The deadline imposed by President Donald Trump, and endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the release of all hostages from the hellhole that is Gaza falls during the early hours of Sunday morning, Australian time. The threat, which is a reiteration of the comments made by Mr Trump late last year, promises ‘all hell breaking loose’ should the hostages not be released. Initially, the deadline for this threat was the day of the presidential inauguration, but that was postponed by the so-called ‘ceasefire’ and ‘hostage deal’ that both Presidents Biden and Trump sought to take credit for.

By the time this magazine arrives on newsagents’ racks, we will know if this deadline and threat were genuine or were merely bluff and bluster. If Hamas murderers cowering deep underground in Gaza are convincing themselves of the latter, they are likely to be disappointed.

The world is at a crossroads not only in terms of the Middle East, but in terms of the entire ‘rules-based order’ that has seen corrupted organisations like the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, the International Court of Justice, the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary Fund and other undemocratic and largely unaccountable bodies wielding far too much power and receiving far too much funding for far too long.

Within the next few weeks (things do appear to be moving at an extraordinary pace these days, after decades of sclerosis) we will know if Mr Trump’s vision of a US-backed international city to replace Gaza, and all that that entails and promises, is underway, or alternatively, whether the world is to remain mired in the endless, protracted moral sludge of an Israel-Palestine ‘peace process’; whether the world carries on pretending to be working towards a fraudulent ‘two-state solution’, or whether we are entering a new golden era of a Trumpian Pax Americana.

This magazine has for many years opined that the ‘two-state solution’ which laughably remains the official policy of the Australian government is a disingenuous and dangerous piece of nonsense. Peace will come to the Middle East when the Nazi ideology of the Jew-hating Islamist entities surrender or are soundly defeated, if not by Israel then by the United States. Mr Trump recognises this reality and is putting it into practice. The situation in Gaza is literally the result of a failed ‘two-state solution’ experiment from 2005, whereby Israel gave land for peace as per the wishes of the liberal, progressive elites of the day. Not only did the Israelis not get the peace that was their due, they got murder, rape and savage barbarity in return. Unfortunately for those Arab locals who would have preferred peaceful co-existence (if there were any), the simple truth is that the Palestinians have now forfeited any moral, legal or historical right to sovereignty over the Gaza Strip. The world community and its institutions over the last sixteen months have comprehensively failed to formulate a position of moral clarity – quite the opposite – and now it is up to America to arrange a proper and just future for Gaza that does not involve Palestinian authority.

As with the Berlin Wall back in the early 1990s, it is likely that history will put its skates on and the collapse of Hamas will be swift and irreversible. The various Arab states will swallow their pride and overcome their understandable reservations about welcoming Gazan expats. The United Nations will sanction Mr Trump’s plans because the grifters and gravy train riders of the world’s elites know full well that Mr Trump’s ultimate big stick is withdrawing the USA, and thereby US funding, from the United Nations. Greed and self-interest will no doubt trump concern for ‘the Palestinians’.

What does Mr Trump envisage by hell breaking out? As this week’s cover observes, even the demons of Hades would probably find the barbarity and savagery of Hamas a little hard to stomach. The simple truth is that there must be overwhelming military might to force an unconditional surrender by Hamas, the return of all hostages dead and alive, and criminal arrests and public trials for every Gazan terrorist or citizen involved in any aspect of the horrors of 7 October including holding the hostages or shielding terrorists.

The world has tried and failed for decades to use the concept of moral equivalence to bring peace to the Middle East. It has failed for the simple reason that it is a lie. Truth and justice must now prevail, and those institutions that have willingly perpetrated and encouraged this evil must be dismantled or disempowered.

In fifty years, the world has gone from ‘never negotiating with terrorists’ to tolerating and even excusing the barbarity of Hamas. That now ends. The lesson for the Arab communities within Judea and Samaria needs to be: forget the intifadas and bus-stop bombs and knife attacks and hatred and work out how to live in peaceful co-existence with Israel. Pronto.