Gaza War

Blurb:

For two years now, the suffering of the 251 hostages snatched by Hamas terrorists during the October 7th massacre in Israel has been a stain on the conscience of the civilised world. Now the first phase of President Donald Trump’s peace deal promises the speedy release of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza – up to 20 of whom could still be alive.

Their release will be a joyful day for former British hostage Emily Damari, whose family I tried my best to support whilst she was in captivity. If his confident prediction that they will all be released “very soon” is fulfilled, then President Trump will deserve huge congratulations and heartfelt thanks — not only from the hostages’ desperate families — but from everybody who wants to see an end to terrorism and war in the Middle East.

If this happens, President Trump will surely also deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. He has proved again that he is an instinctive peacemaker, not a warmonger like too many of his predecessors in the White House.

Before Trump US policy was dominated by neo-cons, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, who seemed all for foreign wars and launched disastrous military campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Blurb:

Jerusalem — Indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza and freeing the remaining Israeli hostages resumed Wednesday in Egypt. President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday to join the conversations, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.

The war was sparked by the Hamas-led, Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken as hostages. Israeli officials believe 48 of those people remain captive, though only 20 are believed to still be alive.

Since that day, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health says Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians. Israel disputes that figure but provides no estimate of its own, and the United Nations considers the health ministry’s count the most reliable information available, as Israel has barred foreign journalists from operating independently in Gaza.

Ricardo Pires, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s charity UNICEF, said this week that what he calls Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza has killed or maimed at least 61,000 children since the war started.

Blurb:

Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir risk​ed ​d​erailing hopes of peace in the Middle East by ​d​eclaring he wants to see Hamas ​”destroyed​”. Speaking in Jerusalem he said: “I only pray that our Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) will allow a complete victory in Gaza…to destroy Hamas. With God’s help we will return the hostages, and we will win a complete victory.”

His inflammatory statement came as Israel and Hamas negotiators exchanged lists of the prisoners and hostages who would be released under the terms of any peace deal. Negotiations currently taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, are focussed on the “mechanisms for implementing the end of the war, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners”. The release of 48 Hamas-held hostages – 20 of whom are thought to be dead – and 1,950 Palestinian prisoners are critical parts of US President Donald Trump‘s 20-point pathway to peace plan. Under the blueprint, Hamas must free all Israeli hostages, dead and alive, before Israel frees 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained since the 2023 attacks, including all women and children.

President Trump wanted an agreement reached by the end of the week, but the implementation of the first phase of his roadmap has not yet been agreed.

Blurb:

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nounou said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel have exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.

According to Reuters, al-Nounou also said Hamas expressed optimism about reaching a deal, stating that the group has demonstrated the necessary positivity.

Greta Thunberg among 171 flotilla activists deported from Israel after failed bid to reach Gaza– www.euronews.com
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau are amongst 171 flotilla activists deported by Israel to Greece and Slovakia on Monday after a failed bid to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza last week.

The activists were detained by Israel in an operation which started last Wednesday night after its navy intercepted 44 civilain boats carrying a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza.

The flotilla’s goal had been to break Israel’s long-standing blockade of the Strip and to bring crucial aid into the war-ravaged enclave.

“The deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the United States,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X, attaching photograhs of the released activists in white T-shirts and grey sweatpants.

Several activists were already released over the weekend by Israel to Turkey, Spain and Italy. They spoke to reporters about the harsh conditions Thunberg and other prisoners were subjected to. Earlier, Swiss and Spanish activists said they were subject to inhumane conditions.

“We were detained in a maximum security prison where there was no rule of law, they didn’t respect any of our rights,” former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau claimed.

Trump Says Israel Stopped Bombing Gaza To Give Peace Deal A ‘Chance To Be Completed’– dailycaller.com
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President Donald Trump noted Israel has “temporarily stopped the bombing” to “give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed” in a Truth Social post Saturday.

