The Israeli occupation army claimed, on Wednesday evening, to have intercepted a rocket "launched from Gaza" towards the Beersheba area in southern Israel.

Army Radio reported that a rocket fired from Gaza toward the Beersheba area in the Negev Desert was intercepted without triggering air raid sirens.

The privately owned Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom quoted residents of Beersheba as saying they heard two explosions in the area, but no alarms were activated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold security consultations on Wednesday evening regarding the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and negotiations for a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

By the end of March 1, 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel had concluded. The agreement, which had entered into force on January 19, 2025, was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States.

While Hamas has adhered to the terms of the first phase, Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, has reneged on the start of the second phase, in deference to extremists in his ruling coalition, according to Hebrew media.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said: "Netanyahu is now (at 18:30 GMT) holding security consultations regarding the war in Gaza and negotiations for the return of the kidnapped soldiers."

She added, "Consultations are underway regarding the future of the fighting in Gaza, which has been ongoing for about a week, after the ceasefire ends."

Since resuming its genocide in Gaza on March 18, Israel has killed 830 Palestinians and injured 1,787 others, most of them children and women, as of Wednesday, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The organization quoted unnamed Israeli sources as saying, "The government is planning more aggressive operations in Gaza, including a significant expansion of ground operations."

She added that the ministers in the Security Cabinet were notified of a meeting at 8:30 p.m. next Saturday to decide on the expected Israeli steps in Gaza.

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Wednesday evening in front of the Knesset building in Jerusalem against government policies and in protest against new legislation that would change the composition of Israel's Judicial Selection Committee. The demonstrations coincided with Knesset deliberations on these laws, which are expected to extend into the early hours of Thursday morning.

The demonstrators, who also gathered near government offices, expressed their rejection of what they described as an "attack on judicial independence," as well as the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

The Histadrut, Israel's leading trade union federation, announced an emergency meeting with top economic sector leaders amid growing fears of a constitutional crisis. The meeting is expected to discuss future steps, including determining the circumstances that might warrant a general strike in response to the Netanyahu government's policies.

The Israeli Knesset is scheduled to vote on the laws later in the second and third readings. If they are finally approved, they will be incorporated into official law. The Bar Association intends to petition the Supreme Court immediately after the laws are passed.

Last Wednesday, the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved a bill to change the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee, paving the way for a second and third reading. The opposition considers the bill a key piece of legislation in the "judicial reform" plan aimed at weakening the judiciary.

According to the draft law, the Judicial Appointments Committee will consist of nine members, including the President of the Supreme Court, two Supreme Court justices, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who will chair the committee, another minister appointed by the government, two Knesset members, one from the coalition and one from the opposition, and two attorneys who will act as public representatives chosen by the coalition and the opposition. Unlike the current situation, the committee will not include representation from the Bar Association.

According to the draft law, a judge appointed to the Supreme Court must be over the age of 55, unless appointed by unanimous vote of the committee members, and at least two-thirds of the Supreme Court's judges must be former judges of a district court.

The Israeli occupation army said on Wednesday that it had attacked hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip, Syria, and Lebanon over the past week and intercepted 14 rockets fired at Israel.

The army spokesman explained in a statement that more than 430 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets were targeted in the Gaza Strip over the past week.

He added that the Israeli occupation army also attacked 18 targets in Syria, including remaining military capabilities at the Palmyra and T-4 bases, and bombed more than 40 Hezbollah targets in southern and deep Lebanon.

The Israeli military says one video shows a drone strike targeting a Hamas company commander in a car, while another shows an airstrike targeting several Hamas members in the Jabalia area.

Another video released by the Israeli military shows airstrikes on two military sites at Palmyra Military Airport and the nearby T-4 Air Base in central Syria on Tuesday and Thursday.

Over the past week, the Israeli Air Force announced that it had bombed 18 targets in Syria and 40 other Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Israeli military said it intercepted 14 rockets over the course of the week, including six surface-to-surface missiles launched from Yemen, three rockets fired from Lebanon, and five from the Gaza Strip.

Israel abandoned the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip last week when it resumed attacks that killed hundreds of people after weeks of relative calm following an agreement reached in January.

The Israeli war resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million, and virtually razed most of the Strip to the ground.

Israel also continues to carry out airstrikes on areas in Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement signed in November. Hezbollah accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement but has not responded to the Israeli strikes.

Israel has been bombing positions of the old Syrian army across Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in December, and has also seized control of the buffer zone between the two countries within Syrian territory.

Yemen's Houthi group launches missiles and drones towards Israel in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations announced that 124,000 people were displaced again after Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip and issued "evacuation orders."

This was stated by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at his daily press conference.

Dujarric explained that the ongoing Israeli airstrikes, "evacuation orders," and continued withholding of humanitarian aid have exacerbated the situation in the Strip.

"Everything in Gaza is about to end. Time, life, materials, everything is running out," he added.

He pointed out that the resumption of Israeli attacks on Gaza has displaced 142,000 people, and that "evacuation orders" have covered 17 percent of the Strip.

He stated that Israel does not allow the passage of UN humanitarian aid and constantly places obstacles to prevent it from reaching those in need.

On March 1, 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel ended. The agreement, which went into effect on January 19, 2025, was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States.

While Hamas has adhered to the terms of the first phase, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, has reneged on the start of the second phase, in deference to extremists in his ruling coalition, according to Hebrew media.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with US support, has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza, leaving a total of more than 164,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

Israel has been blockading Gaza for the 18th year, leaving approximately 1.5 million of its 2.4 million Palestinian citizens homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination. The Strip has entered the first stages of famine due to Tel Aviv's closure of the crossings to humanitarian aid.

Last week, the Trump administration announced the formation of a joint task force, which it said aims to hold Hamas leaders accountable for the October 7, 2023, attack. But many fear this could be another weapon the administration uses to target activists within the United States who oppose Israel's war of annihilation in Gaza.

According to the administration, the October 7 Joint Task Force (JTF 10-7) will investigate "acts of terrorism and civil rights violations committed by individuals and entities providing support and funding to Hamas, its Iranian-linked proxies, and their affiliates," a similar effort to that initiated under the Biden administration. However, the new task force also targets "acts of anti-Semitism committed by these groups," which the administration indicated refers to university activism in support of Palestinian rights.

“The victims of Hamas’s decades-long violent terrorist campaign against Israel will always have the support of the United States government, and the Department will no longer allow unlawful support for Hamas on our campuses and anywhere else in the nation,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Anti-Semitic terrorist acts—whether here or abroad—will not go unpunished.”

