In the new Gaza War, it is vital to remember that Gaza is not the problem; terrorism is. 

Israel’s war strategy must be focused on removing the root cause of the conflict. According to Palestinian radicals, American progressives, and other Zionophobes, the root cause is “occupation,” which can only be solved through “decolonization.” This is their standard talking point and all they want to talk about. But it’s hard to explain how decolonization includes butchering hundreds of unarmed young revelers at a love and peace music festival or any of the other atrocities perpetrated over the weekend. (RELATED: Israel at War: Two Essential Benchmarks)

Plus, their rationale is factually and legally flawed. The Gaza border was established as part of the 1949 Egypt-Israel Armistice Agreement. The border is the same type of “green line” that defines other Palestinian territorial claims. The only way to argue that Israeli cities outside Gaza are “occupied territory” is if you believe that Israel has no right to exist at all. Conveniently, this is also the Hamas platform.

Gaza was previously ruled by the Ottomans, the British, the Egyptians, and from 1967 to 2005 by Israel. It became a self-governing territory under the logic of land for peace. In 2005, Israel dismantled its settlements and withdrew from Gaza, leaving it to the Palestinians to order their own affairs. Optimistic peace proponents envisioned two countries side by side, self-governing and stable. Gaza was supposed to be the model of what was possible in a future two-state solution. 

However, land for peace became land for war in the hands of Gaza’s terrorist overlords. Hamas seized control in Gaza in 2006 after an electoral victory over the rival Fatah faction and turned the strip into a launching pad for Iranian-made rockets and other nefarious activity. Last weekend, Gaza served as the beachhead for staging Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a senseless and unprecedented slaughter, the horrors of which are still unfolding. Or, as Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh described it, a scene of heroic deeds, sacrifices, courage, and pride. Seriously?

It’s Time to Treat Hamas Like ISIS

But just as Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, hardly anyone recognizes Hamas’ right to exist. Hamas, along with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Palestine Liberation Front, has been on the U.S. State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations since 1997. The EU, the UK, Canada, Australia, and other countries also list Hamas as a terror group. This means that Hamas can be dismantled at will. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States embedded the sensible perspective that terrorism is no longer something civilized nations just have to put up with. Israel’s military response will not simply be mowing the grass. It will mean uprooting Gaza’s violent extremists and reseeding the lawn.

The people who would benefit most from this approach are the innocent Gazans who have been under the thumb of a corrupt, authoritarian terrorist regime that has made them unwilling targets in the ongoing conflict. After all, it was the terrorists who set up rocket launching sites next to schools, put ammunition dumps in mosques, and headquarters in apartment blocks. Israel has consistently tried to avoid killing Palestinians, but Hamas benefits from a high civilian body count, whether the victims are Israeli or Palestinian. (READ MORE: What Israel Needs to Do Now)

Gazans live in conditions where aid money is diverted or embezzled; scarce resources are devoted to guns instead of butter; there is no political freedom, no free speech, dissent is squashed, and prosperity is impossible. The people live under brutal authoritarianism that fosters hate, and the international community sees Gaza primarily as a welfare project, not a development opportunity.

So, step one: remove Hamas and other radical groups from Gaza by any means necessary. Treat them like al Qaeda, ISIS, or any other such murderous organization. Shoot on sight. Take out their leadership anywhere in the world. Disrupt their financial and supply networks. Use all the tools of national and international power to end them as organizations. This will be a difficult and bloody fight, but necessary.

Set two: begin the rebuilding process. Make Gaza benefit those who want peace and prosperity. Prioritize the well-being of its people There is no reason Gaza City cannot be a tourist destination, a financial center, or a haven for Palestinian art and culture. Build infrastructure, encourage small to medium enterprises, invest in education and vocational training. Make the private sector the engine of economic development. Lower taxes, attract foreign capital, have reasonable regulation, orderly politics, and all the best practices of good governance. Create jobs, commerce, and wealth.

Take a page from Tel Aviv, which grew from sand dunes to a major metropolis. Make Gaza into what Beirut used to be before civil war and terrorism reduced the once thriving “Paris of the East.” Open trade, encourage tourism, and make Gaza both safe and inclusive. Approach the project with hope and optimism instead of recycling hate, resentment, and violence. Let the Palestinians show that they are capable of much more than what the radical, violent fringe groups preach. Appeal to their aspirations and move beyond the hatemongering of the past. (READ MORE: US Sends Reinforcements to Israel After 9 Americans Die in Hamas Attack)

But this cannot be Israel’s project alone; it would need international and especially regional support to have the legitimacy to succeed. Enlist the aid of Egypt, which has an interest in promoting stability in Gaza. Bring in the UAE, who built Dubai and Abu Dhabi up from desert sands. Get Saudi Arabia involved, bringing the best ideas being generated in the NEOM project. 

In short, redo the Gaza experiment the right way, not again reducing the Palestinians to international paupers under the sway of violent thugs. Promote regional cooperation, economic opportunities, and eventually political normalization with Israel. Make land for peace a reality.

Either that or reset and wait for this to happen again.

James S. Robbins is Dean of Academics at the Institute of World Politics and author of This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive.