[RD] War in Gaza News: Pas de Deux

[Birdjaguar]

Moderator Action: Endless bickering. time for a break. Closed until further notice.

 

[Ordnael]

Isn't this a fair exchange?
You get the bodies of four dead civilians I get hundreds more fanatics back to butcher them the next time!

Hamas to turn over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages in exchange for release of hundreds of prisoners​

Hamas to turn over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages in exchange for release of hundreds of prisoners

Hamas says that it will return the bodies of four dead hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

apnews.com

CAIRO (AP) — Hamas will return the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire.

Israel has delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas.

The militant group has said that the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four Israelis the next day.

In exchange, Israel would release the Palestinian prisoners, as well as an unspecified number of women and minors detained since the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the conflict.

An Israeli official confirmed that the bodies of four hostages were expected to be turned over but provided no further details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak with the media.

Israel and Hamas had already said on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to return the bodies of the hostages, but no date had been announced.

Hamas has released hostages, and the bodies of four dead hostages, in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds.

Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.

There will be no public ceremony when the four bodies in the latest exchange are returned to Israel in the early hours of Thursday, according to a senior Hamas official who wasn’t authorized to speak with the media, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deadlock over the exchange had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.

The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is returning 33 hostages, including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

It also could clear the way for an expected visit this week by the White House’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region.

Witkoff has said that he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The Phase 2 talks were supposed to begin weeks ago, but never did.

The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The Hamas-run Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it says that over half of the dead have been women and children.

 

[Ordnael]

Israeli army admits 'total failure' to prevent October 7 Hamas attacks​

Exército israelita admite "fracasso total" para impedir ataques do Hamas de 7 de outubro

O relatório militar israelita que o exército avaliou mal as intenções do Hamas, permitindo o ataque de 7 de outubro de 2023. Netanyahu acusou IDF de lhe ocultar resultados das investigações.

observador.pt

The Israeli military acknowledged Thursday its “total failure” to prevent Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel , according to the results of a military investigation released Thursday. The report concludes that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history on that date because the army misjudged the Palestinian Islamist group’s intentions and underestimated its capabilities. The document also confirms that the IDF used the so-called “Hannibal protocol ,” a controversial Israeli military policy that aims to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers at all costs, even if it means taking hostages.
The internal Israeli military investigation describes the attacks as occurring in three successive waves , with more than 5,000 people crossing the border from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel that day. “The first wave … included more than 1,000 Nukhba (Hamas’ elite unit) terrorists who infiltrated under cover of heavy fire,” a summary of the investigation provided by the army said.

The second wave included 2,000 fighters and the third was characterized by the arrival of hundreds more , as well as several thousand civilians. “In total, approximately 5,000 terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory during the attacks,” the internal investigation said.

The Army “could not have imagined” a scenario like that of October 7, one of its officers told Agence France-Presse (AFP) regarding the conclusions revealed this Thursday.

The same official said the Hamas-led Palestinian fighters caught Israel by surprise not only with the scale and scope of the attacks, but also with their brutality. “Many civilians died that day wondering in their hearts or out loud where the Israeli army was,” he added.

The report's findings could put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a broader inquiry, responding to widespread demands in Israel over policy-making in the context of Hamas's attacks.

The major military revelations highlight that Israel's most powerful and best-prepared forces in the region misread Hamas' intentions and were completely unprepared for the surprise attacks by thousands of heavily armed fighters in the early morning hours of an important Jewish holiday.

A central misconception was that Hamas , which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, was more interested in holding the territory than fighting Israel. Military analysts predicted that, in a worst-case scenario, Hamas could mount a ground invasion of at most eight border points, according to a senior military official quoted by the AP, when in fact the Palestinian armed group had more than 60 attack routes.

Israeli intelligence data obtained after the attacks showed that Hamas had come close to organizing the offensive on three previous occasions but postponed it for unknown reasons, the official also said.

The same source pointed out that in the hours leading up to the ground invasion, there were signs that something was wrong, such as the insertion of Israeli SIM cards into the cell phones of Palestinian fighters. The perception that Hamas did not want war caused policymakers to avoid taking measures that might have thwarted the attacks.

The Israeli military official stressed that intelligence shows that Yahya Sinwar , one of the masterminds of October 7 who was killed last October, began planning the offensive in 2017 .

