Without imposing conditions on Israeli behavior in Gaza Washington risks stoking international terrorism and entangling itself in another Middle East war.
With Gaza leveled, tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians killed, and famine gripping the tiny enclave of over 2 million people, accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza have now gone mainstream, including by Israeli human rights organizations and prominent Israeli Holocaust scholars. Yet the Israeli government is persisting with plans to forcibly expel Gazans under the guise of “voluntary” emigration.
Shamefully, President Donald Trump continues to underwrite Israeli actions diplomatically and fiscally. In 2024 alone, Washington granted Israel an extra $8.7 billion in military aid on top of the nearly $4 billion the United States annually provides. The Trump administration expedited those deliveries in March 2025. Just last week, the Senate rejected a bill to halt arms shipments to Israel, with unanimous opposition from Trump’s fellow Republicans.
Condoning Israeli war crimes in Gaza is particularly inexplicable because it is both morally unjust and harmful to US national interests. Moral considerations sometimes conflict with strategic imperatives in international politics, with the result being that countries must swallow their ethical concerns for the sake of national security. But in this case, both arrows point in the same direction: the looming Gaza genocide is a moral abomination that also hurts US interests. It makes no sense for the United States to support it, and Trump should stop doing so immediately.
The depravity of the Gaza situation is undeniable, given the massive loss of civilian life. The Gaza Health Ministry has confirmed over 60,000 deaths, though the true toll is likely much higher. The population of Gaza is now on the verge of mass starvation, and deaths from hunger—particularly among children—are rising.
These numbers are driven in part by Israel’s cynical use of starvation as a weapon against the Geneva Convention. Most of the meager food Israel has allowed in since ending its two-month food embargo in May 2025 has been distributed by armed US security contractors and monitored by IDF soldiers. These sites have become “death traps” where the UN estimates more than 1,000 people have been killed while queuing for rations. Egregiously, the sites are cynically located in active war zones and are positioned to draw Palestinians away from the north of Gaza towards the Egyptian border, functioning as a “fig leaf” for forced displacement.
And indeed, mass Palestinian emigration is the goal, according to Israel’s stated plans. In May, the Israeli Cabinet approved maximalist war aims that explicitly include seizing Gaza, forcing out its two million Palestinian residents, and permanently resettling the territory.
Since then, ominous proposals for the forced displacement of Gaza’s two million Palestinian inhabitants have circulated among Israeli and US officials. These proposals alternatively envision confining the Gazan population into a tiny “humanitarian city” in Rafah; removing them to multiple “Humanitarian Transit Areas” in southern Gaza or outside the Strip; or even sending them to third countries like Ethiopia, Indonesia, or Libya.
The United States cannot claim ignorance of what it is enabling in Gaza because Israel has broadcast its intentions for months, unlike in other atrocities that unfolded quickly and with little warning. Trump himself has provided political cover for ethnic cleansing by suggesting that the United States “take over” Gaza and establish a “freedom zone.” Such statements may be chimerical, but they have real consequences: Israeli prime minister Netanyahu has been pushing to clear Gaza under the mantle of the “Trump plan.”
Beyond the moral case against it, US assistance for Israel’s assault in Gaza raises two significant national security risks.
The first is renewed terrorism. The destruction of Gaza has increased the threat of terrorism to Americans at home and abroad, with potentially “generational” impacts, according to former Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Multiple domestic attacks have been linked to the conflict, and the threat will increase as the situation grows more dire. A full US “takeover” of Gaza, as Trump has proposed, would “turbocharge terrorist recruitment and global anti-American violence,” according to one expert.
Terrorism is not an existential threat to the United States, but we shouldn’t be endangering the safety of American citizens by pursuing bad policies with no upside.
The second, greater risk is that Israel’s Gaza offensive could further entangle the United States in unnecessary Middle Eastern wars. In fact, the United States has already been drawn into three conflicts on Israel’s behalf as violence in Gaza raged. Israel’s campaign motivated the Houthis to attack Red Sea shipping in retaliation, which spurred Washington into a foolish $7 billion air war that put US service-members’ lives at risk and caused multiple injuries.
Gaza also dragged the United States into a dangerous back-and-forth with Iran in October 2024, when US military assets defended Israel from Iranian airstrikes. Iran’s attack was retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders by Israel as it tried to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks, which began right after Israel invaded Gaza.
Finally, Israel successfully drew the United States into a preventive attack on Iran, which derailed planned talks with Tehran over its nuclear program. While not directly driven by Gaza, the Israel-Iran war underlines the risks of unconditionally close ties to Israel as it acts aggressively towards its neighbors, from Lebanon to Syria to Iran and beyond.
Gaza is a clear case where moral and strategic considerations align. The United States has no strategic reason—and therefore, absolutely no excuse—to help Israel commit war crimes in Gaza. The American public understands this, which is why support for Israeli actions in Gaza has plummeted. Why can’t Trump?
About the Author: Christopher McCallion and Rosemary Kelanic
Christopher McCallion is a Fellow at Defense Priorities.
Rosemary Kelanic is Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities.
Image: Anas-Mohammed / Shutterstock.com.