This move comes amid an escalating crackdown, with several protesters arrested for their activism, including Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, permanent resident of the United States, and a prominent participant in the Gaza camp held on campus last spring. He is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center while his case is heard in a New Jersey court.

According to a report by Mondweiss, lawyers Thomas Anthony Durkin and Bernard E. Harcourt wrote in The Guardian: “The legal risks are real. They are risky, and they are worrisome. When it comes to a designated foreign terrorist organization—such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or related organizations like the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network—the line between political advocacy and material support for terrorism can be very thin, and any suspicion is often cast against those engaged in political advocacy.”

According to the website, groups like Samidoun have already faced government attacks. Last October, the organization was sanctioned as part of a joint campaign by the US Treasury Department and the Canadian government. Mohammed Al-Khatib, Samidoun's European coordinator, told Mondoweiss at the time, "We see this as part of this campaign against the Palestinian people, against the Palestinian diaspora, against the Arab and Muslim community, and against the Palestine solidarity movement."

He added, "We've seen these forms of repression against the student movement, against the LGBTQ+ movement, and against the Jewish community for defending Palestine. So, we are part of this campaign." While targeting Palestinian activists and organizations is not new, Trump has expanded domestic repression to levels reminiscent of the McCarthy era. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested student protesters, such as Khalil and Liqa'a Kurdiyeh, a Palestinian student from the occupied West Bank who is currently being held in a Texas detention center after being arrested in Newark, New Jersey, not for specific crimes, but for allegedly threatening US foreign policy interests.

On March 17, Badr Khan Suri, a Georgetown University professor and postdoctoral researcher in religion, was ambushed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers near his home and outside his Virginia home. He was taken into custody despite not being charged. He was informed that the federal government had revoked his visa.

“Tearing someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them based solely on a political point of view is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent,” said Sophia Gregg, senior immigrant rights attorney with the ACLU of Virginia, in a statement about the case. “This is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Several lawsuits have been filed challenging Trump's actions in recent days.

Yunsoo Chung, a 21-year-old Columbia University student and legal permanent resident of the United States, is suing Trump and other administration officials for attempting to arrest and deport her. Chung was active in the university's protests against Gaza, but appears to have been less involved than Mahmoud Khalil.

The administration is also being sued by two Cornell University graduate students and a professor there. This lawsuit seeks a national injunction to block the implementation of two Trump executive orders.

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces prevented thousands of citizens from reaching occupied Jerusalem to commemorate the Night of Power at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Thousands of citizens flocked to the Qalandia military checkpoint and Checkpoint 300, which separates the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. However, the occupation forces, which reinforced their presence at the checkpoints, prevented most of them from crossing into the Holy City.

According to local sources, occupation forces turned back thousands of citizens at the Qalandia and Bethlehem checkpoints, including women, the elderly, and children, who were on their way to Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the pretext that they did not have the required permits to enter.

The Jerusalem Governorate reported that occupation forces prevented a number of elderly people from entering Jerusalem to commemorate the Night of Power at Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite their possession of permits.

It added that the occupation has transformed Jerusalem into a military barracks, imposed strict restrictions on those entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, checked the IDs of young men at the entrances to the Old City and the gates of the mosque, and prevented a number of them from entering.

During its fifty-eighth session, under discussion of Item 7, concerning the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, the United Nations Human Rights Council condemned the grave violations committed by the occupying power and their repercussions under international law. Members affirmed their rejection of the ongoing war crimes, violations of the ceasefire agreement, and the killing of civilians, amid international calls for firm action to ensure accountability.

At the opening of the session, the High Commissioner's Representative reviewed reports issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the illegality of settlements, the cessation of settlement expansion and land confiscation, and the need to hold all war criminals accountable.

Representatives of the Arab, African, and Latin American groups, as well as the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, participated in the discussion. Representatives of the Council's member states condemned the continued illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and denounced the aggression and crimes against humanity.

Most of the Council's member states delivered speeches, including: Algeria, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Maldives, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, China, Bangladesh, Cuba, Vietnam, Qatar, Bolivia, and Sudan.

Several observer states also participated in the Council, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Knights of Malta, Iraq, Brunei Darussalam, Luxembourg, South Korea, Jordan, Slovenia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Egypt, Peru, Malaysia, Nigeria, Eritrea, Oman, Russia, Senegal, Ireland, Bahrain, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Venezuela, Libya, Uganda, Cambodia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

The speakers emphasized that the humanitarian and political situation in the Palestinian territories has reached an unprecedented level of danger, in light of the occupation's continued denial of humanitarian aid, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and the forced displacement of civilians. They pointed to Israel's settlement and aggressive practices, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law. They emphasized the need to comply with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and to implement international law. They also expressed their full solidarity with the Palestinian people and their firm position to achieve justice and the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, as well as their continued support for UNRWA.

In his speech on behalf of the State of Palestine, the Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, called on the international community to take immediate and practical steps to hold the occupation accountable for its crimes and to halt its policies of genocide and forced displacement. He stressed the importance of guaranteeing the rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the right to self-determination, and for states to assume their legal responsibilities under international treaties to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

-

Germany condemned Israel's assassination of journalists in the Gaza Strip, the latest of whom was journalist Hossam Shabat.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner affirmed in a press statement on Wednesday that "freedom of the press is precious and must be protected," emphasizing that "attacks" on journalists "cannot be justified."

"Journalists in Gaza should not be targeted. The situation is catastrophic and extremely dangerous for the population and journalists," he added.

Wagner renewed his call to the Israeli government and all parties involved in the negotiations to quickly return to the ceasefire and find a political solution.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz threatened Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening with further genocide and the occupation of their lands.

Since resuming its genocide in Gaza on March 18, Israel has killed 830 Palestinians and injured 1,787 others, most of them children and women, as of Wednesday, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

"Residents of Gaza, soon the IDF will operate forcefully in additional areas of Gaza, and you will be asked to evacuate," Katz said in a televised address broadcast on Army Radio.

He continued: "You will lose more land that will be annexed to the Israeli defense system... The plans are ready and approved."

In an attempt to incite against Hamas, Katz called on Palestinians to demand "the expulsion of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all kidnapped Israelis."

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Katz considered that pressuring Hamas is "the only way to stop the war."

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving a total of more than 164,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

This isn't the first time Katz has threatened Palestinians in Gaza. Last Wednesday, he said the army would forcibly remove them from combat zones, that they would "pay the full price," and that "what's coming will be much more difficult."

Israel has been blockading Gaza for the 18th year, leaving approximately 1.5 million of its 2.4 million Palestinian citizens homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination. The Strip has entered the first stages of famine due to Tel Aviv's closure of the crossings to humanitarian aid.

