Donald Trump often sees problems, but as someone who spends little time on in-depth analysis, he comes up with questionable solutions. One example is his suggestion that Jordan and Egypt take in Gazans to ease reconstruction efforts. The two nations immediately shot down the idea, and it isn’t hard to see why. Jordan already has more Palestinian refugees than native citizens. Returning to “Black September” in 1970, their presence has been problematic. They’re not about to add to a problem they never wanted in the first place.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gained his position by disposing of the previous Muslim Brotherhood government. Hamas, which governs the Gazans, is an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch. The last thing he wants is to strengthen the Brotherhood’s numbers in his country.  

Trump should’ve known all this and avoided the negative blowback. Still, the president isn’t wrong to wonder, as a builder himself, how you can build a viable Gaza in place of the existing rubble when overrun with 2,000,000 displaced people in just 141 square miles. Gaza was overpopulated and under-employed before the war. Now, the situation is infinitely worse.

Considering Gaza’s makeup, I offered my “Solution for Gaza” posts. Rather than a full-scale invasion, designate areas to be leveled by explosives, inform everyone to leave, then blow them up. Working towards the sea and away from the Israeli border, food and other supplies are landed on the shore by ship. The ships are then required to take women, children, and infirm to safety in accepting countries. If the Arab world and other countries are concerned about these Palestinians, let them show it. International aid now supporting the Gazans would follow them, so there was little if any, increase in cost.

People were horrified, claiming it would level and depopulate Gaza. Looking at things now, with Gaza a pile of rubble and the number of women and children killed, the plan seems a lot better than what has happened.

I never thought the destruction and shipping of refugees would go on for very long before Hamas would give in. Faced with a slow but relentless low-cost action, Hamas couldn’t wait for the last Gazan civilian shipped out of a leveled Gaza. Pressure from other Arab countries faced with accepting Palestinian refugees would leave Hamas little choice.

Even though the situation is different now, with Gaza destroyed, few Gazans have left. We have to understand why there were so many Gazans. In 1948, 7000,000 Arabs fled the new nation of Israel, mainly at the urging of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The U.N. established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) 1949 to aid them. The agency set up numerous camps ringing Israel:

Why did the U.N. feel it was necessary to create a new refugee agency when the International Refugee Organization (IRO) had existed since World War II and was doing great work in resettlement? This group evolved into the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the primary vehicle for caring for and resettling refugees worldwide. It has accomplished the resettlement of tens of thousands of refugees annually.

Israel has recently cut ties with UNWRA, making the UN Angency’s relief job difficult or even impossible. After finding UNWRA employees took part in the horrors of October 7th and a Hamas command post tunnel under UNWRA’s Gaza headquarters, Israel has no reason to trust the agency.

Currently, Donald Trump has a chance to alter the direction in the Middle East. In the past, the U.S. was the primary funder of UNWRA, but its pro-Hamas activities have caused it to suspend support, even though it has promised a billion dollars in Gaza relief funds.

The president should propose that UNHCR replace a disbanded UNWRA in the Middle East. Where the latter had little to no interest or mandate for resettlement, that function is at the core of UNHC’s mission statement.

Absent a UNWRA resettlement effort, the original 700,000 Arab refugees grew to over five million. The refugee camps ringing Israel (see map above) have become permanent cities. The media refer to Rafah and Khan Yuris Gaza cities but are just overgrown refugee camps with none of the economic purpose that underlies real towns. Apparently, the primary output of the camp-cities is babies.

Trump can use UNHCR’s resettlement mandate. Understandably, the Gulf monarchies are too close to the conflicts, many with population and size problems, to take in many refugees. However, they can underwrite their settlement in Arab countries further away; Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia come to mind. Arabic-speaking nations are more natural to Gazans. Given the right monetary incentives, even Egypt might consider some in the western part of the nation. Other Palestinian-supporting nations might also help. With all the destruction, Gazans need resettlement.

Nobody says they want to leave the strip when asked. Resettlement isn’t something you say out loud in Hams-controlled Gaza, but on the Q.T., you’ll find a lot of takers. It’s not as if Gaza gave its residents much of a future before the destruction. At this point, any place else is up from this mess, and Gazans know it.

It’s not as if Palestinians had never left home before. In the past, many went to work in Saudia Arabia and Kuwait, but primarily, males proved troublesome and were expelled in favor of more pliant laborers. In any case, there was never any chance of citizenship or even permanent residence.

Focusing on women, children, and families spread across many nations can avoid problems and improve the experience for both migrants and hosts. While not all experiences will prove happy, many will, and those will serve as a magnet for more significant resettlement.

The U.S. has plenty of leverage as the major donor to keep pressure on UNHCR to facilitate resettlement. Put a decreasing cap on the agency’s funds. Unless they move more people out of the camp cities, they’ll have fewer and fewer per capita resources. Instead of growing every year, these camps will finally decline in numbers. More people have a better life than poverty and hate.

Having fewer dependent people in Gaza will make the rebuilding job more manageable, so UNHCR should center its early efforts there.

Supporting a greater Palestinian diaspora may be slower than Trump would like, but if done right, it should benefit everyone, especially the Palestinians. Trump is on the right track; he needs to widen his vision.