The husks of what used to be apartment buildings line the streets. Scavengers pick through the debris. The ground is cratered like a lunar landscape. Thousands of people wait in lines for food.

This is Gaza today, after suffering retribution for Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel has invaded, making impressive progress in destroying almost all of Hamas’s paramilitary units, killing Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, and dismantling Gaza’s network of tunnels and other terrorist infrastructure. It has waged an extremely difficult war successfully and rapidly.

Now, though, its concern is turning to what to do in the aftermath. What is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s postwar plan for Gaza?

Netanyahu outlined his vision before the United States Congress on July 24, 2024. “A new generation of Palestinians must no longer be taught to hate Jews but rather to live in peace with us,” he stated. “Following our victory, with the help of regional partners, the demilitarization and deradicalization of Gaza can also lead to a future of security, prosperity and peace. That’s my vision for Gaza.”

“Regional partners” consist of so-called moderate Arab countries that signed peace treaties with Israel in recent years: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Netanyahu is seeking their help for a goal that goes far beyond the Gaza Strip.

“America and Israel today can forge a security alliance in the Middle East to counter the growing Iranian threat,” he said. “All countries that are in peace with Israel and all those countries who will make peace with Israel should be invited to join this alliance.”

Iran is the power behind Hamas, Hezbollah and virtually every other major threat against Israel. Iran also seeks to dominate the Arab world. This shared fear of Iran led these Arab states, including Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to join Israel’s “Abraham Accords” peace treaties.

Among the Abraham Accords signatories, the United Arab Emirates was the big prize. It has one of the Middle East’s largest economies and most advanced militaries. Its war against Yemen’s Houthis from 2015 to 2019 shows it isn’t afraid to fight Iran’s proxies. Netanyahu and Israel see the U.A.E. as a natural partner. In his autobiography, Netanyahu said President Mohammed bin Zayed was “a shrewd and visionary leader” he could ally with against Iran.

Israel’s relations with the U.A.E. have grown far closer since 2020. The two countries conducted joint military exercises and their trade has grown to billions of dollars. Throughout the Israel-Hamas war, Zayed has kept his embassy in Tel Aviv active and is the only Arab state that still hosts an Israeli ambassador. Unlike other Arab airlines, the U.A.E.’s Emirates and Etihad continue to fly from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv. During Iran’s missile barrage against Israel last April, the U.A.E. reportedly shared intelligence with Israel. As other Arab nations distance themselves from Israel, Zayed is keeping his ties both close and public.

On July 17, 2024, the Financial Times posted an article by U.A.E. diplomat Lana Nusseibeh. It essentially served as an announcement of the U.A.E.’s vision for postwar Gaza. The U.A.E. is willing to help Israel reconstruct Gaza, Nusseibeh said. She called for “a temporary international mission that responds to the humanitarian crisis, establishes law and order, lays the groundwork for governance, and paves the way to reuniting Gaza and the occupied West Bank under a single, legitimate Palestinian Authority.” She anticipated that this would lead to creating a Palestinian state and indicated that the U.A.E. would help facilitate this.

The Palestinians have rejected the U.A.E.’s plan. Six days after the plan was pitched in the Financial Times, 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, signed a declaration of unity mediated by the Chinese government in Beijing. This deal is supposed to lead to a “national unity government” over Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. As of November, Fatah and Hamas are still in negotiations. Analysts interpret this as Fatah’s rejection of the U.A.E. plan. Fatah and Hamas are bitter rivals; there would be no reason for negotiations unless Fatah felt the plan was likely to happen and likely to exclude the Palestinian Authority. At the time of this writing, nothing is official. But even public talk of the U.A.E.’s participation in the reconstruction of Gaza is monumental.

There are many reasons why an Arab leader would reject outreaches from Israel. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated for doing so. Yet Zayed is evidently unafraid. Netanyahu evidently trusts him. Whatever happens with Gaza in the months to come, it will most likely involve the U.A.E. Apparently, Israel trusts the Gulf state enough to allow it a physical presence in the Palestinian territories.

Could this trust be misguided?

“We all want peace,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in “Deadly Flaw in Mideast Peace Deals” about the Abraham Accords. “But sadly, these recent peace pacts have a deadly flaw. Biblical prophecy gives us deep insight into these agreements. It actually foretells that moderate Arabs will unite, somewhat like we are now seeing. But they are prophesied not to cooperate with the United States or Israel!” (Trumpet, January 2021).

Mr. Flurry was referring to Psalm 83, which describes a Middle East alliance whose goal is that “the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (verse 4). Verse 3 shows this alliance is formed through “crafty counsel.” Among the peoples in the alliance are the “Ishmaelites,” which are Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, including the U.A.E., along with the “Philistines,” or Palestinians. Assur, meanwhile, is Germany. Another prophecy in Daniel 11:40 shows that Germany and its partners ally against Iran, the prophetic “king of the south.” (Request Mr. Flurry’s free booklet The King of the South.)

Much is still to happen before this alliance fully forms. But its formation is already well under way, and likely includes the U.A.E.’s current maneuverings. The U.A.E. is a leader in the Arab world. It has a capable military, especially for its size, and more cash than most other Arab states, enough to engage in nation-building if it wants.

While under Hamas, Gaza was unlikely to switch its allegiance from Iran to Germany. But today Israel is almost begging the U.A.E. to step in and reconstruct the Gaza Strip out of nothing. If this happens, Gaza’s new government would be indebted to the U.A.E. It would also depend entirely on outside sponsorship, which Europe and the Gulf states can provide. This would make Gaza a puppet government of Europe and the U.A.E.

This is not the only way circumstances could play out. But they appear to be heading in this direction. This is especially fascinating when you understand the mysterious Psalm 83 prophecy.

Daniel 11:41 shows Germany, under the prophetic name “king of the north,” will enter “the glorious land”—the Holy Land, or the State of Israel. The word “enter” suggests a peaceful entry. “The indication here is that Israel will actually invite the Germans in because they believe they already have peace with them,” Mr. Flurry wrote.

“The current peace deals between Israel and the Arab states are creating this sense of security. But Israel should be more aware of history and prophecy! What awaits the Jews at the hands of this European-Arab alliance is one of the most treacherous betrayals in history!” (ibid).

Israel, then, invites the United Arab Emirates to its doorstep at its own peril. However the details of the Gaza war settle, the Bible states the Palestinians will ally with the moderate Arabs and Europe against Israel.

This is bad news in the short term, but these same prophecies point to a positive ending. Read the continuation of the prophecy in Daniel 12:1-2, and you see that God will not abandon His people. He will rescue them—in the context of other amazing prophecies, including the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead! Though the Bible prophesies of Israel’s problems increasing, so it points to the solution to these problems. Unlike any humanly devised peace pact, this solution is the hope to live by.