For decades, Israel has occupied territories in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.

At least 14 civilians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, Israeli warplanes bombed the vicinity of the Abdullah Azzam Mosque in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing six civilians and wounding others.

Five citizens were also killed and others wounded when the occupation targeted a charitable foundation near the Al-Qassam Mosque in the center of the camp.

Two citizens were killed and others were injured when the occupation forces bombed the tents of displaced people in the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, one citizen was killed and two others were injured when the occupation forces targeted civilians near the Al-Shuhada Junction in the center of Gaza City.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed on Wednesday a phone call between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, as part of joint efforts to de-escalate the situation in Gaza.

According to the statement, the call aims to enhance coordination between the two countries to support mediation efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and return to the January 19 agreement, while ensuring the release of detainees and prisoners, as well as facilitating the entry of humanitarian and medical aid into the Strip.

The two ministers also exchanged views on ways to create conditions for the reconstruction of Gaza, emphasizing the success of the Cairo Conference on Early Recovery and Reconstruction, which will ensure the stability of Palestinians on their land.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi affirmed his continued tireless efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, calling for concerted international efforts to stop the bloodshed and restore calm and stability to the region, while reaffirming Egypt's continued support for the Palestinian cause.

Israel is planning a pilot project to deport 100 Gazans to Indonesia under the pretext of working there, Channel 12 reported. This comes after its plan to deport Gaza residents has so far failed, as Gaza residents rejected it and no country agreed to forcibly accept displaced Gazans.

Israel describes the displacement plan as "voluntary migration," and hopes that the pressures of the war of extermination and starvation will force Gazans to agree to the "migration." The Israeli army claimed to have conducted a "survey" that indicated that a quarter of the Strip's population agrees to the "migration."

Channel 12 reported that the "initial experiment" will soon be implemented, according to a plan that will be implemented by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), General Ghassan Galian. The plan "aims to encourage thousands of Gazans to voluntarily immigrate to Indonesia to work in the construction sector, if the initial experiment proves successful," the report said.

Although international law allows Palestinians to return to the Gaza Strip after leaving to work abroad, the Israeli plan calls for "encouraging immigration and long-term residence in Indonesia, a matter that is up to the Indonesian government."

It should be noted that there are no diplomatic relations between Israel and Indonesia, "therefore, a communication channel should have been established between the two countries." If this plan succeeds, the "Immigration Directorate" established by Defense Minister Yisrael Katz will be responsible for implementing the plan and "assisting in finding jobs."

According to the Israeli channel, since the beginning of the war, 35,000 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip, including 1,000 since the beginning of this month until last Sunday. It is expected that 600 Palestinians will leave this week. All of them are sick and wounded people in need of medical treatment, their family members, and citizens holding foreign nationalities. They are gathered at the Kerem Shalom crossing, where they are subject to inspection by the Shin Bet. They are then transferred to the Rafah crossing, the Allenby crossing, or Ramon Airport near Eilat, and are informed that their return to the Gaza Strip is not certain.

The Prisoners Club said that data coming from Megiddo prison warns of a health disaster due to the continued spread of scabies, in addition to other data indicating the spread of other infectious diseases.

The Prisoners Club explained in a statement on Wednesday that, according to testimonies of released detainees and visits from lawyers, the serious health conditions that affected the Megiddo detainees also included children, among whom was the martyr Walid Ahmed, who was martyred as a result of being exposed to a medical crime. He is among hundreds of detained children distributed across three central detention centers, including Megiddo, in addition to the Ofer and Damon detainees, where they face the same conditions.

Based on testimonies from children recently released from Megiddo Prison, they confirmed that the majority of the children suffer from health problems and face difficult and tragic detention conditions.

The Prisoners' Club continued, saying that the detention system deliberately deprives detainees, including children and women, of the factors that could contribute to limiting the spread of disease, including (quality of food, stopping the crime of starvation, providing clothing and personal hygiene items, and exposure to adequate light and ventilation), as the complete lack of these factors leads to the spread of diseases, specifically (scabies).

It explained that illness and medical crimes, through the total denial of treatment, have become the most prominent tool for killing detainees, in addition to the crime of torture and the acts of abuse and humiliation that are carried out against them on a momentary basis.

It pointed out that the continued spread of disease among detainees, and their denial of medical treatment, will inevitably lead to the deaths of more of them. This, coupled with the array of crimes and systematic policies imposed on them by the detention system in a manner unprecedented since the genocide, constitutes yet another aspect of genocide.

The Prisoners' Club held the occupation forces fully responsible for the fate of thousands of detainees, reiterating its call for the international human rights community to end its impotence in the face of the ongoing genocide and crimes against detainees in Israeli prisons and camps.

It called on the World Health Organization to urgently intervene regarding the systematic medical crimes being perpetrated against detainees in an unprecedented manner.

It is noteworthy that since the beginning of the genocide, (63) detainees have been martyred in the occupation’s prisons, and they are the only ones whose identities are known, while dozens of martyrs are still subject to the crime of enforced disappearance.

The US deputy special envoy to the Middle East said on Sunday that Washington had "given Israel a free hand" by providing it with "all the weapons it needs" to continue its war on Gaza.

In an interview with Fox News, Morgan Ortagus said that the administration of former US President Joe Biden "made Israel fight with one hand tied behind its back."

"They didn't have the weapons they needed, so they had to go back and get 30- and 40-year-old ammunition stockpiles," she said.

Referring to Israel as Washington's "closest ally," Ortagus noted that the Trump administration's first step in office was to ensure that Israel had "all the weapons it needed to end its war."

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States is Israel's largest arms supplier, accounting for 66% of the country's arms imports between 2020 and 2024.

It's worth noting that in January 2025, two weeks before former US President Joe Biden left office, Washington approved the sale of $20 billion worth of military equipment to Israel, including air-to-air missiles, Hellfire missiles, artillery shells, and heavy bombs.

Last February, US President Trump rescinded an order signed by Biden requiring assurances that US weapons would not be used in violation of international human rights law.

This March, the Trump administration bypassed the usual congressional review to approve the sale of nearly $3 billion in additional arms to Israel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he "signed a proclamation using emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of nearly $4 billion in military aid to Israel."

He added that the Trump administration has so far approved arms sales to Israel worth approximately $12 billion.

The Gaza Strip is facing a severe food crisis that is worsening by the day, with the threat of famine threatening the lives of thousands of families as Israel resumes its war on the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire agreement signed on January 17, 2025.

UN reports indicate that poverty and food insecurity rates in the Gaza Strip have reached unprecedented levels, with warnings of an impending humanitarian disaster.