Herzi Halevi, the chief of staff of the armed forces during the October 7 attack, took responsibility for the mistakes made by the army before and during the offensive. “An organization, and a person, who is unable to stand up and look failure in the eye will have a very, very hard time correcting it,” Halevi said at a meeting of officers presenting the results of the inquiry.

Document confirms “Hannibal protocol”​

The document also confirms that the IDF used the “Hannibal protocol,” an Israeli military strategy to prevent hostage-taking even at the risk of civilian lives . According to the report, at around 10:30 am on October 7, 2023, the Israeli air force reportedly began shooting “at everything that moved” near the Gaza border. The pilots were also instructed to begin Operation “Sword of Damocles,” which was focused on “hitting all Hamas targets inside Gaza.” IDF operations reportedly resulted in 945 strikes in Gaza, with helicopters firing 11,000 rounds at both Hamas members and Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Netanyahu accuses army of hiding investigations into Hamas attacks​

This Thursday, the head of government accused the Army of hiding the results of its investigations from him. “Following media reports, it is clear that tonight, 2/27/25 at 7:00 p.m. [5:00 p.m. in Lisbon], the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] investigations will be presented to the general public,” Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman said in a letter to military officials shared by the prime minister’s office.

“These investigations have been presented to the defense minister, the leadership of the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] and several journalists. Surprisingly, only one party has not received the investigations: the prime minister ,” Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, lamented in a letter to military officials quoted by Agence France-Presse. Braverman argued that Netanyahu should receive these reports without having to request them.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to submit all internal military investigations into the October 7 attacks by February 2025 and said he will not approve the appointment of new general officers until then.

Halevi, who announced his intention to step down in mid-January, argued in a speech that a public inquiry was needed into the mistakes that led to the Hamas attacks. “ The military investigations concern only the IDF and do not cover all the reasons and areas that could prevent a repetition of these events ,” the commander of the Israeli forces told the media at the time.

Halevi also indicated that a public commission of inquiry or “any external actor” would receive the full cooperation of the army. The official is expected to step down on March 6.

Many Israelis believe the failures of October 7, 2023, go beyond the military and blame Netanyahu for a failed policy of deterrence and containment in the years leading up to the attacks. That approach, these positions argue, has allowed Qatar to send suitcases of cash to the Gaza Strip and the marginalization of Hamas's rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

The prime minister declined to take responsibility, saying he would only answer difficult questions after the current war in the Gaza Strip. Despite public pressure, including from the families of the nearly 1,200 people killed in the October 7 attacks and the 251 taken hostage, Netanyahu has resisted calls to hold such a commission of inquiry.

 

[Samson]

Isn't this a fair exchange?
You get the bodies of four dead civilians I get hundreds more fanatics back to butcher them the next time!

Hamas to turn over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages in exchange for release of hundreds of prisoners​

Hamas to turn over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages in exchange for release of hundreds of prisoners

Hamas says that it will return the bodies of four dead hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

apnews.com

I read it as more evidence that Israel is breaking the rules of war regarding civilians in a war zone. If those "prisoners" are not suspected of a crime and are not combatants then detaining them them was a war crime.

 

[Broken_Erika]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1895593371273396279

 

[Broken_Erika]

Israel blocks entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza​

Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to a US plan for a ceasefire extension.

The first phase of the ceasefire expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas had so far refused to accept a temporary extension under a proposal by Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff.

A Hamas spokesman said blocking supplies to Gaza was "cheap blackmail" and a "coup" on the ceasefire agreement and urged mediators to intervene.

The Palestinian group wants phase two of the deal to go ahead as originally negotiated, with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

It previously said it would not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that phase two would eventually take place.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said: "With the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas's refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks - to which Israel agreed - Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease.

"Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences."

The Hamas spokesman said: "Netanyahu's decision to stop aid going into Gaza once again shows the ugly face of the Israeli occupation... The international community must apply pressure on the Israeli government to stop starving our people."

Late last night, Netanyahu's office said Israel had agreed to a US proposal for the ceasefire to continue for about six weeks during the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.

If, at the end of this period, negotiations reached a dead end, Israel would reserve the right to go back to war.

US envoy Witkoff has not made his proposal public. According to Israel, it would begin with the release of half of all the remaining living and dead hostages.

Witkoff is said by Israel to have proposed the six-week extension after becoming convinced that more time was needed to try to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas on conditions for ending the war, according to the earlier statement from Netanyahu's office.

