What Are the Pros and Cons of the US Taking Control of Gaza? Cedarville University Professor of International Studies Weighs In

‘The World Could Get Nasty Quickly, and So We Have To Be Careful,’ Said Duerr

Providing his personal opinion, Duerr shared:

I think if it’s carried out as stated where it becomes a U.S. territory, it’s a con, because it sets up the world and it, reinforces what Russia’s doing in terms of imperialism. It’s a net negative. We will see countries all over the world say similar things. They will threaten their neighbors. We’re seeing it from Venezuela to Bangladesh to China. The world could get nasty quickly, and so we have to be careful. But, again, I go back to Trump and how he postures. If it’s set up where a lot of countries are involved, where they have a stake in it, again, from the Emiratis to the Qataris, to the Saudis…and collectively. There’s a pacification of the area. You set up these hotels or tourism industry around the beach. Then all of a sudden, these Gazans, who have been impoverished for decades because of their terrible government, they have a chance to be in the tourism industry. You can think about everything else that springs up, from restaurants to management positions, all kinds of great opportunities. And if there’s a lasting peace there, that’s where I think Trump’s plan is a net positive. If it’s shared within a select group of countries, and maybe slowly, the territory is given back over to Gazans, who can show they can govern this territory…Actually, in Scripture, you see Gaza being hit historically. And we want to avoid that in the future.

Duerr said that the plan would put young men and women in the American armed forces at risk, because this is a type of operation that would require “boots on the ground.”

“Over 2 million people jammed into a city with a lot of of weaponry. So there’d be all kinds of [potential] assassinations of U.S. troops, all kinds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” Duerr said. “It could be nightmarish, and Iran could back a lot of this and fund a lot of this where it really becomes a quagmire for the United States.”

However, Duerr said, “Trump has campaigned on not doing such things…In 2020 [Trump] unveiled a formal peace plan for the Palestinian territories to create a State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.” Duerr explained that it was “roundly rejected by many Arab governments, the Palestinians included. But I don’t think he was given enough credit, because there were all kinds of very intricate and inventive solutions that we have not seen.”

Trump’s Gaza plan “is another one of those,” Duerr added. “[Yes] it has some problematic sides, as I noted, but I like the idea that there’s something that’s new on the table, and that is worthy of praise.”

Duerr Believes the ‘World Really Will Get More Violent’ Before It Gets Peaceful

Duerr concluded sharing if there is any end times significance to the U.S. possibly taking over Gaza. “Something like this could dovetail” into some Revelation-type prophecies, he said. But through his study of eschatology, Duerr said he believes the “world really will get more violent.”

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According to the Bible, “there will be conflict” due to our “sinful nature,” Duerr added. “And so it’s never going to be clean or easy. Maybe Gaza could be pacified, but it’s a big ask. It’s something that we really haven’t seen, and there would need to be a total and utter 180 in the way things are done.”

So maybe Gaza is “a piece in all of this, but I don’t think it’s a central [end times] piece either,” Duerr said.

Disclosure: Jesse T. Jackson and Dr. Glen Duerr are both members at University Baptist Church in Beavercreek (UBC), Ohio, where both have served together as deacons in the past. Duerr is currently serving as an elder at UBC.