Relief officials reported that food supplies in Gaza are dangerously dwindling due to the closure of crossings for more than three weeks, coupled with rising prices for basic goods, leaving many families unable to meet their daily needs.

In a conversation with one citizen, he confirmed that obtaining food has become a major challenge, as prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed, while the purchasing power of the population has declined due to unemployment and the loss of income.

For its part, the World Food Programme warned that the situation in Gaza is approaching a breaking point, noting that increasing numbers of residents are now relying on humanitarian aid to meet their food needs, while relief organizations are facing significant difficulties in delivering support to those affected.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Wednesday that his country is "working tirelessly to consolidate the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and proceed with its remaining phases," calling on "partners and friends to mobilize efforts to stop the bloodshed and restore calm and stability to the region."

Sisi said, "I reiterate that Egypt will continue to do everything in its power to support the just Palestinian cause, and to work tirelessly to consolidate the ceasefire (in Gaza) and proceed with implementing its remaining stages."

He added, "We call on our partners and friends to join forces to stop the bloodshed and restore calm and stability to the region."

Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas, in a statement, held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the failure of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, saying that returning to genocide was a premeditated decision on his part.

According to Israeli media, the envoy

US President Steve Witkoff, visiting the Middle East, proposed the release of 10 Israeli prisoners in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the start of negotiations on the second phase.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinian prisoners are languishing in its prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died.

In March, Hamas said it had not rejected Witkoff's proposal, and that Netanyahu had resumed his genocidal war on Gaza to thwart the agreement.

Since the resumption of the war on Gaza on March 18, 830 Palestinians have been killed and 1,787 others injured, most of them children and women, according to the latest figures announced by the Gaza Ministry of Health on Wednesday.

The United Nations said that nearly 124,000 Palestinians were displaced again after Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip and issued evacuation orders.

This escalation, which Tel Aviv said was fully coordinated with Washington, represents the most significant violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the second phase of which Israel refrained from implementing after the first phase expired in early March.

The Israeli occupation army continues to forcibly displace thousands of citizens in several areas of the Gaza Strip to other areas, this time from areas in Gaza City.

In a post on social media on Wednesday, the occupation called on "those in the neighborhoods of Western Zeitoun, Tel al-Hawa, and Sheikh Ajlin to evacuate and immediately move south, via Rashid Street to the south of Wadi Gaza, to the known shelters."

The majority of the "humanitarian zone" lacks infrastructure, lacks water, and lacks service facilities, given its uninhabited nature. It is experiencing health and environmental crises, and is plagued by disease and epidemics.

Displaced families face significant difficulties transporting the elderly and sick, along with their basic needs, especially since the occupation forces prohibit movement by vehicle.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 50,183, and the number of injuries to 113,828 since October 7, 2023.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the death toll includes 830 dead and 1,787 wounded since March 18.

It said that 39 dead were killed (including the recovery of a victim body), and 124 injured people arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.

It explained that a number of martyrs remain under the rubble of destroyed homes and facilities, and on the roads, and that ambulances and specialist teams are unable to reach them due to limited resources.

Hamas said on Wednesday, "Every time the Israeli occupation tries to recover its prisoners by force, it returns them dead in coffins."

Hamas confirmed in a statement that returning to war was a premeditated decision by Netanyahu to thwart the agreement and succumb to Ben-Gvir's blackmail.

It added, "Netanyahu bears full responsibility for the failure of the agreement, and the international community and mediators must pressure him to halt the aggression and return to the negotiating track."

Hamas indicated that the resistance is doing everything in its power to keep the occupation's prisoners alive, but that the indiscriminate Israeli shelling is putting their lives at risk, according to its statement.

It continued, "Netanyahu is lying to the families of the prisoners when he claims that the military option is capable of bringing them back alive."

Residents of the Gaza Strip are facing a worsening crisis in access to drinking water, with most water sources in the Strip suffering from severe pollution and high salinity, rendering them unfit for human consumption. This crisis is a result of the ongoing deterioration of the water infrastructure, coupled with the lack of fuel to operate the Strip's desalination plants.

Local reports indicate that more than 97% of Gaza's groundwater is unfit for drinking due to contamination from sewage leakage and overexploitation of groundwater resources. With scarce resources, most residents rely on purchasing desalinated water from private plants at high prices, increasing the economic burden on families.

Water experts stressed that the sector needs sustainable solutions to end this crisis, including the development of seawater desalination plants and the improvement of water distribution networks. However, the implementation of these projects faces numerous challenges, most notably a lack of funding and restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation on the entry of necessary equipment.

The water crisis comes at a time when the Gaza Strip is suffering from increasing humanitarian crises due to the war waged by Israel on the Strip for more than a year and a half.

The Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and Ex-Prisoners reported in its report issued on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to isolate prisoner Munadil Yaqoub Nafi'at (30 years old) from the town of Ya'bad/Jenin, from November 10, 2024 until today.

The Commission's lawyer confirmed that there are 15 other prisoners held in solitary confinement in Megiddo Prison, alongside Nafi'at, under extremely difficult detention conditions. They are subjected to beatings and constant, provocative and harmful searches, and the lights are kept on 24 hours a day to deprive them of sleep. The food provided to them is also very poor in both quantity and quality, causing most of the prisoners to lose a significant amount of weight.

It pointed out that this policy has been pursued by the prison administration since the Gaza War on October 7, 2023, as a form of revenge against prisoners and their slow killing.

The Israeli occupation forces shot a young man with live ammunition early Thursday morning in the town of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, and left him bleeding near the "Nili" settlement adjacent to the town.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces fired live ammunition at the young man, Yousef Surur, which resulted in him being shot in the abdomen. The soldiers then arrested him and left him bleeding for more than two hours near the "Nili" settlement until he lost consciousness and was bleeding heavily. Local residents then transferred him to a hospital in Ramallah, where his condition was described as critical.

The occupation forces detained two young men during the raid on the town.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday that Israel is effectively blocking access to water in the Gaza Strip by cutting off electricity and fuel, calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed to pass to Palestinians to avoid further loss of life.

The statement quoted Paula Navarro, the organization's water and sanitation coordinator in Gaza, as saying: "With new attacks resulting in hundreds of deaths in just a few days, Israeli forces continue to deprive Gaza's residents of water by cutting off electricity and preventing the entry of fuel."

She added that the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is exacerbated by the "water crisis," with many forced to drink unfit water, while others lack it altogether.

For her part, Chiara Lodi, the organization's medical team coordinator in Gaza, pointed out that the skin diseases children are suffering from are "a direct result of the destruction of Gaza and the Israeli blockade imposed on it."

