Introduction
During World War II, a few brave individuals in Nazi Germany chose to act with extraordinary humanity, risking their lives to save persecuted Jews. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, has recognized 659 German citizens as Righteous Among the Nations for helping Jews, often at risk of death and sometimes endangering their own families. These acts defied a violent totalitarian regime and, in many cases, were carried out without expectation of reward. They were motivated purely by a sense of morality, compassion, and universal principles of justice. The masses didn’t follow this path; these were rare acts by individuals in a society that had largely become indifferent—or complicit—in the crimes of the regime.
A look at the Gaza Strip since October 2023 leads to a grim conclusion: In Gaza, there are no Righteous Among the Nations—not even one. Not one person stood on the side of human morality in the face of Hamas’s crimes. No one passed on information. No one tried to help the hostages who were so brutally abducted on October 7. This is unprecedented among societies under terrorist rule. While thousands in 1940s Europe took great risks to help Jews, in Gaza—under Hamas’s rule—not one person, as far as is known, chose to take a moral stand.
This absence cannot be explained solely by fear or coercion. It reflects a much deeper social and cultural phenomenon in which an entire society, collectively, has either actively joined the cycle of violence and hatred, or silently come to terms with it. This article examines the roots of that phenomenon and explores its moral and strategic implications.
Mass Support for the Massacre
The horror of October 7, 2023, is not just the story of uniformed terrorists infiltrating Israeli communities. The images, videos, and eyewitness accounts revealed something far broader and more troubling: children, women, and elderly civilians in Gaza didn’t just watch from the sidelines—they actively participated in looting, abuse, beatings, and even killings. Convoys of Gazans rushed toward the border fence, not out of curiosity, but to take part in the bloodshed. Tens of thousands poured into the streets, cheered the return of the hostage-takers, joined in their humiliation, and turned the event into a kind of ritual celebration. Even those who did not take part directly or express open support refrained from condemning the atrocities or offering any help to the hostages.
Testimonies from released hostages have made clear just how deeply civilians in Gaza were complicit. Hostages were held in private homes by “ordinary” families, not necessarily by terrorists. Civilians, including some who receive humanitarian aid and are often portrayed as “victims of the conflict,” took on active roles in the abuse. Not a solitary case of a Gazan helping a hostage was reported. Even Israeli offers of financial rewards in exchange for information yielded nothing. The silence was deafening, and the consensus overwhelming.
This mass civilian participation was not a coincidence. It stems from a culture of violence that has been cultivated for decades—through the education system, media, and religious institutions. Images of young children taking part in violent demonstrations or women encouraging acts of terror are nothing new. They are the outcome of a long process that has shaped Palestinian society to view Israel as the ultimate enemy, and every Jew as a legitimate target.
Fear, Complicity, or Collective Consciousness?
One of the common arguments is that Gazans are simply afraid of Hamas, and that this fear prevents them from resisting. But that claim fails to fully explain the phenomenon, especially considering the many historical cases in which people chose to risk their lives for moral principles. During the Holocaust, for example, thousands of individuals across Europe risked death to save Jews, despite the very real threat posed by the Nazi regime. Even under other totalitarian regimes, such as Stalin’s Soviet Union, some chose to resist, despite the personal danger.
While there are indeed many civilians in Gaza who have shown courage and publicly criticized not only Israel but also Hamas on issues of economic and humanitarian suffering, no one has come forward to help the hostages, not even for financial reward. This silence is indicative of the depth of hatred that exists.
Moreover, the enthusiasm with which the abductions were received in Gaza—the sight of children waving Hamas flags and trampling on Israeli symbols—is not a sign of fear, but of a collective embrace of a violent culture. It is the product of decades of deliberate, systematic indoctrination aimed at teaching younger generations that the State of Israel is illegitimate and has no right to exist.
