On October 7, 2023, the Arabs in Gaza forfeited any claim they may have had to the territory. Israel must now help them emigrate to other countries. That day, Hamas—joined by other terror groups and many thousands of civilian supporters—attacked Israel. They murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They gang-raped, beheaded, and dismembered victims. They raped women in front of their husbands and children before killing them all. They burned a baby in an oven, burned families alive in their homes, and livestreamed these atrocities for the world to see.
Gazans celebrated; children played soccer with the heads of beheaded victims. Respected, well-educated Gazans held innocent Israelis captive—starving them and forcing them into slave labor.
Not a single Gazan has offered information on the whereabouts of Israeli hostages.
Polls conducted in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria—for example, AWRAD’s November-December 2023 survey and a May 2024 NPR report citing PCPSR data—showed overwhelming support for Hamas and its crimes. With their cheers and complicity, they erased any right to remain in Gaza.
As Israel defended itself and entered Gaza, it uncovered a vast network of terror tunnels running through homes, mosques, schools, and hospitals. These sites were packed with weapons, saturated with Nazi propaganda, and fully integrated into the terror infrastructure.
From infancy, Arab children in Gaza are taught—at home, on television, and in schools, including UN-run schools—to hate Jews, glorify terrorism, and aspire to murder. Now, with Hamas nearing defeat, the question is: what to do with a civilian population that supports and celebrates terror? History offers a precedent: when a territory with its own elected leadership attacks a neighbor and loses, the population forfeits its rights to the land.
-One prominent case is the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Following Greece’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), a treaty enforced the compulsory exchange of populations based on religion: over 1.2 million Greek Orthodox Christians were resettled from Turkey to Greece, and around 350,000-400,000 Muslims moved from Greece to Turkey. This exchange was part of a formal peace agreement to resolve longstanding ethnic tensions that had fueled the war.
-Another notable example occurred after World War II, when millions of ethnic Germans were expelled from Eastern European countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Soviet Union. Approximately 12 to 14 million Germans were uprooted and forced to resettle in post-war Germany. This population transfer aimed to prevent future ethnic conflicts in the region.
-Similarly, the Partition of British India in 1947 led to one of the largest mass migrations in history. The creation of India and Pakistan compelled around 10 to 15 million people to relocate—Muslims moving to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs to India.
In Gaza’s case, these are not innocent civilians. They are committed enemies, complicit in atrocity, and determined to resume terror if left in place. As October 7 proved, even the most sophisticated defenses cannot stop them. If your neighbors raped and slaughtered your family and livestreamed it, would you let them move back next door?
Showing compassion far beyond what’s warranted to an Islamonazi, terror-supporting population, the kindest course of action is for Israel to help them emigrate to other countries.
Israel’s first duty is to protect its citizens—a duty it failed to fulfill on October 7 and to some extent, for decades before that. Jews are routinely murdered simply for living in their homeland. Our soldiers have lost limbs and lives defending us from people who hate us and have no place here. This must end so Israelis can live in peace.
Yet some propose letting them return. The Prime Minister’s Office has suggested, among other possibilities, that after Hamas and its infrastructure are destroyed, Gaza’s civilians could return under Israeli military control, alongside a coalition of “friendly” Arab states ruling as an unelected colonial autocracy. The plan includes deradicalization—replacing textbooks and removing antisemitic indoctrination—and the Prime Minister’s Office admits it will take decades, with no guarantee of success.
This is fantasy.
The world will quickly clamor for Gazan self-rule, and the governing body will be labeled as the "occupation". Our soldiers will be branded "occupiers", once again risking their lives to prevent another buildup of terror. And terror will return to our doorstep.
And for what?
- Why should those who committed and supported October 7th’s barbarism be rewarded with a home in our land—right next to us?
- Why should we live beside terrorists?
- Why should our sons and daughters die or be maimed so that these Islamonazis can live in peace?
The only sane answer is emigration. Using both carrot and stick, we must incentivize Gaza’s civilians to build new lives elsewhere. Our diplomats should work tirelessly to secure resettlement in countries that support them, such as South Africa, South Sudan, Yemen, Qatar, Indonesia, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, France—or, as Ambassador Huckabee called it, Franc-en-Stein,—and Spain.
Yes, I’m sure that Israel will be accused of ethnic cleansing. Whatever Israel does will be vilified.
But there is an advantage to this plan: if we keep the Arabs in Gaza, we perpetuate not only the terror but also the vilification. If we help them relocate, we may be vilified, but at least at that point Israeli citizens will be free from Gazan terror.
The same applies in Judea and Samaria: give the death penalty to terrorists, deport terrorists’ families, confiscate their land, and dismantle the networks that produce terror. Every terror plan—or, God forbid, attack—should eliminate not only the perpetrator but also those who raised and supported them.
This approach will benefit Israel in other ways. There is nothing more precious in the Middle East than land. Israel’s enemies will see that war with Israel can result not only in losing territory but also in Israel’s expansion. Though they may hate Israel, they may think twice before attacking.
Gaza should be reclaimed by Israel and Israel should begin the long process of removing the terror infrastructure and rubble. Then, Israel has the chance to fulfill the biblical prophecy in Isaiah 51:3, “For the Lord shall console Zion, He shall console all its ruins, and He shall make its desert like a paradise and its wasteland like the garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and a voice of song.” Indeed, Azza will become an Eden.
Our land must be terror-free. Let only those who choose peace, respect our sovereignty, and wish to share in our Jewish democracy live here.
Rabbi Aaron Hurwitz made aliyah and founded Chabad of Rechavia and Nachlaot in 2004. He served as the Judaic Studies Department Head and a professor at MJI. He currently teaches in Jerusalem. He is married and a father of four, including two who are currently serving in combat units