She continued: "Our staff is treating an increasing number of children suffering from skin diseases such as scabies, which causes great suffering and, in severe cases, leads to scratching the skin until it bleeds."

Lodi attributed the spread of scabies among Palestinian children to their "inability to bathe."

Doctors Without Borders noted that "jaundice, diarrhea, and scabies" are among the most common conditions treated by its teams in Khan Yunis (south), resulting from the lack of safe water supplies.

The organization warned that the depletion of fuel in the Gaza Strip would cause "the complete collapse of the remaining water system, cutting off people's access to water."

The occupation authorities continue to prevent the entry of fuel as part of their tightened siege and closure of crossings to humanitarian, relief, medical, and goods since March 2.

The organization renewed its call for Israel to lift its "inhumane blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and comply with international humanitarian law and its duties as an occupying power."

It called for "an immediate restoration of the truce and the passage of electricity and humanitarian aid to Gaza, including fuel and water supplies, to avoid further loss of life."

On March 9, Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen decided to "immediately" halt electricity supplies to Gaza. Israel had been supplying limited power to the Gaza Strip to operate the water station in the central Gaza Strip.

In a preliminary toll, the number of martyrs and wounded since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th has risen to 50,144 martyrs and 113,704 wounded.

Since the occupation resumed its war of extermination on March 18, more than 750 civilians have been killed and nearly 1,400 others injured, most of them children and women, amidst the occupation's warplanes, drones, and artillery shelling of homes, facilities, hospitals, displaced persons' tents, vehicles, and civilian gatherings.

The Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression on the city of Tulkarm and its camp for the 59th consecutive day, and on the Nur Shams camp for the 46th day, amid ongoing military escalation, massive reinforcements, forced displacement of residents, and arrests.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces have escalated their military aggression against the city of Tulkarm and its two camps, sending large reinforcements of vehicles and bulldozers to the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, amid a tight siege.

In the same context, the occupation forces arrested a number of citizens at dawn today, after raiding their homes in the city and its suburbs. Among them were identified as: Fares Amer Fares, Ahmed Iyad Abu Salah from the eastern neighborhood of the city, Suhaib Marouf from the Dhnaba suburb, and Qasim Sultan Alaria from the Iktaba suburb. This included extensive raids and searches of homes, and the destruction of their contents.

In Tulkarm camp, the occupation forces forcibly displaced the remaining families in the Al-Hadaida and Al-Raba'a neighborhoods, after forcibly evicting them from their homes. This comes as part of the escalating wave of displacement witnessed in the neighborhoods on the outskirts of the camp, amid ongoing restrictions that are strangling the residents, specifically the Al-Hadaida, Al-Matar, Al-Raba'a, Qaqun, and Marbat Hanoun neighborhoods.

In Nour Shams camp, the occupation has reinforced its military presence by deploying heavy machinery and bulldozers to Jabal al-Nasr, amidst a tight siege of the camp. The occupation has also seized dozens of homes, converting them into military barracks after forcibly displacing residents.

As part of the ongoing aggression, the occupation continues to seize 10 residential buildings in the traffic circle area of the northern neighborhood adjacent to Nablus Street, which contain dozens of apartments. The buildings were forcibly evacuated from their residents and converted into military barracks, in addition to transforming the area into a closed military zone.

Meanwhile, the occupation forces intensified their military presence on Nablus Street, closing off parts of it with earth mounds, amid measures restricting vehicle movement by setting up flying checkpoints from time to time, stopping and searching vehicles, and detaining their passengers for extended periods after checking their IDs.

Israeli occupation forces also stormed the town of Ramin, east of Tulkarm, at dawn, deploying infantry units in the town and its plains. They also dispatched additional military reinforcements from the Anab checkpoint, conducting searches and combing operations in the area, but no arrests were reported.

The ongoing escalation by the occupation forces in the city of Tulkarm and its two camps has resulted in the martyrdom of 13 citizens, including a child and two women, one of whom was eight months pregnant. Dozens have also been injured and arrested, and more than 4,000 families have been forcibly displaced from the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, along with dozens of families from the city's northern neighborhood.

The aggression also caused widespread destruction to the infrastructure, including homes, shops, and vehicles, which were completely and partially demolished, burned, vandalized, looted, and stolen. 396 homes were completely destroyed and 2,573 partially destroyed in the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, in addition to the closure of their entrances and alleys with earth mounds.

In a continuation of its stance defending Israeli crimes and failing to condemn them, the US State Department held Hamas responsible for the killing of Palestinian journalist Hussam Shabat, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.

This came in statements made by US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Monday at her daily press conference.

Asked whether Israel's killing of journalists, despite its extensive intelligence gathering and use of precision munitions, constituted a war crime, Bruce replied, "I would say that everything that happened is a result of Hamas."

Ignoring Israel's reneging on the agreement and resuming its war of extermination, Bruce accused Hamas of "not making sufficient efforts to ensure the truce continues."

The US spokeswoman also accused Hamas of "using people as human shields," a charge the movement has always denied.

On Monday, journalists Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour were killed in Israeli attacks. Following their deaths, the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip announced that the number of Palestinian journalists killed had risen to 208 since October 7, 2023.

Since resuming its genocide on March 18, Israel has killed 730 Palestinians and injured 1,367 others, most of them children and women, according to the Ministry of Health.

The US administration continues to ignore and cover up Israeli crimes in Palestine, refraining from condemning them, while the current Trump administration provides unlimited support to the Israeli government and its practices.

Asked about violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, Bruce said, "I'll get back to you later if there are any deaths or injuries."

Regarding the latest developments in the investigation into the case of Turkish-American activist Ayse Nur Azgi Aygi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers, she replied, "I must say that in our world, we often condemn anyone being harmed, injured, or killed."

She added: "As for the nature of what Israel is doing, I'm not going to talk about the nature of the choices they have to make during what is, frankly, one of the most difficult times in the history of anyone in the region."

On September 6, 2024, the Israeli army shot and killed activist Aisha Nour with live ammunition while participating in an anti-settlement protest in the town of Beita, Nablus Governorate, in the northern occupied West Bank.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 163,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

The night was pleasant in Beirut. The cafes were awake like lanterns by the sea. This city has a habit of covering up its wounds and disappointments. It defies its death and the rubble. It convinces visitors that a wedding is coming despite the deaths of many of the guests. We were turning over the maps of misfortune, counting the losses and gains. We tried to ward off the cup of despair from our days. But a constant buzzing poured poison into the table of oblivion.

