Watching the gruesome spectacle of Hamas parading dead bodies as cheerful families celebrated the occasion, Hussein Aboubakr Mansour came to the conclusion that “the Palestinian national cause, as conceived and developed over the last half-century, has become irredeemable.” The hope of a deradicalized national movement focused on building a new Arab state rather than destroying the Jewish one, Mansour argues, is in vain.

Any attempt at constructive state-building has been ground into dust by corruption, murderous factionalism, and the unabashed worship of violence. Hence, Palestine must die if the Palestinians are to live. Some might say it is drastic, even cruel, to declare that a people’s aspiration to statehood should be abandoned. But the events we just witnessed . . . are not an isolated atrocity but the peak of a long march of destruction. They reflect a deeper moral and cultural collapse: no meaningful leadership capable of guiding Palestinians toward a humane, tolerant society appears to exist.

To argue that Palestinians should be absorbed into existing states is not to remove their communal identity; it is to acknowledge that the formal structure called “Palestine” has, in practice, become a source of destruction for themselves and for the region. If the dream of a stable, rights-based Palestinian sovereignty were within reach, it would have emerged during at least one of the diplomatic windows over the past decades. Instead, repeated attempts have collapsed into bloodshed.

The idea of Palestine has, tragically, turned into an ideological snare that captures each new generation from birth, seeding them with the promise of “liberation” that only ever seems to produce more suffering. In many Arab countries, Palestinians have lived as second-class refugees for decades, denied meaningful integration or citizenship by the very governments that proclaim solidarity.

Perhaps the most merciful and responsible course is for the Palestinian identity—as a state-bound ambition—to be gently laid to rest while families find refuge in the more concrete structures that already exist around them. The cost of perpetuating a vision that repeatedly descends into cruelty is simply too high. If we truly care about the lives of Palestinians, Israelis, and their neighbors, it may be time to walk away from the fantasy of “Palestine” and offer every real opportunity for inclusion and a dignified future elsewhere.

Considering the current state of Israel-Arab relations, Ghaith al-Omari writes

First and foremost, no ceasefire will be possible without the release of Israeli hostages and commitments to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The final say on these matters rests with Hamas commanders on the ground in Gaza, who have been largely impervious to foreign pressure so far. At minimum, however, the United States should insist that Qatari and Egyptian mediators push Hamas’s external leadership to accept these conditions publicly, which could increase pressure on the group’s Gaza leadership.

Washington should also demand a clear, public position from key Arab states regarding disarmament. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed this position in a June letter to Saudi Arabia and France, giving Arab states Palestinian cover for endorsing it themselves.

Some Arab states have already indicated a willingness to play a significant role, but they will have little incentive to commit resources and personnel to Gaza unless Israel (1) provides guarantees that it will not occupy the Strip indefinitely, and (2) removes its veto on a PA role in Gaza’s future, even if only symbolic at first. Arab officials are also seeking assurances that any role they play in Gaza will be in the context of a wider effort to reach a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Washington must remain mindful that current conditions between Israel and the Palestinians are not remotely conducive to . . . implementing a two-state solution.