OPINION: To remove Hamas from Gaza, use the ‘Beirut option’
If Arab leaders are serious about reconstructing Gaza, they must finance the removal of Hamas’s leaders and fighters
Jeremy Havardi is a freelance journalist and author
There is a growing body of opinion, both in Israel and the UK, that Netanyahu’s government should agree to terminate the war in Gaza in order to allow for the return of Israeli hostages. It is also a key demand in the controversial letter penned by 36 representatives of the Board of Deputies, one which was vociferous in its critique of Israeli policy.
Of course, the return of hostages remains one of the war’s central aims and something to which any Israeli government should be wholeheartedly committed. At the same time, it is important to remain realistic about what this option entails for the future security of Israel.
Hamas has rejected any interim solution, such as a six-week ceasefire for living hostages, demanding instead an end to the war. They have floated the idea of a long-term truce (in Arabic, a hudna) in which the war would conclude and the remaining hostages released, both the living and the dead. Israel would have to release Palestinian prisoners, withdraw all forces from Gaza and abandon the strategic positions taken in the war.
Hamas would also want the opening of crossings for humanitarian aid, aid that they have been busy looting for the last 18 months. Crucially, they would not agree to disarming or to giving up their ‘resistance’ activities.
It is vitally important to recognise that this is not a permanent end to the war, merely a temporary cessation of hostilities. For Hamas remains committed ideologically to the destruction of Israel and the use of extreme violence to achieve its ends.
Israelis cannot be expected to live next door to a group that has promised further October 7 style massacres, nor should Palestinians be forced to live under Hamas rule. An instant ceasefire is a form of political surrender, and one which would be deeply injurious to Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Yet it is also true that a permanent war with Hamas is no more viable than Trump’s fantastical vision of Gaza emptied of its population. An alternative does suggest itself, however, one which is modelled on how another of Israel’s wars ended. Let us call it the ‘Beirut option’.
Israelis cannot be expected to live next door to a group that has promised further October 7 style massacres, nor should Palestinians be forced to live under Hamas rule
Between August and September 1982, some 14,000 PLO fighters were evacuated from Beirut under the auspices of Philip Habib, Reagan’s special envoy to the Middle East. They relocated to Tunisia and other countries where they set up new bases, far from Israel’s borders. Though it did not solve Israel’s Lebanon problem, namely due to the emergence of Hezbollah, it did represent a victory of sorts for Israel and a strategic defeat for the PLO.
In the absence of a decisive military blow, Hamas must be dealt with in the same fashion. If Arab countries such as Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are serious about reconstructing Gaza and giving its inhabitants new opportunities, they should finance the removal of Hamas’s leaders and fighters. Those countries can rehouse them in areas that are geographically remote from Israel, ensuring that the long-term threat from Gaza is diminished.
Before they do this, Arab leaders must start to promote a unified line on this crisis. They must make it clear that Hamas leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the catastrophe in Gaza.
They should denounce Hamas as apostates from Islam who have sacrificed a Muslim population for the sake of violent ideological goals. They must add that a new, non-Islamist governing entity is better placed to take charge in Gaza, one which is capable of handling aid, delivering reconstruction and providing stability.
Arab leaders must start to promote a unified line on this crisis. They must make it clear that Hamas leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the catastrophe in Gaza
This is likely to encourage more Palestinians to rise up in protest at Hamas, further amplifying calls for the group’s elimination and encouraging western leaders to support them.
Naturally, Israel’s military bombardment should accompany any negotiation, coupled with an understanding that it will only intensify, with Trump’s approval, if Hamas does not agree to permanent exile.
While there is plenty of space to debate Israel’s handling of the war and its government’s priorities, solutions must be grounded in hard realities, not wishful thinking.
- Jeremy Havardi is a freelance journalist and author
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