No. of Recommendations: 5
But, per your previous post, the folks in the refugee camps didn't vote Hamas. So we aren't really talking about them.
We are, though. Dope's suggestion is that Israel should not contemplate the creation of a Palestinian state until Hamas is completely eradicated from Gaza. The folks in the refugee camps didn't vote Hamas - but their desire for autonomy and self-determination will continue to be completely thwarted if progress towards a Palestinian state is put on hold.
Again, that's why it's so complicated. It's understandable that Israel regards their security interests as being undermined if a Palestinian state is created while Hamas is still active; but it's also unjust to the millions of Palestinians who had no direct role in Hamas coming to power to suffer the consequences of Hamas' evil.
If you have have more sympathy for the people who suffered a coup rather than voting in their oppressor, it seems reasonable to have even more sympathy for the people who were hundreds of miles away from any of it, but suffer the consequences.
Hypothetically, if Israel does sufficient damage to Hamas that they lose their grip on power, could Gaza resume a democracy? Could the refugees return to Gaza? Or would Gaza slide right back into voting Hamas, and then a Hamas dictatorship?
Who knows? Democracies are hard to maintain when created anew. Without a shared consensus that rival factions within a society can gain or lose power as a result of the vote - and a shared sense of security that getting voted out of power will not come with life-threatening reprisals for actions taken in power - then it's hard to get the ball rolling of parties coming in and out of power.
Gaza probably can't handle any more population, especially now. You'd have to have a Palestinian state that encompassed both the West Bank and Gaza, which combined might be able to handle returning refugees if there were a lot of investment in both - and a lot of desettlement.
But there's no guarantee that the population wouldn't vote Hamas into power. If a Palestinian state were created as a direct consequence of 10/7, I actually think it's very likely that they would. If a Palestinian country is born from the ashes of 10/7, then Hamas will be their Founding Fathers. Which is why, of course, Israel has had very little interest in pursuing a Pal state as part of the "day after." They're worried about the day after the day after.
