By Romana Rubeo 
Scott Ritter breaks down Trump’s Gaza comments, Israel’s military struggles, and shifting regional dynamics in an eye-opening conversation on the FloodGate Podcast.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump stated that his plan to “take over” Gaza “really works,” but he would not impose it.
“I’ll tell you the way to do it, it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade.
On February 6, we discussed this and other topics in a wide-ranging interview with former UN Weapons Inspector, former USMC Intelligence Officer, author, and analyst Scott Ritter, who joined me and my co-host Ramzy Baroud in the first episode of the FloodGate Podcast.
Below are the five key takeaways from our discussion.
1. Trump: Statesman or Businessman?
Is Donald Trump acting as a statesman or a businessman? According to Ritter, there are two ways to view his latest statement.
“As a statesman, the statement he made is extremely dangerous and irresponsible,” Ritter said. “It would seem to put the United States in a very dangerous situation, unable to live up to the demands that the president is placing on it. It’s an impossible task from any perspective.”
“What the president outlined literally cannot be accomplished, and if it were attempted, it would lead to horrendous death, destruction, and embarrassment for the United States.”
But Ritter does not believe Trump made the statement as a serious policy proposal. Instead, he sees it as an attempt to humiliate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Donald Trump made this statement as a mechanism of humiliation for Benjamin Netanyahu,” Ritter explained.
Additionally, no nation, he argued, has put forward a viable plan to resolve the so-called Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“Not a single one. Nobody. Not even, you know, any Arab nation has. No Muslim nation has. No collection of Arab and Muslim states have—and they should be the ones most interested in doing so. Europe has been silent. Russia has been silent. China has been silent. The whole world has been silent.”
Trump, in contrast, operates differently. “He has said, ‘I want peace in the Middle East to be one of the things that I want to have occur on my watch.’ But he comes into a situation where there can be no peace,” Ritter said.
Trump, according to Ritter, is treating the conflict as a business deal.
“I think the (US) president has put a proposal on the table that is so outrageous, so audacious, knowing that those who simply say no—he doesn’t have to worry about. They’re no longer part of this business transaction. What he’s seeking is people to say, ‘No, but here’s my counterproposal.’ See, that’s how business transactions work in Trump’s world.”
2. West Bank and the Palestinian Authority
For Ritter, the situation in the occupied West Bank is one of deep despair.
“If you think about the West Bank, you have to cry. Really. There’s just—it’s a hopeless situation,” he said. And Trump, he argues, helped create this reality through the Abraham Accords.
“Donald Trump helped create the hopeless situation through the Abraham Accords back in his first term. He wrote off the West Bank. Read it. Look at everything. It pretends to talk about creating a Palestinian state, but really, what happened with the Abraham Accords was that the West Bank was going to be carved up into a series of Bantustans.”
In his view, Palestinians in the West Bank have to “sacrifice on the scope and scale of the sacrifice made by the people of Gaza. They have to stand up and say, ‘No, we will die, and we will force you to kill us. And we will show your murder to the world’.”
Ritter also criticized the Palestinian Authority, calling its leadership complicit in this process.
“Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority—who, personally, I have little regard for—have betrayed the Palestinian cause. They’ve betrayed the Palestinian people. They promote pro-Israeli policies. They are an extension of the Israeli security service. They have betrayed the people,” he said.
According to Ritter, Fatah has ceased to be a resistance movement.
“This is why Hamas has so much credibility today—because Hamas alone… well, not alone, I guess it’s more complicated than that. There are many resistance movements in Gaza that aren’t getting the credit they deserve. Islamic Jihad, for example, played a significant role. And I guess there are many resistance movements in the West Bank, too, that are standing up.”
3. Russia’s Role in the Middle East
Ritter dismissed the idea that Russia could significantly alter the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“What do you want Russia to do, exactly? Commit suicide for Palestine?” he asked.
Russia’s priorities in the Middle East, he explained, revolve around countering extremism, not confronting Israel.
“Russia intervened in Syria to stop Islamic extremism from taking over Damascus. Not necessarily because they cared about Bashar al-Assad, but because they care about Chechnya, Dagestan, the Northern Caucasus, Tatarstan—the millions, tens of millions of Muslims that live in Russia today.”
Furthermore, Ritter said Russia has always sought to avoid direct confrontation with Israel.
“Russia was always carefully balancing its military actions to stop the extremists without ensuring that what they were doing empowered Hezbollah and Iran—who were allies of Syria in their effort against Israel.”
4. Israel’s Weakened Position in the Region
According to Ritter, Israel is not operating from a position of strength.
“The Israeli army was effectively defeated by Hamas—not in the traditional sense of conquering territory, but by resisting one of the most advanced and well-equipped militaries in the world. Hamas fought the Israeli army to a standstill, inflicting heavy casualties at levels Israel was unprepared for,” he said.
“Hezbollah achieved similar success,” Ritter continued. “Israel deployed its top units in southern Lebanon—the 7th Armored Brigade, the Golani Brigade, and the elite Yahalom special forces—yet they were all beaten by Hezbollah.”
Despite Israeli military actions in Syria, Ritter argued that these did not compensate for its losses in Gaza and Lebanon.
“The Israeli military occupied undefended territory and presented it as a victory. Capturing an unguarded position on Mount Hermon hardly qualifies as a military achievement.”
5. Lebanon and Hezbollah
Ritter thinks Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon effectively reinforces the role of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah, as it exists today, is a resistance organization whose legitimacy comes from the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory,” he said. “It may take time. It may not happen overnight. It took more than a decade to kick them out of southern Lebanon in the past.”
According to Ritter, Israel’s refusal to withdraw from Lebanese territory only strengthens Hezbollah.
“I believe if Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, it would create a power problem for Hezbollah inside Lebanon. The best way to destroy Hezbollah is to remove the legitimacy of its resistance mission. And you do that by leaving Lebanese soil.”
Instead, he argued, Israel is doing the opposite. “Now, the Lebanese people will say, ‘There is no longer a need or justification for a Hezbollah militia. The Lebanese army is responsible for the security of Lebanon.’ And Hezbollah, as a political party, will have to yield to that pressure.”
For Ritter, Israel’s actions indicate weakness. “A strong Israel, a confident Israel, would withdraw back into northern Israel and let the politics of Lebanon take over,” he said.
“But instead, Israel’s illegal occupation will only enhance Hezbollah. And Hezbollah’s history is one of successful resistance against Israel. Why? Because it’s a just mission. It’s a righteous cause.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