In the skies, a roaming killer. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He counts breaths and takes pictures. He searches for his prey, surrounds it, and then issues the death sentence. A roaming killer. He stays awake over the killing fields of Gaza, never forgetting the West Bank. He violates the arteries of Lebanon, never leaving Syria. He preys on a tent in the Gaza Strip, or a car in southern Lebanon. Neither Gaza, Beirut, nor Damascus can expel him. And when the opportunity arises for a grand killing feast, drones are aided by advanced warplanes, and funerals take place. Artificial intelligence is an amazing being. It multiplies the ability of drones to kill and swim in the blood of maps. And drones, like militias, do not respect international laws and border markers.

Two news items in our newspaper caught my attention. The first states that the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps conveyed a clear message from the Iranian leadership to Iraqi factions. The message called on the relevant factions to "avoid all forms of provocation against the Americans and Israelis" to avoid repercussions. The second quotes Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein as saying, "Iraq is not part of the axis of resistance and does not accept the unity of arenas. We believe only in the Iraqi arena."

I was also struck by the Palestinian Ministry of Health's announcement that the death toll in Gaza since the outbreak of "Operation Protective Edge" has reached fifty thousand.

The retired general said he feared that Israeli aircraft had broken the previous "balance" in the region in a greater and more dangerous way than they did in the 1967 war. He noted that Netanyahu's aircraft had almost completely destroyed what remained of Bashar al-Assad's army arsenal. They destroyed weapons and facilities as if to ensure that no hostile force would arise in the coming years. The current Syrian regime had no choice but to watch as the aircraft targeted airports, facilities, and barracks.

Perhaps the aircraft intended to convey a message that President Ahmad al-Sharaa's rule in Syria would be unstable unless he completely abandons the possibility of confronting Israel one day, and that he must accept Syria's withdrawal from the Arab-Israeli conflict despite the Golan Heights remaining occupied. Israel has gone beyond this, demanding a safe zone deep within Syrian territory and threatening to play on the fears of various factions.

The same drones had turned the tide in Syria. No one imagined that when Israeli aircraft were pursuing the positions and hideouts of Revolutionary Guard generals in Syria, the Guard would quickly leave the country. Nor was it expected that the drones would cause President Bashar al-Assad to flee and for Sharaa to appear before Syria from the palace where the elder Assad, and later the younger Assad, had sat.

The warplanes have completely revolutionized the Syrian scene. The "axis of resistance" has lost the Syrian link, which was the main bridge that brought General Qassem Soleimani's dreams to the Mediterranean shores.

The warplanes punished the Lebanese Hezbollah party with excessive severity for launching the "Support Front," which it announced the day after Yahya Sinwar's storm began. The party lost thousands of fighters and its most prominent leader in history, Hassan Nasrallah. A clear coup. The trilogy of "army, people, and resistance" was absent from Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government statement, and President Joseph Aoun's inaugural statement clearly spoke of the monopoly of arms. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continued its killing operations. Its air dominance remains unthreatened. It is clear that Hezbollah cannot return to war in light of the new balance of power, whose shift in Syria has revealed the extent of its imbalance.

The drones changed the calculations. Some Iraqi factions, like the Houthis, were eager to engage Israel, even from afar. Israel threatened to send its drones toward Baghdad. Tehran cannot prevent Israeli aircraft from targeting its allies in Iraq. Iran itself was unable to continue the exchange of strikes with Israel, and the issue of its nuclear facilities was open to US-Israeli negotiations. Trump's envoy to the Middle East reiterated yesterday: "Iran cannot and will not be allowed to possess a nuclear bomb."

Israeli aircraft violate several maps. They kill, destroy, and impose conditions. To protect themselves from them, one must knock on the door of the American mediator. To convince them, one must pay a heavy price, starting with withdrawing from the "axis of resistance." The picture is stark and clear. There will be no stability in Syria unless it withdraws from the conflict. There will be no reconstruction in Lebanon unless Hezbollah's weapons are retired. There will be no end to the raids on Yemen unless the Houthis stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Israel. There will be no leniency with Iran unless it abandons its dream of the bomb and its policy of mobilizing proxies. Israel is aggressive by nature and by its approach. But did we have the right to push our maps into confrontations that would tear them apart, forgetting the technological gap and the strict American support for Israel?

The story of the planes reminded me of those days when the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, a voice that transcends eras, watched from his apartment as Israeli planes rained down on Beirut, which was surrounded by General Ariel Sharon's forces. I also remembered his poem "That's Her Picture, This Is the Lover's Suicide," in which he repeatedly repeats the phrase "planes, planes, planes." I couldn't think of a better title for this article than to borrow that phrase.

The Israeli occupation's approval of the separation of 13 colonial outposts from the settlements in the occupied West Bank and their recognition as independent settlements is a colonial crime under American sponsorship and international silence, and a blatant challenge to international law and UN resolutions. The extremist Israeli government continues its systematic Judaization and colonization process that seeks to impose a colonial settlement reality on our Palestinian land and targets the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem with the aim of displacing them and declaring the annexation of the remaining occupied Palestinian territories.

The aggressive decision represents an explicit declaration of the occupation's intentions to perpetuate colonialism and liquidate the Palestinian cause. What is happening today is the continuation of a long-term colonial project implemented by the occupation government, and the implementation of the plan of extremist minister Bezalel Smotrich, who described this decision as an important step on the road to annexation and sovereignty. The escalation of colonial operations and the establishment of settlements comes with the absolute support of the colonial powers, headed by the complicit American administration, which has not only remained silent, but also provides political and financial cover for this organized terrorism.

The Israeli government's approval of the formation of a "special directorate" within the Ministry of Defense to facilitate the displacement of Palestinian citizens is a crime of ethnic cleansing within the framework of the ongoing war of extermination on the Gaza Strip. It is a continuation of the crimes of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement committed by the occupation by turning the Strip into an uninhabitable place. The so-called "Israeli Security and Political Affairs Cabinet" approved a proposal submitted by Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to establish a "special directorate" for the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, in line with the American proposal. The new directorate will organize what it described as "the voluntary transfer of Gaza Strip residents to third countries, for those who express a desire to do so."

Through this move, Israel, the occupying power, seeks to evade any criminal responsibility, accountability, or prosecution for its violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Action must be taken at the international level and at the level of international organizations to reject any calls for forced displacement, halt Israeli aggression against our people, and strengthen the steadfastness of citizens in their homeland, as this move poses a grave threat to the Palestinian future.