Israel would immediately start negotiations on this if Hamas changed its position on the six-week ceasefire extension, Netanyahu's office said.
Aid agencies confirmed that no aid trucks had been allowed into Gaza on Sunday morning.

"Humanitarian assistance has to continue to flow into Gaza. It's very essential. And we are calling all parties to make sure that they reach a solution," Antoine Renard from the World Food Programme (WFP) told the BBC.

Thousands of trucks have been entering the Gaza Strip each week since the ceasefire was agreed in mid-January. Aid agencies have managed to store supplies, which means there is no immediate danger to the civilian population from this morning's Israeli decision.

Egypt - one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas - has called for the previously agreed upon ceasefire deal to be implemented in full. The Egyptian foreign minister said his country would present a plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its people at an emergency Arab summit on Tuesday.

Also on Sunday, medics said four people had been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza. The Israeli military said it had attacked people who were planting an explosive device in the north of the territory.

The first phase of the ceasefire that came into force on 19 January expired on Saturday.

It halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But negotiations on phase two, including the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, have barely begun.

There are believed to be 24 hostages alive, with another 39 presumed to be dead.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel responded with an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 48,365 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9q4w99je78o

 

[Broken_Erika]

Arab states and UN condemn Gaza aid blockade by Israel​

Several Arab states and the UN have condemned Israel for blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Egypt and Qatar said the Israeli move on Sunday violated a ceasefire deal, while UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described it as "alarming".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country acted because Hamas was stealing the supplies and using them "to finance its terror machine".

He also accused the Palestinian group of rejecting a US proposal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, after it expired on Saturday. Israel said it had approved the proposal.

A Hamas spokesman said Israel's blockade was "cheap blackmail" and a "coup" against the ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire deal halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

• Who are Israeli hostages released and rescued from Gaza?
• 'A long, long road ahead': Gaza rebuilds from zero

In a statement on Sunday, Qatar's foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns" the Israeli decision, describing it as "a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement" and "international humanitarian law".

In Egypt, the foreign ministry accused Israel of using starvation as "a weapon against the Palestinian people", the AFP news agency reported.

Both Qatar and Egypt helped to mediate the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia expressed its "condemnation and denunciation" of the Israeli aid blockade, the foreign ministry said.

Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, wrote in a post on X: "International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid."

Netanyahu said Israel had decided to act "because Hamas steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaza from getting them.

"It uses these supplies to finance its terror machine, which is aimed directly at Israel and our civilians, and this we cannot accept."

Hamas has previously denied stealing humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Netanyahu also said Hamas was refusing to accept a temporary extension of the ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff.

The first phase of the ceasefire came into force on 19 January and expired at midnight on Saturday.

Negotiations on phase two, meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, were due to have started weeks ago - but have barely begun.

There are believed to be 24 hostages alive, with another 39 presumed to be dead.

Phase three is meant to result in the return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years.

Hamas has previously said it will not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from the mediators that phase two will eventually take place.

As the first phase of the deal expired on Saturday, Netanyahu's office said Israel had agreed to Witkoff's proposal for the ceasefire to continue for about six weeks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.

If, at the end of this period, negotiations reached a dead end, Israel would reserve the right to go back to war.

Witkoff has not made his proposal public. According to Israel, it would begin with the release of half of all the remaining living and dead hostages.

Witkoff is said by Israel to have proposed the temporary extension after becoming convinced that more time was needed to try to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas on conditions for ending the war.

Aid agencies confirmed that no aid trucks had been allowed into Gaza on Sunday morning.

"Humanitarian assistance has to continue to flow into Gaza. It's very essential. And we are calling all parties to make sure that they reach a solution," Antoine Renard from the World Food Programme (WFP) told the BBC.

Thousands of trucks have entered the Gaza Strip each week since the ceasefire was agreed in mid-January.

Aid agencies have managed to store supplies, which means there is no immediate danger to the civilian population.

Also on Sunday, medics said four people had been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza. The Israeli military said it had attacked people who were planting an explosive device in the north of the territory.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel responded with an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 48,365 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70e6rye9nxo

 

[Lord Shadow]

Unambiguously abhorrent behavior on Israel's part, imposing a siege-like blockade like this on essential aid.

But again, Hamas has the power to defuse the situation and doesn't, opting for the continued suffering of the people they're supposed to represent just for the sake of maintaining power and control. Even if it's just an illusion.

Inhumanity all around. Neither (in)action justifies the other.