Trump urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza on Friday as he gave Hamas an ultimatum to accept the terms of a peace deal by Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The terrorist group tentatively agreed to release the remaining hostages and relinquish power with certain conditions, though Trump urged Hamas Saturday to “move quickly” or “all bets will be off.”

“I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,” Trump wrote. “Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!”

Hamas said there could be an agreement to relinquish its power and release the remaining hostages, though it also noted that other terms of the peace deal would need further discussion and to be in accordance with a “unanimous Palestinian stance,” multiple outlets reported Friday.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump wrote Friday.

Gaza protests under way in Europe as arrests made in London | Gaza News– www.aljazeera.com
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Protests take place in Barcelona, Rome, Lisbon and London, where police made more than 100 arrests.

Tens of thousands of people are marching in major cities across Europe to protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, with mass rallies taking place in urban centres across the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Protests in Spain’s second-largest city, Barcelona, as well as in Madrid, were planned weeks ago, while calls for demonstrations in Rome and Lisbon followed widespread anger after Israeli forces intercepted a humanitarian aid flotilla – the Global Sumud Flotilla – that had set sail from Barcelona for Gaza, trying to break Israel’s blockade of the famine-struck Palestinian territory.

‘Flotilla vessel blocked’: Switzerland lodges protest over Israel stopping Gaza-bound ship; demands unhindered access to citizens– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Police officers work during the protest in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla after ships were intercepted by the Israeli navy (AP image)

Switzerland on Friday announced that it will file a diplomatic protest with Israel after Israeli security forces curtailed a visit by Swiss diplomats to detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla.The Swiss foreign ministry in a statement said the visit was interrupted, preventing embassy representatives from speaking at length with the detained Swiss nationals, news agency Reuters reported.Nineteen Swiss citizens were among dozens of activists on a flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli naval blockade since the October 2023 Hamas attacks. The flotilla was initially intercepted by Israeli forces on Wednesday as it approached Gaza.

Israeli air strikes hit Gaza despite Trump’s ‘stop bombing’ demand | Gaza News– www.aljazeera.com
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“It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told AFP.

Basal, who works for a rescue force, said 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight attacks.

Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, reported receiving casualties from a strike on a home in the city’s Tuffah neighbourhood, including four deaths and multiple people injured.

At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, officials confirmed two children were killed and eight people were wounded when a drone struck a tent in a displacement camp.

Visiting Harvard Law Prof Arrested After Allegedly Firing Pellet Gun Outside Synagogue– legalinsurrection.com
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The professor claimed he was hunting rats. Does anyone believe this?

The New York Post reports:

Harvard Law professor placed on leave after firing pellet gun near Boston area synagogue

A visiting professor at Harvard Law School has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly firing a pellet rifle outside a Brookline synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, was arrested Wednesday night after police said he fired two shots near Temple Beth Zion on Beacon Street in what he later claimed was “hunting rats,” Brookline.News reported.

Investigators do not believe that Gouvea was targeting the synagogue, but he was charged in Brookline District Court with illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and malicious damage of personal property, according to court records.

Rubio says release of hostages from Gaza is “most emergent and immediate phase” of Trump peace plan– www.cbsnews.com
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the release of hostages from Gaza is the “most emergent and immediate phase” of the peace plan that President Trump outlined last week, which negotiators are set to discuss this week in Cairo.

“Let’s discuss through the mediators the logistics and the mechanics behind how that happens, and that has to happen very quickly. That cannot drag on,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

On Friday, Hamas agreed to parts of the peace proposal, including the release of all the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he has sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” outlining a goal to limit the negotiations to “a time frame of a few days.”

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are expected to represent the U.S. at talks in Egypt on Monday. Rubio said conversations are underway ahead of Monday’s meeting in Egypt, and he outlined that the talks should center on the logistics behind the release of the hostages.

World awaits Hamas response as isolated terrorists run out of options– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Hamas has a matter of days to decide whether it will agree to President Donald Trump‘s latest effort to end the war in Gaza, a plan that has some support from several Arab nations that want to see the conflict end permanently.

