Dov Lieber’s on-the-ground reporting from inside Gaza confirms what many of us feared: American policymakers are seriously weighing a plan that would draw a hard “yellow line” through the enclave, effectively splitting Gaza into two zones — one under Israeli security control and one left under Hamas rule. The proposal would channel reconstruction and meaningful aid only into the Israeli-controlled areas while leaving the territory still dominated by Hamas isolated and unreconstructed.
The practical contours of this proposal are stark. Under the plan, Israeli-held zones east of the yellow line would be cleared, stabilized and rebuilt with international support, while the western swath beyond the line would receive only limited humanitarian relief and no large-scale reconstruction until militants are disarmed. This is not a soft suggestion; senior U.S. officials have explicitly signaled that reconstruction money will follow security, not ideology.
Conservatives should welcome the logic: aid must be conditional on security and deniability of terror infrastructure. After decades of bleeding taxpayer dollars into areas where extremist groups divert resources to tunnels and rockets, it’s long past time to tie reconstruction to disarmament and accountability. If a “showcase” zone can prove life without Hamas is better, it would be a practical blow to the killjoy ideology that rewards terror with funding.
Predictably, Arab capitals, the international left and UN bureaucrats are howling about permanence and partition, portraying every pragmatic security measure as some sinister plot. Those objections are more about political theater than protecting Palestinians; they ignore the simple fact that civilians deserve functioning schools, power and jobs more than they deserve an ideological victory for militant rule. The world should not be allowed to block rebuilding because it refuses to accept that security must come first.
Washington must be crystal clear: American taxpayer money should never underwrite the return of Hamas’s grip on power. If the Palestinian leadership — any leadership — wants reconstruction, it must choose governance that disarms terrorist groups and accepts oversight. Our aid should be aimed at delivering stability and defeating the enemies of peace, not at re-establishing the conditions that spawned repeated atrocities.
Patriots in this country ought to back a policy that defends Israel’s right to secure its borders while rewarding those who choose peace over terror. We owe it to the kidnapped and murdered, to American taxpayers, and to every decent Palestinian who wants to live free from oppression and fear. Stand with a plan that puts security first and makes rebuilding a prize earned by those who reject violence.
