Hamas announced Tuesday evening the start of a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. The movement affirmed that it is acting "responsibly and positively" and hopes the round will result in "tangible progress toward the start of the second phase of negotiations to pave the way for an end to the aggression and the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip."

This came in press statements given by movement leader Abdel Rahman Shadid, published by Hamas on its official digital platforms.

Shadid stated that the movement "began a new round of ceasefire negotiations today," without providing further details.

He explained that "Hamas is dealing responsibly and positively with these negotiations, including those with the US envoy for hostage affairs (Adam Boehler)."

Last week, Boehler met with senior Hamas officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, without Israel's knowledge, to discuss the release of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, including five Americans.

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 languish in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Shadid continued, "We hope this round will result in tangible progress toward launching the second phase of negotiations, paving the way for an end to the aggression, the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the completion of a prisoner exchange deal."

After Tel Aviv sent a negotiating delegation to Doha on Monday, the Qatari capital is hosting indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. This follows prolonged procrastination by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused to move to the second phase of the Gaza agreement, which is supposed to lead to an end to the war of extermination.

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

Netanyahu has shied away from initiating the second phase of the agreement, as he seeks to release more Israeli prisoners without fulfilling the commitments of this phase, particularly ending the war of extermination and fully withdrawing from Gaza.

Therefore, on March 8, Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was refusing to respond to a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. He justified this by using the internationally prohibited weapon of "starvation" by preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza on March 2.

He strongly warned against Israeli plans in the West Bank, adding that Israel seeks to displace Palestinians, destroy cities, villages, and camps in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and obliterate their historical and demographic identity "in pursuit of what is known as the Greater Jerusalem colonial project."

He said that Israel "recently planned to build 2,684 new settlement units, confirming the continuation of its settlement expansion policy, which poses a serious threat to the Palestinian presence in the West Bank."

He pointed out that "the occupation continues its widespread aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the fifty-first day, and continues its aggression on the city of Tulkarm and the Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps for the forty-third day, and is escalating its brutal raids on various cities, villages and camps in the West Bank during the holy month of Ramadan."

Since the start of its war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of 934 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 7,000 people, and the arrest of 14,500, according to official Palestinian data.

Since October 7, 2023, with US support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving more than 160,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Trump administration has shifted its focus away from direct talks with Hamas and is returning to key Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, after its discussions with the Palestinian militant group raised concerns in Israel and yielded little progress.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler's meeting with Hamas, but said it was a one-off attempt to secure the release of some hostages and failed. The administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is scheduled to arrive in Doha on Wednesday, where he will attempt to revive talks between Israel and Hamas, which have now stalled after the first phase of a ceasefire agreement reached last January expired.

"That doesn't mean he was wrong to try," Rubio said of Boehler's talks with Hamas as he headed to Saudi Arabia on Monday evening. "But our primary focus is on the ongoing process in Qatar."

Witkoff, who serves as the chief negotiator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has postponed a planned trip to the Middle East several times. Negotiators said he was needed in the region to push Israel and Hamas past the difficult standoff in the talks.

Main negotiations have been stagnant for weeks at a key turning point - whether to open talks on the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a permanent end to the fighting, an issue on which Israel and Hamas remain completely at odds.

The agreement that Witkoff helped broker in January brought relative calm to the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, with Hamas returning 33 Israeli captives, both dead and alive, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It was designed as a multi-stage agreement to postpone the most difficult questions until the final stages in the hope of building momentum to prevent a resumption of fighting.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Hamas continues to press for talks on a permanent end to the fighting, which Israel refuses to discuss. Arab and Hamas officials said the two sides are negotiating a possible interim arrangement to release some hostages in exchange for extending the ceasefire for perhaps another 60 days. Meanwhile, Israel has cut off aid and electricity supplies to Gaza as part of a planned series of escalations to force Hamas to soften its stance, while Trump has threatened to return to war if the hostages are not released.

Witkov said on Monday that Hamas has no choice but to disarm and leave the Gaza Strip.

"I think they have no alternative," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News. "There's no logical or rational option for them but to leave. If they leave, I think everything is on the table for a negotiated peace agreement. That's what they'll need to do."

Boehler met with Hamas officials earlier this month and said in interviews with Israeli television this week that his goal was to secure the release of the last American hostage still alive in Gaza. But he also suggested that Hamas was willing to lay down its weapons in exchange for a truce and said that the United States had separate interests from Israel's, and that "the United States is not an agent of Israel," comments that upset Israelis, who were already resentful of being excluded from the talks.

