as well?

US and Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would, ironically, provide the least risk to all the parties involved -- most of all to the Palestinians of Gaza. Such an arrangement seems the only realistic solution that could lead to reduced violence and long-term regional stability.

For the past decades, the US and Israel have been the only two countries leading the fight against Islamist terror groups and individuals -- including Al-Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS), Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

US and Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would also enable the peaceful Gazans to gain ground against Gaza's radical elements. Most Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have always been afraid to speak out against Hamas. Those who dared to criticize the terror group or disagree with its policies or actions were killed, tortured, arrested or forced to flee.

A joint US and Israeli security and business presence there could result at last in the emergence of moderate, pragmatic Palestinians. Such an outcome will certainly never take place if Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan or the Palestinian Authority are allowed inside the Gaza Strip. There is a far higher probability of accords being torn up and a new war launched after Trump leaves office.

American or Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would not only prevent Palestinian terrorists from gaining more power and launching attacks again but also send a reassuring message to neighboring Arab and Islamic states that they would be able to rely on the US when it comes to combating Islamist terrorism against their own regimes as well. Notably, Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, for years have not only felt threatened but have often been attacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen.

US and Israeli control would lead to foreign investment and economic development in the Gaza Strip. A strong US and foreign business presence, with the knowledge that these investments are safely protected, would not only create job opportunities and improve living conditions for local residents but could also make Gaza the spectacular "Gaza Riviera" it is waiting to become.

At the moment, many countries are hardly rushing to invest in Gaza. If countries aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood were in charge, there would be no way of protecting their investment, or even enforcing law and order.

Worse, these potential donors see that Hamas and other terror groups are still controlling large parts of the Gaza Strip with no intention of disarming or stepping down. If the US Administration thinks that an Arab and Muslim "Peace Board" will actually take any significant action to ensure that Hamas disarms and disbands, they are in for a nasty shock. The minute the first shot is fired, the last thing on the minds of the "Board of Peace" will be enforcing "Peace."

After two years of death and destruction, many Palestinians would prefer to live under American or even -- without admitting it of course --- Israeli control, than under a terror group that has brought them nothing but death, destruction and a new nakba (catastrophe).

This does not mean that these peaceful Palestinians are going to convert to Christianity or Judaism, but many would be secretly happy to live under the rule of democracies that respect human rights, protect their freedom of speech, improve their living conditions, and finally bring them real "peace and prosperity."

The strategic partnership that joint US-Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would promote could only influence the broader Middle East in a positive way and facilitate more rapidly the dream of achieving normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia and other Arab and Islamic countries would most likely be happy to be on the side of the "strong horse."

Strange as it may seem, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are popular among many Arabs and Muslims: they are viewed as reliable, sturdy and uncompromising leaders, who can be counted on to keep their word.

Finally, US and Israeli control of the Gaza Strip would make it easier immediately to implement humanitarian aid programs. The US and Israel could, as they have been doing, ensure that the food and medicine end up in the hands of those who really need them, and prevent Hamas and other terror groups from stealing the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. The United Nations, the Palestinian Authority and other international organizations have failed to deliver humanitarian aid – or to prevent it from being stolen and sold by Hamas to fund its terror activities. The only countries that apparently have the will and the capability to see to it that the infrastructure and living conditions of the Gazans could improve quickly and significantly are Israel and the US.

It is not too late for the Trump administration to consider this option. It is truly the best way to bring security, stability, and prosperity to Gaza and to the region. If Arab and Muslim states disagree, they are welcome to stay behind and watch the train leave the station. If not, the Gaza Strip and the "Board of Peace" will be just another failed experiment.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple who wish to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22201/gaza-us-israeli-control

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