 

[Gorbles]

Unambiguously abhorrent behavior on Israel's part, imposing a siege-like blockade like this on essential aid.

But again, Hamas has the power to defuse the situation and doesn't, opting for the continued suffering of the people they're supposed to represent just for the sake of maintaining power and control. Even if it's just an illusion.

Inhumanity all around. Neither (in)action justifies the other.

It was an agreed-upon ceasefire. Only one side reneged on it.

 

[Broken_Erika]

US and Israel reject Arab alternative to Trump's Gaza plan​

The US and Israel have rejected an Arab plan for the post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip that would allow the 2.1 million Palestinians living there to stay in place.

The proposal, endorsed by Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo, is their alternative to President Donald Trump's idea for the US to take over Gaza and permanently resettle its population.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas welcomed the Arab plan, which calls for Gaza to be governed temporarily by a committee of independent experts and for international peacekeepers to be deployed there.

But both the White House and Israeli foreign ministry said it failed to address realities in Gaza and stood by Trump's vision.

The summit took place amid growing concern that Gaza's fragile ceasefire deal could collapse after the six-week first phase expired last Saturday.

Israel has blocked aid from entering the territory to pressure Hamas to accept a new US proposal for a temporary extension of the truce, during which more hostages held in Gaza would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has insisted the second phase should begin as agreed, leading to an end of the war and a full Israeli troop withdrawal.

The $53bn (£41bn) Arab plan for rebuilding Gaza once the war ends was presented by Egypt at an emergency Arab League summit on Tuesday.

A statement endorsing the plan stressed "the categorical rejection of any form of displacement of the Palestinian people", describing such an idea as "a gross violation of international law, a crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing".

The plan envisages reconstruction taking place over three phases and taking five years, during which some 1.5 million displaced Gazans would be moved into 200,000 prefabricated housing units and 60,000 repaired homes.

In the first phase, which would last six months and cost $3bn, millions of tonnes of rubble and any unexploded ordnance would be cleared.

The second phase, lasting two years and costing $20bn, would see housing and utilities rebuilt. An airport, two seaports and an industrial zone would be built during the third phase, which would take another two years and cost $30bn.

The Arab plan also proposes that an "administrative committee" made up of independent Palestinian technocrats run post-war Gaza for a transitional period while "working towards empowering the Palestinian Authority to return".

Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, UK and others - took full control of Gaza in 2007, ousting forces from the Fatah-dominated PA in violent clashes a year after winning parliamentary elections. The PA was left governing parts of the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, told the summit that he welcomed the Arab plan and urged Donald Trump to support it.

Hamas said it appreciated "the Arab position rejecting attempts to displace our people".

However, Israel's foreign ministry swiftly rejected the Arab League's statement endorsing the Egyptian plan, saying it "fails to address the realities of the situation following 7 October 2023, remaining rooted in outdated perspectives".

"Now, with President Trump's idea, there is an opportunity for the Gazans to have free choice based on their free will. This should be encouraged!" it added.

"Instead, Arab states have rejected this opportunity, without giving it a fair chance, and continue to level baseless accusations against Israel."

White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the Arab plan did "not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance."

"President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas. We look forward to further talks to bring peace and prosperity to the region."

Trump proposed last month that the US would "own" Gaza and relocate its population, so that it could be rebuilt and turned into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

He said the displaced Palestinians would have no right of return because they would have "much better housing" in Egypt, Jordan and other countries.

The Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League, Hossam Zaki, told the BBC on Wednesday that Trump's approach was unacceptable.

"It is based on the forced displacement of Palestinians out of their homes and of their land. This is against international law and, we have said this time and again, this is not a way to treat this man-made crisis," he said.

"This is a war that has been waged by Israel partly with the aim of driving Palestinians out of their territory," he added.

He also described the Israeli foreign ministry's response to the Arab plan as "against humanity and against morals".

Palestinians fear a repeat of the Nakba - the Arabic word for "catastrophe" - when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven from their homes before and during the war that followed the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

Many of those refugees ended up in Gaza, where they and their descendants make up three-quarters of the population. Another 900,000 registered refugees live in the West Bank, while 3.4 million others live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the UN.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 48,400 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times. Almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7vd4pnxx3o

 

[Birdjaguar]

What happens if Gaza remains unlivable: in ruins, no services for water or power, no housing, etc. ?

 

[Sommerswerd]

What happens if Gaza remains unlivable: in ruins, no services for water or power, no housing, etc. ?