Trump revealed the content of his 20-point peace plan on Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump said on Wednesday that his administration stands by his demand that Hamas respond to the peace plan in 3-4 days.

The change in circumstances for Hamas has been rapid. Just last month, multiple countries lined up to recognize an independent Palestinian state in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly, and diplomats walked out of Netanyahu’s speech.

Pope Leo on Trump’s Gaza peace plan: ‘So far it seems to be a realistic proposal’– thehill.com
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Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday called President Trump’s Gaza peace plan “realistic” when talking to reporters.

“So far it seems a realistic proposal,” the pope said, according to Vatican News, also saying he wishes Hamas would go with the plan “within the established timeframe.”

“It’s important, nonetheless, that there be a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. But there are elements there that I think are very interesting, and I hope Hamas will accept it within the established time frame,” he added.

Trump would chair an international “board of peace” to govern and rebuild Gaza within a 20-point plan that the White House unveiled Monday, which describes an end to the Israel-Hamas war and a transition toward peace.

The president would oversee the framework and funding for Gaza’s rebuilding until the Palestinian Authority has reached conditions to gain governance in Gaza.

“This body will call on the best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment,” according to the plan.

PAID STOOGE: Greta Thunberg Funded By Hamas, Documents Show– gellerreport.com
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The IDF found documents in Hamas compounds in Gaza that trace a direct line from Hamas’ leadership to flotilla’s funding and even ship ownership.

Greta is funded by Hamas.

Aiding, abetting and funded by terrorists. Arrest her. Lock her in a Hamas tunnel.

Hamas ‘put in a corner’ with new ultimatum from Donald Trump– www.mirror.co.uk
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Among Gaza’s latest dead were a mother and her six children who died in a missile strike on their apartment block in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the enclave. More victims were injured in that attack and three people were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in a coast-side camp complex of refugees in al-Mawsi.

Others died in large scale attacks across the Strip that intensified from dawn onwards on Tuesday morning. Just hours before the latest Israeli onslaught, at midnight on Monday Hamas was handed the written peace proposal which has emerged as an ultimatum. Earlier US President Donald Trump the militants have just “three of four days” to agree to the deal. If the document is agreed it will be the closest the Middle East has been to peace since war broke out with a bloody Hamas attack on southern Israel in 2023.

Trump says Hamas has ‘three or four days’ to respond to Gaza peace plan: Live updates– www.independent.co.uk
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Hamas is inclined to accept a Gaza peace plan laid out by Donald Trump but only under certain conditions, officials close to Israel-Hamas negotiations in Qatar told Haaretz.

The group is currently consulting with other Palestinian factions to come to a unified position on the plan.

Hamas is expected to clarify that it is willing to accept the outline in the form that was presented to Arab leaders last week, before prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made changes to it, the outlet added.

The Lost Opportunity of Mahmoud Abbas – The Jerusalem Strategic ...

The Lost Opportunity of Mahmoud Abbas – The Jerusalem Strategic ...

Europe Rewards Terrorists with Palestinian State, who then IMMEDIATELY demand Trillions in “Reparations”  – Freedomist
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France recognises state of Palestine, Macron tells UN; Abbas says Hamas must ‘surrender their weapons’ – Middle East crisis live | Palestinian territories– www.theguardian.com
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Emmanuel Macron announces that France has formally recognized the Palestinian state.

“We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” he says.

The time has come.

This is why, true to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

This is why I declare that today, France recognises the state of Palestine.

Palestinians in West Bank fear recognition is not enough– www.bbc.com
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In Ramallah – the de facto Palestinian capital of the occupied West Bank – many fear Western recognition of Palestinian statehood is too little, too late.

“I’m really glad that there are people who can see our suffering in Palestine and understand the problems we’re going through,” says Diaa, 23, who did not want to give his full name.

“But while recognition is important, what we really need are solutions.”

