Veteran political analyst Brit Hume appeared Wednesday on Fox News to discuss President Donald Trump’s strategy to address the persistent unrest in Gaza, prompted by the militant group Hamas.
During an appearance on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Baier said that Trump’s approach could stir significant international and regional responses and asked Hume for his interpretation. Hume said that Trump’s strategy has potential to shift the longstanding focus away from a two-state solution—a concept that has foundered for over 50 years.
“Such an exotic idea, and it’s, you know, the obstacles are too numerous to mention, Brett, so it may never come to pass, but it has had one notable effect, and that is it has moved the discussion, at least for now, away from the idea of a two-state solution, which has been a dead end for a half a century or more,” Hume said. “The reason principally being that, while it makes all kinds of sense on paper, the Palestinians have really never shown much appetite for the idea. Most of them, I think, want a one-state solution, and Israel is not a part of that.”
Trump’s proposal, as Hume said, aims to radically alter the situation by encouraging Palestinians to either voluntarily relocate or be relocated, thereby transforming Gaza into a viable and even attractive destination.
“Trump is offering something different, which he hopes would be an enticement to Palestinians to perhaps leave, or be made to leave, and to turn the place into something that would be, you know, inhabitable, livable, and even a vacation destination. I don’t know how far it’ll go, but I think it’s, you know, it puts some of those other countries in the position. They don’t like it, right? Saudi Arabia doesn’t like it, Egypt doesn’t, you know, they’re all complaining about it,” Hume said.
Hume pointed out that the upcoming meeting between Trump and King Abdullah of Jordan is important.
“Next week, King Abdullah of Jordan meets with President Trump. That’s one of the countries, obviously, that would be taking in Palestinians from Gaza. He met today with Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s king did. And the question is whether this was a signal to Jordan, to Egypt, come up with something, otherwise this is the back end,” Hume said. “Obviously, there was a lot of reaction on Capitol Hill, Democrats, but also some Republicans. Yeah, that’s right. The idea was bound to be met with all kinds of resistance. and simply because it’s so far out of the box.”
During a press conference Tuesday in the East Room, Trump said that the United States would “take over” the Gaza Strip to end the Israel-Hamas conflict. Trump, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, characterized Gaza as a longstanding “symbol of death and destruction” but promised that the region would finally achieve peace.
Trump’s administration collaborated with former President Joe Biden’s team to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, resulting in the release of several American hostages. On Jan. 15, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said that Trump and his advisors played a crucial role in finalizing the agreement.
Featured Image Credit: Hadi Mohammad