If we examine the collective consciousness of the Gazan public and the cultural foundations that underpin Palestinian society, several core elements emerge:
- Anti-Jewish and anti-Israel education: The education system in Gaza, particularly that run by UNRWA, depicts Jews as the embodiment of evil and Israel as an illegal entity. Textbooks encourage hatred, erase Israel from maps, and glorify acts of terror.
- Glorification of death and martyrdom: Palestinian culture in general, and Gazan society in particular, presents death in the struggle against Zionism as a supreme value. From an early age, children are taught that dying “for Islam” in this struggle is the highest form of human fulfillment, and that the shahid (martyr) is a role model.
- Erasure of the distinction between soldier and civilian: In the Gazan worldview, every Jew is considered a soldier, making even children or the elderly legitimate targets. Conversely, every Gazan is expected to see themselves as a fighter on a religious-national mission.
These beliefs are not held just by a few extremists, they are embedded in the education system, reinforced by media discourse, and amplified across social media. The result is a society in which hatred of Israel and the aspiration for its destruction is not just an ideology, it is a way of life.
UNRWA: Perpetuating Refugeehood and Encouraging Terror
A central factor enabling this kind of education is UNRWA—the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Established after 1948, UNRWA has become more than a humanitarian aid body; it now functions as an educational system that operates dozens of schools, employs thousands of teachers, and disseminates the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum. That curriculum, as has been repeatedly exposed, includes blatant incitement, calls for violence against Jews, the erasure of Israel from maps, and the glorification of martyrs.
According to numerous reports, UNRWA personnel even took part in the October 7 massacre—whether as direct participants or as accomplices.
Western countries have funneled billions of dollars into UNRWA over the years, thereby sustaining a reality of manufactured refugeehood, in which the third and fourth generations of Palestinians are still defined as “refugees,” with no horizon for resolution. UNRWA has become a dual-purpose mechanism: on the one hand educational, on the other ideological. It is a fundamentally irreparable institution whose purpose is to perpetuate refugeehood and preserve a hostile reality. UNRWA is not merely part of the problem, it is one of the primary engines of the conflict.
A Strategic and Operational Shift
The implications of this reality are clear: any attempt to rehabilitate Gaza after Hamas—if the same population with the same collective consciousness remains—is doomed to fail. A society that celebrates massacre will not transform into peace builders within a matter of months. Therefore, Israel must adopt a regional strategy based not only on regime change, but also on a change in demographics. Such a shift will require bold, controversial, but ultimately necessary steps.
One of the key measures is the full demilitarization of the Strip, alongside a demographic shift that reduces population pressure. The idea of encouraging emigration, as proposed by Donald Trump, is not new, but it is more relevant than ever. This would involve a program offering Gaza residents financial incentives in the form of grants and resettlement assistance to start new lives in other countries, whether in the Middle East, Europe, or even Africa. This would not be forced deportation, but rather an attractive alternative to life in a perpetual war zone.
The emigration of hundreds of thousands of the population would reduce pressure, allow for demilitarization, and create the foundation for a new social fabric. This initiative would require international coordination, financial backing from Western countries, and complex diplomatic management. Still, it offers a long-term solution that could fundamentally shift the paradigm. It’s worth recalling that most of Gaza’s residents are classified as refugees and thus their emigration in search of better lives elsewhere aligns with international legal norms.
At the same time, international pressure must be brought to bear to shut down UNRWA, or at the very least, to carry out a comprehensive reform of its structure. In its place, a new humanitarian framework should be established: one that is supervised, untainted by hostile political agendas, and genuinely focused on aid—not on producing another generation of haters. This new framework must prioritize economic reconstruction, education geared toward building rather than destroying and laying the groundwork for a normal life for those who remain in Gaza.
Conclusion
It is easy to give in to despair when looking at Gaza: the hatred, the violence, the cruelty toward Israel all seem incurable. But it is precisely through a clear-eyed commitment to truth that hope can begin to emerge. Not the naïve hope of “two states for two peoples” in the sands of Gaza—but the hope of rebuilding, of ending the funding of evil, of dismantling the ideological and psychological infrastructure of the enemy.
