SHORTLY after the Iran-Israel Ceasefire, there’s been news that Gaza will now be administered by a council of Middle Eastern countries. This is an evolving topic, though, and is unlikely to succeed, because in order for Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza, their leaders will have to accept exile, which they are not very likely to do.
But let’s say that Hamas leaders do accept the offer (along with a presumably big paycheck) and Gaza falls under new management, this will likely change a large portion of Middle Eastern politics. At the very least, it could help Israel and its Arab neighbors achieve better relations.
Behind the push for the new Gaza Administration is the desire to remake the Middle East, while at the same time, allowing the American military to retrench its assets to other regions. The US wants to consolidate the region under its control by reforming it from its current state into something like a pacified economic free trade zone, aligned exclusively with American power, of course. This was the intention behind Trump’s visit to the region a few weeks ago.
And why is the region important to American interests? The short answer is China. The PRC imports most of its power from the Middle East, as does most of Asia, including the Philippines. Should the U.S. abandon the region, China will immediately move in. Now, it’s debatable that a China-aligned Middle East will be more than successful than when it was under the U.S. but so far that’s what Trump is attempting to do.
By doing so, the goal is to free up America to focus on other regions and interests. This is one of the rationales for Gaza’s new Administration. Of course, the Middle East being what it is, this is a very difficult goal, and some may argue that it is more prudent for the US to just leave./PN
