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were moved from Gaza, I related how they moved inland to a barren patch of desert and built a new agricultural settlement. They piped in desalinated water from the Mediterranean, irrigated the desert and started planting.

Within five years they were exporting $50 million a year of organic potatoes, carrots and peppers.

Now this community, Halutza, boasts a medical center and dental clinic and grows 75 different varieties of fruits and vegetables, with exports worldwide.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, under Hamas leadership, zero has been accomplished. Things are exactly as they were 20 years ago.

Their only accomplishments have been the casualties, Palestinian and Israeli, as a result of the never-ending state of war, totally the result of Hamas refusing to recognize Israel and vowing its destruction.

They have wasted their sovereignty growing hate rather than a state and an economy.

When I wrote the column back in 2010, Israel’s per capita GDP was $31,267. By 2022, it was up to $54,660.

Per Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, the Palestinians living under the Hamas totalitarian regime are not happy, but expressing opposition amounts to a death sentence.

Polls, per Pipes, show that the local population supports the statement, “Palestinians should push harder to replace their own political leaders with more effective and less corrupt ones.”

He notes that since Hamas took over, “an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 young adults” have left Gaza.

The horrors and atrocities committed by these purveyors of death have been captured on video for all to see. Women, children and elderly civilians murdered in cold blood. Corpses desecrated.

Unfortunately, now, young Israelis are pulled out of universities and places of work and mobilized once again to fight. More parents will lose their children; more young wives will become widows.

Israelis fight in order to survive. Hamas fights because they want to kill.

For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Palestinian people, for the sake of the world, we must pray that this time is the last time that Israeli and Palestinian lives are lost because of this evil regime.

The status quo is no longer an option. Hamas must be removed for good, once and for all.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now. To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators. com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS. COM