Of course some people will stay, regardless of how poor the conditions are, living in the rubble and making the best they can out of the situation. Some will leave and go into refugee camps and take whatever other opportunities to leave they are afforded. The longer Gaza remains in ruins and cut off from water, power, etc., the more desperate and lawless the situation will become, and the more strict and violent any sort of containment/occupation efforts will become. Any attempt to force the residents out, to build the "Donald J. Trump Gaza Beachfront Marina... and Hotel Casino" or similar, are going to face constant attack from insurgents.

Its just going to get worse and worse... more deaths, more killings, more violence, etc., with no end in sight.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

I don't think Egypt has much room to talk here about resettling displaced Palestinians; they've refused them since the war started.

And while I'm certain they think accepting in Gazans is some invitation for ethnic cleansing, as I've heard before here, this is a position which on its surface is not much better than genuine indifference.

I mean, you're (Egypt) seriously going to have these prefab buildings, what, right next to reconstruction efforts going on and these will in no way descend into some type of ghetto environments...? Those people will have to move far out, well away from the visible signs of war. Sure that might interrupt the solidarity needed for an unlikely Two-State Solution, but what else do you want?

 

[Gorbles]

What happens if Gaza remains unlivable: in ruins, no services for water or power, no housing, etc. ?

Probably exactly what Palestinians currently fear:

Palestinians fear a repeat of the Nakba - the Arabic word for "catastrophe" - when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven from their homes before and during the war that followed the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

The same goes for any other forced resettlement.

 

[Lord Shadow]

Trump warns Hamas as US holds unprecedented talks for Gaza hostages

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-holds-secret-talks-with-hamas-gaza-hostages-axios-reports-2025-03-05/

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The United States broke a longstanding diplomatic taboo by holding secret talks with Hamas on securing the release of U.S. hostages held in Gaza, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, while President Donald Trump warned of "hell to pay" should the Palestinian militant group not comply.

U.S. hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler has the authority to talk directly with Hamas, the White House said when asked about the discussions, which broke with a decades-old policy against negotiating with groups that the U.S. brands as terrorist organizations.

Boehler and Hamas officials met in Doha in recent weeks, two sources briefed on the negotiations said. It was not clear who represented Hamas.

At the White House, Trump met a group of hostages who had been released recently under a Gaza ceasefire deal, and he issued a stark new threat against Hamas in a social media post.

He demanded that Hamas "release all of the hostages now, not later," including the remains of dead hostages, "or it is OVER for you."

"I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say," he said. "Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!"

If there's anyone who'd have no qualm with bulldozing Gaza, and who'd be utterly indifferent to what the international community may say about him, it's King Orange. If Israel is a bull in a china shop, this guy is a mammoth in the same space.

All he sees is real estate for his beachside hotels and casinos, and seems primed to put everyone in Gaza in the same bag as Hamas if he doesn't get his way.

I feel bad for the naive, pro-Palestine anti-Kamalas who inexplicably thought the sociopathic, hypercapitalistic alternative would be better for their cause.

 

[Birdjaguar]

this guy is a mammoth hippo in the same space.

 

[Lexicus]

I feel bad for the naive, pro-Palestine anti-Kamalas who inexplicably thought the sociopathic, hypercapitalistic alternative would be better for their cause.

Naive?? What word do you think we should use to describe someone who thinks a few empty threats issued via Truth Social are somehow worse than the mass murder of civilians, which Biden facilitated?

 

[Senethro]

Naive?? What word do you think we should use to describe someone who thinks a few empty threats issued via Truth Social are somehow worse than the mass murder of civilians, which Biden facilitated?

I'm not quite willing to bet they're empty.

 

[r16]

they are the same . Democrats talking nicely with empty promises . Republicans waving guns . Palestine suffers all the same .

 

[Yeekim]

I read it as more evidence that Israel is breaking the rules of war regarding civilians in a war zone. If those "prisoners" are not suspected of a crime and are not combatants then detaining them them was a war crime.

From the quoted article:

The 620 Palestinian prisoners meant to be freed include 151 serving life or other sentences for attacks against Israelis. Almost 100 would be deported, according to the Palestinian prisoners’ media office.

A Palestinian prisoner rights association said they include Nael Barghouti, who spent over 45 years in prison for an attack that killed an Israeli bus driver.

Also meant to be released are 445 men, 23 children aged 15 to 19, and a woman, all seized by Israeli troops in Gaza without charge during the war.