Israel must lead a global effort that holds up a mirror to the world: you cannot fight terrorism while financing its roots. You cannot speak of peace while hatred is taught in official schools. Such change will take time—but it is the only real precondition for any genuine transformation. Without a different Gaza, there can be no secure Israel.
Beyond operational and demographic solutions, a deeper cognitive transformation is needed. The culture of hatred and violence entrenched in Gaza will not disappear on its own. Those who choose to remain and live amid the ruins will need to undergo a new educational program focused on coexistence, tolerance and cooperation. This program must be supervised by appropriate international bodies and based on models that have succeeded elsewhere, such as post–World War II Germany.
Israel cannot carry out this transformation alone. It will need the cooperation of Western nations, moderate Arab states, and even international organizations. The effort must be accompanied by a global public diplomacy campaign that makes it clear: the goal is not collective punishment, but a better future—not just for Israel but for Gazans as well.
The current reality in the Gaza Strip is the product of decades of incitement, terror indoctrination, and the perpetuation of artificial refugeehood. The absence of any “Righteous Among the Nations” in Gaza is no coincidence; it reflects a society that has collectively chosen to view violence and terror as legitimate means for advancing its national goals. Even those who do not actively participate in the violence or who may privately doubt whether Hamas’s October 7 massacre benefited the Palestinian cause, have failed to take a stand against it.
To change this reality, Israel must adopt a new approach—operational, demographic, and strategic. Even if Hamas’s leaders are exiled and the organization ceases to exist in Gaza, the collective consciousness of the Strip will produce new groups to perpetuate terrorism. That is why the path to breaking the cycle of terror lies in the emigration of Gaza’s population in line with Trump’s vision, and the dismantling of all existing terror infrastructure in the Strip.
UNRWA must be prevented from operating among those who do stay in Gaza, and a new educational framework should be established. These are essential steps on the path to real change. The road ahead will not be easy and it will demand resolve. But only through a sober reckoning with reality can true hope be built—a hope for a future in which Gaza is no longer a base for terror and Israel can live in security.
JISS Policy Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family.
Photo: Shutterstock
Home page / Policy Papers / No Righteous Among the Nations in Gaza: Between Morality, Reality, and Strategic Vision
No Righteous Among the Nations in Gaza: Between Morality, Reality, and Strategic Vision
Introduction
During World War II, a few brave individuals in Nazi Germany chose to act with extraordinary humanity, risking their lives to save persecuted Jews. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, has recognized 659 German citizens as Righteous Among the Nations for helping Jews, often at risk of death and sometimes endangering their own families. These acts defied a violent totalitarian regime and, in many cases, were carried out without expectation of reward. They were motivated purely by a sense of morality, compassion, and universal principles of justice. The masses didn’t follow this path; these were rare acts by individuals in a society that had largely become indifferent—or complicit—in the crimes of the regime.
A look at the Gaza Strip since October 2023 leads to a grim conclusion: In Gaza, there are no Righteous Among the Nations—not even one. Not one person stood on the side of human morality in the face of Hamas’s crimes. No one passed on information. No one tried to help the hostages who were so brutally abducted on October 7. This is unprecedented among societies under terrorist rule. While thousands in 1940s Europe took great risks to help Jews, in Gaza—under Hamas’s rule—not one person, as far as is known, chose to take a moral stand.
This absence cannot be explained solely by fear or coercion. It reflects a much deeper social and cultural phenomenon in which an entire society, collectively, has either actively joined the cycle of violence and hatred, or silently come to terms with it. This article examines the roots of that phenomenon and explores its moral and strategic implications.
Mass Support for the Massacre
The horror of October 7, 2023, is not just the story of uniformed terrorists infiltrating Israeli communities. The images, videos, and eyewitness accounts revealed something far broader and more troubling: children, women, and elderly civilians in Gaza didn’t just watch from the sidelines—they actively participated in looting, abuse, beatings, and even killings. Convoys of Gazans rushed toward the border fence, not out of curiosity, but to take part in the bloodshed. Tens of thousands poured into the streets, cheered the return of the hostage-takers, joined in their humiliation, and turned the event into a kind of ritual celebration. Even those who did not take part directly or express open support refrained from condemning the atrocities or offering any help to the hostages.
