Hypothetical question, don’t need answer fast: If a third-party terrorist group unconnected to either the Jews or the Arabs (let’s just say the Illuminati) detonated a series of nukes – stolen from Soviet, Chinese, American and Indian stockpiles, so no one nation could be blamed – in and around Gaza and the West Bank, rendering both areas completely uninhabitable for the next few hundred years, what would happen?
Israel and its neighbors would probably be very pissed at each other, but let’s say it would soon be definitely proven that the act was committed by an entity completely unconnected to either side, whose members all sacrificed themselves in the attack, so there’s not really anyone left to blame.
Now the contested territory is just a radioactive wasteland and nobody would be able to visit the holy lands except in hazmat suits and special vehicles, and then only for very brief periods of time – an Abrahamic Chernobyl of sorts. And just to dissuade further attempts at immigration, the Illuminati also planted timed tactical nukes around the affected areas, set to go off randomly every half a decade or so, to ensure that nobody would try to return.
Would fighting cease? Or would the sides use the excuse to take up arms more fully, shifting their borders more and more?
(ETA: Oops, not sure why I called it the West “Strip” in the title)
I think you’re confusing the issues of access and control of holy sites and Palestinian displacement. The holy site issue is mostly a settled point, albeit certainly not to the satisfaction of many in the Islamic world. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip aren’t especially holy to anyone, they’re just where the people who were displaced by the creation and expansion of the state of Israel ended up. The major point of contention now is what to do with those people, not what to do with those (not especially desirable) chunks of land.
I really doubt Israel is going to wait long enough to sort out whether it was some unaffiliated terrorist strike or not. A nuke goes BOOM that close to their territory, and they’re going to retaliate, probably against Iran and maybe Syria, too. Once they do, it’s on until there’s a clear winner…which will likely be Israel, but at a terrible cost.
How many Palestinians survive? If they’re wiped out, then a lot of issues are simply moot. A lot, however, wouldn’t be. Israel and Syria would still face each other over the return of the Golan Heights.
If large numbers of Palestinians survived, then they would move to new enclaves, carved out of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, or other countries, and, after a time, renew their demands.
The Arab world would never believe that Israel wasn’t responsible for the detonations. Never. It would become a firm belief, among probably a majority of the world’s people, a new religious tenet. Many in the west would wonder. Qui bono? The OP specified that no one is blamed, but I don’t see how that could be. Israel would have a brand new blood libel on its hands.
Let’s pretend instead of messy nukes that make everyone believe it was Israel that Gaza and the West Bank simply disappeared into thin air tomorrow, along with anyone there. Would conflict in the middle east stop? Well, obviously, no. Maybe the Israeli/Palestinian conflict would, but what about the Palestinians in Jordan, who are being mistreated by the government? That conflict will still go on. The people butchering each other in Syria? Still happening. The Christians being persecuted in Lebanon and Egypt? Yup, still happening. So no, you’d really not have any real decrease in violence in the middle east. Same if Israel disappeared. Hell, if Israel was the one who disappeared, you’d probably have MORE conflict, since the Arab nations that are united by hate of Israel and the Western World it represents might turn on each other.
I think the OP intended that everyone would know it was a plot by the “Illuminati” and not some other hostile nation or more traditional (real) terrorist group. IOW, the world would know they were nukes stolen from the four listed countries.
(Yeah, I know, but try not to fight the hypothetical.)