The persistence of the occupation government in its crimes and aggression against our people, their land and their rights requires all countries to review their positions and their effectiveness in influencing that government, the extent of its compliance with international resolutions and the importance of taking international steps to impose deterrent sanctions that force the occupation government to stop the war of genocide, displacement and annexation, and to comply with the international will for peace. We are surprised by the continued policy of double standards and leniency in holding the occupation accountable for its violations, the failure to implement international resolutions and court decisions, and the suspension of international humanitarian law. This is what allowed the extreme right-wing government to persist in genocide, displacement and ethnic cleansing and to impose a fait accompli by force. These policies only perpetuate more violence and unrest, close any horizon for a just political solution, and eliminate the hope of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

The international community is called upon to take urgent and genuine action, not just condemnatory statements that are worthless to the occupation. Rather, this action must be embodied in the imposition of sanctions on the occupation and the cessation of all forms of support for it. Continued silence will only lead to further escalation and explosion, and full responsibility falls on all those who support or remain silent in the face of these criminal colonial policies.

One of the ironies and ridiculous wonders of this time is that everyone who tries to defend his right to live in his homeland freely, without occupation, is demonized and branded as an extremist and terrorist!!

Every now and then, someone emerges who believes that every Palestinian falls within this category! We've heard it repeatedly from war criminal Netanyahu, President Trump, and key members of his government!

Are we Palestinians really terrorists?!

A question I asked myself, accusing my fate. I said I would present my biography and the challenges that surrounded us, and I would leave the judgment to those who believed that the war criminal Netanyahu and his allies in this unjust world have a debt.

I was born two years after the first Nakba in 1948. My family and I suffered greatly from the harshness and hardship of life in the refugee camps in the southern Gaza Strip. We relied on the food, drink, health, and education provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA was responsible for all the improvements and prosperity we have experienced, as this international organization helped us preserve our human dignity and enabled us to become among the most cultured and highly educated people in our nation.

The occupation after the 1967 defeat was a heavy burden on us, a shock we hadn't anticipated. While conditions remained difficult, the children of the first Nakba were growing into young adults.

Israel opened the door to these young men as cheap labor, and they flocked in search of a livelihood, some of them leaving school to earn a living and support their families.

Our lives gradually began to improve, and these young people, who had seen the land of their fathers and grandfathers and had taken action on it, now aspired to one day have a hand in liberating it. For them, life was no longer just about food and drink, but rather feelings, nostalgia, and national ambitions.

Two years after the 1967 defeat, I finished high school and traveled to Turkey to study at one of its universities. However, my family's financial means didn't allow me to continue for long, so I left Turkey to study in Egypt. After obtaining my university degree as an engineer, I went to work in the UAE. From there, I received a scholarship to America to complete my postgraduate studies. I spent nearly twenty years there, completing my master's and doctorate degrees, and then moved to work in Washington, D.C.

In Washington, where politics and the media are raging, the world has opened its doors to us, and many paths of awareness have been stimulated and matured, along with the knowledge and culture we have already gathered, as well as our understanding of the history of peoples and nations.

In fact, in Washington, D.C., we witnessed the faces and movements of many of the world's aggrieved, demonstrating and protesting the injustices inflicted on their countries and peoples. Their presence and human rights and humanitarian activities were met with positive response and support from politicians and media figures. Washington also seemed to be the capital of the movements of aggrieved people from all over the world, with demonstrations by such individuals and groups constantly taking place in front of the White House or in the courtyards of Congress buildings.

Amidst this vibrant scene of movements and media activity, I found myself engaging in it in support and solidarity with the people's right to freedom and independence. As a Palestinian with a cause, and a son of a people suffering under the bitterness of occupation, I found myself, along with other Palestinians and Muslims, mobilizing and raising our voices, demanding freedom and the end of the occupation.

In fact, during my graduate studies at the University of Colorado and Columbia University, I encountered many Americans, especially college students and academics, who showed compassion and offered a helping hand to those who were oppressed and had their grievances addressed.

Even before coming to work in Washington, as a college student, I had stood in solidarity with my fellow American students in protesting against apartheid in South Africa, demonstrated against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and sympathized with the Irish protests in Belfast and their demands for independence from Britain.

With the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there was a great deal of interaction with it, even here in Washington, and protests in solidarity with the Palestinians' right to freedom, independence, and an end to the occupation.

The Oslo Accords were a milestone on the road to independence and partial liberation from occupation. It's true that some had reservations about them, but not everyone supported them. They viewed them as a mere security agreement that would not resolve the core issue. At the time, we understood the opposition of many Palestinians, but ultimately, we viewed them as a step toward a solution.

As a person of social, national and religious standing, I was inclined towards the solution of (one-state-binationalism) as a mechanism to end the conflict that has been rooted in its historical, political, religious, legal and ethnic dimensions for nearly a hundred years.

In fact, I was a supporter of the one-state solution, for reasons related to the history of this region of the world, where the three divine messages were: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. These religions coexisted in various forms for thousands of years. I was convinced that true peace could be achieved, and its foundations could be built on a formula for a federal state in this holy land, where Jews and Palestinian Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, could coexist. Each party, through this sharing and openness, could fulfill its spiritual, religious, and political needs, and everyone in this blessed land could enjoy stability and security, with prosperity and peace prevailing throughout its lands.

Unfortunately, the extremists of the Zionist right succeeded in killing Yitzhak Rabin, the true partner for peace with the historic leader, the martyr Yasser Arafat (may God have mercy on him). From among these extremist Zionists came those who brought us back to the square of hostility, hatred, and revenge against the advocates of the zero-sum equation in Israel, such as Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, and before them Meir Kahane.

Of course, in light of this Israeli denial and extremism, our people had the right to struggle to regain their freedom after Oslo failed to achieve the minimum Palestinian aspirations, which was to obtain a state on the June 4, 1967 borders.

In the midst of all these forms of injustice that befell our people, and the decline of hopes for the fulfillment of our dreams of having a homeland in which we would enjoy freedom and stability, with the state of impotence of the Authority and its failure to achieve the aspirations of the Palestinians, as a result of Israel’s denial and Netanyahu’s reversal of everything that was stated in the Oslo Accords, it was natural for popular movements and party organizations to emerge that viewed resistance as a path and a legitimate right for our people on the path to freedom and independence.

In this state of oppression, injustice, arrogance, and Israeli supremacy, it was only natural for people to react by rallying behind the resistance adopted by Hamas and other Palestinian factions as an approach to struggle for our people's right to an independent state. This was especially true after the West's disregard for the plots of war criminal Netanyahu and the extreme right in Israel. This, in fact, is what led to the escalation of violence for the purpose of self-defense and to pressure the occupying state to halt the ongoing aggression of settlers and extremists against Al-Aqsa Mosque and our people in the West Bank. Historically, people will never accept living under the oppression of occupation.

We have learned from the struggles of the Vietnamese people, the South African people, and even the Afghan jihad, that resistance, whether peaceful or violent, is bound to bear fruit, even if it takes years of struggle.