Testimonies from released hostages have made clear just how deeply civilians in Gaza were complicit. Hostages were held in private homes by “ordinary” families, not necessarily by terrorists. Civilians, including some who receive humanitarian aid and are often portrayed as “victims of the conflict,” took on active roles in the abuse. Not a solitary case of a Gazan helping a hostage was reported. Even Israeli offers of financial rewards in exchange for information yielded nothing. The silence was deafening, and the consensus overwhelming.
This mass civilian participation was not a coincidence. It stems from a culture of violence that has been cultivated for decades—through the education system, media, and religious institutions. Images of young children taking part in violent demonstrations or women encouraging acts of terror are nothing new. They are the outcome of a long process that has shaped Palestinian society to view Israel as the ultimate enemy, and every Jew as a legitimate target.
Fear, Complicity, or Collective Consciousness?
One of the common arguments is that Gazans are simply afraid of Hamas, and that this fear prevents them from resisting. But that claim fails to fully explain the phenomenon, especially considering the many historical cases in which people chose to risk their lives for moral principles. During the Holocaust, for example, thousands of individuals across Europe risked death to save Jews, despite the very real threat posed by the Nazi regime. Even under other totalitarian regimes, such as Stalin’s Soviet Union, some chose to resist, despite the personal danger.
While there are indeed many civilians in Gaza who have shown courage and publicly criticized not only Israel but also Hamas on issues of economic and humanitarian suffering, no one has come forward to help the hostages, not even for financial reward. This silence is indicative of the depth of hatred that exists.
Moreover, the enthusiasm with which the abductions were received in Gaza—the sight of children waving Hamas flags and trampling on Israeli symbols—is not a sign of fear, but of a collective embrace of a violent culture. It is the product of decades of deliberate, systematic indoctrination aimed at teaching younger generations that the State of Israel is illegitimate and has no right to exist.
If we examine the collective consciousness of the Gazan public and the cultural foundations that underpin Palestinian society, several core elements emerge:
These beliefs are not held just by a few extremists, they are embedded in the education system, reinforced by media discourse, and amplified across social media. The result is a society in which hatred of Israel and the aspiration for its destruction is not just an ideology, it is a way of life.
UNRWA: Perpetuating Refugeehood and Encouraging Terror
A central factor enabling this kind of education is UNRWA—the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Established after 1948, UNRWA has become more than a humanitarian aid body; it now functions as an educational system that operates dozens of schools, employs thousands of teachers, and disseminates the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum. That curriculum, as has been repeatedly exposed, includes blatant incitement, calls for violence against Jews, the erasure of Israel from maps, and the glorification of martyrs.
According to numerous reports, UNRWA personnel even took part in the October 7 massacre—whether as direct participants or as accomplices.
Western countries have funneled billions of dollars into UNRWA over the years, thereby sustaining a reality of manufactured refugeehood, in which the third and fourth generations of Palestinians are still defined as “refugees,” with no horizon for resolution. UNRWA has become a dual-purpose mechanism: on the one hand educational, on the other ideological. It is a fundamentally irreparable institution whose purpose is to perpetuate refugeehood and preserve a hostile reality. UNRWA is not merely part of the problem, it is one of the primary engines of the conflict.
A Strategic and Operational Shift
The implications of this reality are clear: any attempt to rehabilitate Gaza after Hamas—if the same population with the same collective consciousness remains—is doomed to fail. A society that celebrates massacre will not transform into peace builders within a matter of months. Therefore, Israel must adopt a regional strategy based not only on regime change, but also on a change in demographics. Such a shift will require bold, controversial, but ultimately necessary steps.
