‘Wars end with one side winning and the other losing – Hamas must lose,' British journalist Douglas Murray writes

British conservative journalist and cultural critic Douglas Murray, who has frequently commented on the Gaza War following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, recently argued that peace in the Middle East requires the clear defeat of Hamas.

In a recent article and video response to the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump of the proposal for American ownership of the Gaza Strip, Murray discusses the only viable path to peace in his opinion. 

“How do wars end?” Murray asks at the beginning of his New York Post article. 

“There is a modern belief that they end around a negotiating table. In fact, historically, most wars end by one side winning and the other side losing. Critical to this is that the side that has won knows that it has won, and that the side that has lost knows that it has lost.” 

In the video, released as part of his “Direct Address” series on Instagram, Murray says something similar. 

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“And all these months later, there is something that should be said with some clarity, which is, ‘You lost. You lost. Hamas, you lost.’” 

In his article for the Post, Murray argues that the war is not over despite the ceasefire and the return of some Israeli hostages. The reason that the war is not over is not only due to the remaining hostages and the continuing presence of Hamas, Murray writes. 

“No – the reason why the war shouldn’t be over is because it cannot be over until the people who started the war have lost. And are forced to realize that they have lost,” Murray stated. 

For that reason, Murray said he “was so encouraged this past week by comments from President Trump where he talked about clearing people from the Gaza Strip.” 

In his “Direct Address” video, Murray points out that Arab and Palestinian leaders have turned down every offer of a state that was given them in the past, until Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. That withdrawal enabled Hamas to take over and start launching wars against Israel. 

“The Palestinians of Gaza could have done an awful lot of things with that beautiful bit of territory, with that amazing strip of land, but they decided to vote in a terrorist group, Hamas,” Murray notes. “And Hamas and Islamic Jihad and other charming Jihadist groups decided to spend their time and our money waging war on Israel.” 

Murray says the Trump initiative, far from being the “unreasonable” proposal it has been called by the Arabs and the Europeans, it is the only way for Hamas and the Palestinians to understand that they have lost. 

“Until this week, about the only plan on the table, was that American taxpayers, European taxpayers, British taxpayers, Irish taxpayers, of course, everyone around the region in the Middle East should pour money into Gaza to give the Gazans another opportunity to make sure they steal money, like all the leadership of Hamas did, who all became billionaires, [and] of course, continue working with their underground tunnel networks, and then launch, at some point in the coming years, yet another war on Israel,” Murray said. “That was about the only plan on the table until this week.” 

Murray also argues that population transfer is normal after a war, and that no law requires a country to rebuild its enemy so that it can wage war against the same country again. 

“There is no law of war that says you are allowed to keep waging wars, keep losing them, and then be allowed to do it all over again,” Murray notes.

“In fact, if you start a war that you then lose, you usually also lose all or most of the territory you started it from. That is not only right, but the only language that these terrorists and their masters understand.” 

In his usual cheeky, cutting style, Murray suggests that all the countries which expressed so much concern for the Palestinians be required to take in Palestinian evacuees from Gaza. 

“There are lots of countries that have expressed enormous support for the Palestinians of Gaza, and I see no reason why they shouldn't be encouraged to take them in,” Murray opines in the Direct Address video. 

And in the Post article, he writes something similar:

“Trump has floated the idea that the Gazans could go to Egypt or Jordan. But I would like to extend that offer. Why not offer them to Ireland, Canada, Pakistan, and all those other countries that profess to care so much for the Palestinians? If they want these terrorist supporters so much, why shouldn’t Dublin, Toronto and Islamabad benefit from their presence? I’m sure the Palestinians will help these countries boom. In their own traditional ways.”