During our stay in America, we read about its history of struggle and how it gained its independence from Britain, which would not have happened without the sacrifices and blood shed during the American people's resistance to the British forces there.

It is worth noting that when the events of September 11, 2001, occurred, my family and I were living in Washington, D.C. We were shocked and stunned by the terrorist attack. Along with other Islamic figures, organizations, and associations, we immediately condemned the act. We considered such behavior unacceptable in Islam and unacceptable in any religious context we believe in. We issued numerous statements denouncing, condemning, and denouncing such terrorist operations in the name of religion. Despite this, the American arena was not free of targeted campaigns against American Muslims, which sparked panic and fear among them, causing many of them to leave for Canada or return to their countries of origin. Unfortunately, manifestations of Islamophobia became widespread, fueled and inflamed through the media by extremist Jewish groups and Zionist institutions in America.

Returning to the Palestinian arena, which witnessed fair elections in January 2006, and Hamas won the majority, I saw - as a political figure - that there was a real desire and orientation within the movement and the government to open up and engage with the West, and recommendations for the necessity of reducing the intensity of the confrontation with the occupation. At the time, I was a political advisor to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (may God have mercy on him), and from that official position I moved to visit many European countries, and we had a good share in what Switzerland presented as a vision for a political solution that would end the chronic conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis in what was called (the Geneva-Ahmed Yousef Document), which was met with European approval, but Israel rejected it and continued with its policies that reject every idea of peace and the realization of the Palestinians’ dream of a free, independent state.

Netanyahu was never a partner for peace. Rather, he was a right-wing Zionist to the core, and he found in his alliance with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich the means to destroy all the understandings and opportunities for security and stability achieved by Oslo.

With the political and security horizons blocked and the foggy outlook swirling, mistakes made their way into the Palestinian political landscape. The rift between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and its government widened. This division played a role in the mistakes and transgressions that occurred, opening the door for Netanyahu to use them as pretexts to overthrow Oslo and work to nullify everything it entailed.

October 7 was a huge mistake that would not have happened if the Palestinians had been united under a single leadership framework.

The situation in the Gaza Strip was dominated by fears of an Israeli strike planned by the Netanyahu government and its allies from the religious Zionist right, in what was called the "decisive plan." The leaked plan stirred up a great deal of apprehension and panic among Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip.

October 7 was a miscalculation and a miscalculation, giving Netanyahu the pretext to wage a genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Unfortunately, American complicity under President Biden's administration was extensive, contributing to the spread of the policy of killing, starvation, and siege.

All statements made during the Biden administration and currently under the Trump administration have all indicated that US policy remains biased and complicit in the genocide taking place in the Gaza Strip, and that the forced displacement plan pursued by war criminal Netanyahu enjoys significant support and endorsement from President Trump. The tweets I sent out about deporting Palestinians to neighboring countries and the Gaza Riviera are behind the war criminal Netanyahu's continued plans to achieve this.

The truth that Netanyahu failed to cover with his sieve is that we are not terrorists, that we are an oppressed people, that our fundamental issue is with the Israeli occupation, that we have suffered because of it for decades, and that we, as a people, aspire to freedom and independence like the rest of the peoples of the world.

Therefore, we will not accept to be a burden on anyone. This blessed land is sacred to us, and we will not leave it as long as there is a pulse within us. Our steadfastness will remain the title of this desire to live and survive.

As a Palestinian thinker, university professor, and former politician, I hope that hatred and desires for revenge will not return among the peoples of the region, following the loss of trust in the international community and international legitimacy platforms, unfortunately fueled by this inhumane and immoral Western bias and complicity.

We truly hope that there will be room for forgiveness, tolerance, and the desire to live in peace in this world filled with all forms of racism and hostility.

With the demonstrations that spread to American universities, we were hopeful that this student awakening would push for balance in American politics. Unfortunately, however, we discovered that the Trump administration is denouncing academic freedoms and viewing them as anti-Semitic.

The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, and Dr. Badr Khan, an Indian Muslim who is married to my daughter, Mafaz, who holds American citizenship, and who works as a lecturer at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of protesting the ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip.

This behavior is reprehensible and unbecoming of America's image as an oasis of democracy, civil liberties, and academic freedoms, and one that shares economic ties with the countries of the Middle East and strategic interests that require these shared relations to be at their best, not in the context of antagonizing the peoples of the region and its intellectual and political elites.

The extent of the Palestinian injustice we are witnessing, and the Western and American complicity in the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing, if it continues, will lead to the spread of hatred and hostility toward America and the West in general. If this continues to grow, it will not serve the interests of these countries or their relations with the peoples of the region in the future.

The aggressive religious tone we are witnessing from President Trump and members of his administration leads us to believe that someone is playing the religious card, as if someone is paving the way for the return of the Crusades!!

For our part, as the Palestinian people and a Muslim nation, we do not want religious wars to return. Historically, Palestine has been a land and homeland of peace, and the three heavenly religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have coexisted on its soil and holy sites. Tolerance, forgiveness, and acceptance of others have been the repository of stability and the master of judgment.

In short, we Palestinians are not terrorists, nor do we support terrorism. Rather, we are its greatest victims, and Netanyahu's brutal war on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank bears witness to that. We are a people like all other peoples of the earth who have been subjected to injustice and occupation throughout history. We demand a right to a homeland where we can live with dignity, or die and be excused.

..............

October 7 was a miscalculation and miscalculations, giving Netanyahu the pretext to wage a genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

As soon as the call to prayer is sounded, the Muslim nation in the East and West rushes to its tables laden with the most delicious foods. They eat, drink, and indulge until dawn, when the suhoor tables are filled with various types of food, making up for the lack of food during the day, until the time for breaking the fast arrives, and so on.

We go about our lives as usual, watching our children being killed, their remains scattered in the streets by an enemy that has yet to be quenched by the blood of innocents, most of whom are children and women. We are still scrutinizing the wording, disagreeing over terminology, and combining words to agree on who will take charge of our affairs the day after our new catastrophe, which has surpassed all previous catastrophes.

I feel the enormity of helplessness, and the shame mixed with pain and agony, in the face of the starvation and killing that has surpassed all previous crimes. The primary target now in Gaza is the people, not Hamas, as a systematic operation is being carried out to kill the sick and wounded, by cutting off medical supplies and equipment, and destroying operating rooms.

Gaza today needs immediate intervention that cannot be delayed, to stop the crimes of killing, terrorizing, and starvation, open the crossings, and airdrop aid... time is of the essence.

Stop the war of extermination now..!