One of the key measures is the full demilitarization of the Strip, alongside a demographic shift that reduces population pressure. The idea of encouraging emigration, as proposed by Donald Trump, is not new, but it is more relevant than ever. This would involve a program offering Gaza residents financial incentives in the form of grants and resettlement assistance to start new lives in other countries, whether in the Middle East, Europe, or even Africa. This would not be forced deportation, but rather an attractive alternative to life in a perpetual war zone.
The emigration of hundreds of thousands of the population would reduce pressure, allow for demilitarization, and create the foundation for a new social fabric. This initiative would require international coordination, financial backing from Western countries, and complex diplomatic management. Still, it offers a long-term solution that could fundamentally shift the paradigm. It’s worth recalling that most of Gaza’s residents are classified as refugees and thus their emigration in search of better lives elsewhere aligns with international legal norms.
At the same time, international pressure must be brought to bear to shut down UNRWA, or at the very least, to carry out a comprehensive reform of its structure. In its place, a new humanitarian framework should be established: one that is supervised, untainted by hostile political agendas, and genuinely focused on aid—not on producing another generation of haters. This new framework must prioritize economic reconstruction, education geared toward building rather than destroying and laying the groundwork for a normal life for those who remain in Gaza.
Conclusion
It is easy to give in to despair when looking at Gaza: the hatred, the violence, the cruelty toward Israel all seem incurable. But it is precisely through a clear-eyed commitment to truth that hope can begin to emerge. Not the naïve hope of “two states for two peoples” in the sands of Gaza—but the hope of rebuilding, of ending the funding of evil, of dismantling the ideological and psychological infrastructure of the enemy.
Israel must lead a global effort that holds up a mirror to the world: you cannot fight terrorism while financing its roots. You cannot speak of peace while hatred is taught in official schools. Such change will take time—but it is the only real precondition for any genuine transformation. Without a different Gaza, there can be no secure Israel.
Beyond operational and demographic solutions, a deeper cognitive transformation is needed. The culture of hatred and violence entrenched in Gaza will not disappear on its own. Those who choose to remain and live amid the ruins will need to undergo a new educational program focused on coexistence, tolerance and cooperation. This program must be supervised by appropriate international bodies and based on models that have succeeded elsewhere, such as post–World War II Germany.
Israel cannot carry out this transformation alone. It will need the cooperation of Western nations, moderate Arab states, and even international organizations. The effort must be accompanied by a global public diplomacy campaign that makes it clear: the goal is not collective punishment, but a better future—not just for Israel but for Gazans as well.
The current reality in the Gaza Strip is the product of decades of incitement, terror indoctrination, and the perpetuation of artificial refugeehood. The absence of any “Righteous Among the Nations” in Gaza is no coincidence; it reflects a society that has collectively chosen to view violence and terror as legitimate means for advancing its national goals. Even those who do not actively participate in the violence or who may privately doubt whether Hamas’s October 7 massacre benefited the Palestinian cause, have failed to take a stand against it.
To change this reality, Israel must adopt a new approach—operational, demographic, and strategic. Even if Hamas’s leaders are exiled and the organization ceases to exist in Gaza, the collective consciousness of the Strip will produce new groups to perpetuate terrorism. That is why the path to breaking the cycle of terror lies in the emigration of Gaza’s population in line with Trump’s vision, and the dismantling of all existing terror infrastructure in the Strip.
UNRWA must be prevented from operating among those who do stay in Gaza, and a new educational framework should be established. These are essential steps on the path to real change. The road ahead will not be easy and it will demand resolve. But only through a sober reckoning with reality can true hope be built—a hope for a future in which Gaza is no longer a base for terror and Israel can live in security.
JISS Policy Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family.
Photo: Shutterstock
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Prof. Siboni was director of the military and strategic affairs program, and the cyber research program, of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) from 2006-2020, where he founded academic journals on these matters. He serves as a senior consultant to the IDF and other Israeli security organizations and the security industry. He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in engineering from Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from Ben-Gurion University. More may be found here. His list of publications may be found here.
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