This city is home to government buildings, diplomatic missions, and a sprawling presidential palace.

But for many Palestinians, the dream remains that East Jerusalem – just a few miles south but largely cut off by Israel’s separation barrier – could become their capital under a two-state solution, which would create an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside Israel.

It is with that stated goal that the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Andorra, and Monaco announced formal recognition of the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

“Recognition is a positive after all this time,” says Kamal Daowd, 40, on a busy Ramallah street. “But without international pressure it will not be enough.”

“If recognition comes without giving us our rights,” he says. “Then it’s nothing more than ink on paper”.

Store in Germany declares Jews banned to protest Israel actions in Gaza– www.foxnews.com
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A German shop owner in the northern city of Flensburg posted a sign on Wednesday that Jews are banned from entering his store, sparking outrage among state officials in Schleswig-Holstein.

Hans-Velten Reisch, the 60-year-old owner of the store that sells Gothic-Utensils and technical literature, posted a sign that reads, “Jews are banned from entering here! Nothing personal. No antisemitism. Just can’t stand you.”

Germany’s largest daily newspaper, Bild, reported on Thursday that Reisch defended his anti-Jewish sign. He told the paper that “I watch the news every evening. And when I saw what the Jews were doing in the Gaza Strip, I lost my temper and printed out the poster.”

UK to push peace plan at UN summit after recognising Palestinian state – but Netanyahu says Palestine ‘will not happen’ | UK News– news.sky.com
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The UK is set to push for a peace plan for the Middle East at the UN General Assembly after recognising the state of Palestine.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to use the summit to address civilian suffering in war-torn Gaza and aim to strengthen “the international consensus on our pathway for peace in the Middle East”.

She will hold bilateral meetings to advance elements of the peace plan, including security measures to ensure Hamas has no role in the future governance of Gaza, according to the Foreign Office.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who won’t attend the summit, announced on Sunday that the UK recognises Palestine as an independent state, to “revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution”.

Challenges the UN faces in pushing for a 2-state solution in Israel – National– globalnews.ca
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France and Saudi Arabia hope to use this year’s gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and the increasingly horrific war in the Gaza Strip to inject new urgency into the quest for a two-state solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Those efforts include a new road map for eventual Palestinian statehood in territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war, and moves by several Western countries to join a global majority in recognizing such a state before it has been established.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining nearly 150 countries that have already done so, and France is expected to follow suit at this week’s General Assembly.

But the efforts to push a two-state solution face major obstacles, beginning with vehement opposition from the United States and Israel. The U.S. has blocked Palestinian officials from even attending the General Assembly. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is opposed to Palestinian statehood, has threatened to take unilateral action in response — possibly including the annexation of parts of the West Bank.

China’s Gap Between Rhetoric and Action Perpetuates Status Quo in Gaza– chinadigitaltimes.net
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On Monday, Reuters reported on the story of a man who tried to flee Gaza by crossing the border into Egypt and then flying to China in order to seek asylum, only to be denied and sent back. As his case illustrates, China’s well-known rhetorical support for Gaza has in many ways not translated into concrete action. In fact, China has appeared to soften its stance towards Israel over the past year. Its criticism over what a U.N. Commission of Inquiry described this week as genocide is directed more at the U.S. and other Western states that undergird Israel’s campaign, rather than at Israel itself. This selectivity serves to undermine the U.S.’ standing relative to China in the eyes of some other countries, while preserving China’s interests in Israel. However, Israel’s increasingly aggressive actions—including recently bombing Qatar’s capital—risk finally pushing Beijing to adopt a more confrontational stance backed by material consequences.

UK, Canada and Australia formally recognise Palestine, backing two-state solution– www.arabianbusiness.com
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The UK, Canada and Australia have formally recognised the State of Palestine, moves framed by all three governments as essential to preserving the prospect of a two-state solution and lasting peace in the Middle East.

UK recognition

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that the UK has officially recognised Palestine, calling the decision a historic one grounded in the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.