"He sought to negotiate the release of the American hostages on his own," far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Army Radio on Monday morning, calling the effort a "grave mistake."

Boehler's remarks added to the confusion surrounding US policy. Trump has not indicated any similar priority for brokering a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He has allowed Israel to cut off aid and electricity to the Strip without any public backlash. He has also repeatedly said that Hamas will face severe punishment if it does not release all hostages and that the decision on ending the war rests with Netanyahu.

"This was a one-time situation. So far, it hasn't borne fruit," Rubio said Monday of Boehler's talks with Hamas.

The episode was a rare example of tension between Israel and the Trump administration, which has supported its war aims and supplied it with ample ammunition, according to experts. They believe that any disagreement with Trump would pose risks to Netanyahu's position in negotiations with Hamas, threaten his relationship with Israel's main arms supplier, and harm his ability to maintain a governing coalition that relies on right-wing politicians opposed to the deal.

Two children were injured by Israeli occupation forces' bullets on Tuesday evening during a raid on Al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews dealt with a 17-year-old child who was shot with live ammunition in the abdomen, and a 16-year-old child who was shot with live ammunition in the pelvis, and transferred them to the hospital.

Medical sources at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron said that the child, who was shot in the abdomen with live ammunition, was immediately taken to the operating room upon arrival due to the seriousness of his injuries.

Al-Fawar camp is subjected to daily raids by the occupation forces, which include the firing of live ammunition, sound bombs, and tear gas at residents and their homes.

Salama Maarouf, head of the government media office in the Gaza Strip, announced Tuesday evening that the Israeli army has killed 137 Palestinians since the ceasefire agreement went into effect on January 19, 2025.

Salameh said in a statement that the Israeli occupation "has deliberately increased its crimes against the Palestinian people over the past ten days, repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement."

He continued: "The most recent of these crimes was the bombing of a group of citizens by Israeli warplanes in the central Gaza Strip, which resulted in the martyrdom of five of them, including two brothers, bringing the death toll since the ceasefire agreement took effect to 137."

An Israeli drone bombed Palestinian civilians in the Netzarim area, near the southeastern border of Gaza City, as they were standing near a destroyed house, killing five people, including two brothers.

This comes as part of a series of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reneged on by refusing to move to its second phase, after the first phase expires at the end of March 1.

Netanyahu, who is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, wants to extend the first phase to secure the release of more Israeli prisoners from Gaza, without fulfilling the obligations of the second phase, particularly ending the war of genocide and fully withdrawing the Israeli army from the Strip.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 160,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

Hamas insists on starting the second phase of the agreement, and considers Israel's decision to halt the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza since March 8 "cheap blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant reversal of the agreement."

Israel has transformed Gaza into the world's largest prison, blockading it for the 18th year. Approximately 1.5 million of its 2.4 million Palestinian citizens have been rendered homeless after their homes were destroyed by the war of extermination, amidst a deliberate and severe shortage of food, water, and medicine.

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.

This evening, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested the owner of the Scientific Library on Salah al-Din Street in occupied Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Governorate reported that the occupation forces stormed Salah al-Din Street in occupied Jerusalem, raided the scientific library, arrested its owner, Imad Mona, and took him for investigation.

Five citizens were killed on Tuesday afternoon when an Israeli drone bombed a group of citizens near the Netzarim checkpoint in the central Gaza Strip.

Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement, leaving martyrs and wounded in different areas of the Gaza Strip.

It also continues to close the Kerem Shalom and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossings, preventing the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip for the tenth consecutive day.

1. The Israeli government continues to prevent the entry of aid into the stricken Gaza Strip, exacerbating the humanitarian suffering of more than 2 million displaced Palestinians in the Strip. It also continues to procrastinate in completing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement and escalates its violations, on the 52nd day of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The United Nations has warned of serious repercussions for the civilian population in the Strip after Israel stopped supplying electricity to the devastated Strip, which has also been deprived of fuel shipments for more than a week.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stressed the need to immediately bring life-saving humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Humanitarian Coordinator Muhannad Hadi stressed that any further delay in the entry of aid would undermine any progress achieved through the ceasefire in Gaza.

Hadi said that international humanitarian law is clear: the basic needs of civilians must be met, including through the unimpeded entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.

This comes as all eyes are on the Qatari capital, Doha, in anticipation of a new round of negotiations on Tuesday, as the Israeli negotiating delegation is scheduled to arrive, while the US envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, indicated the possibility of reaching a long-term truce in the Strip.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the reconstruction of Gaza, adding that Rubio reiterated Washington's firm commitment that any solution to the situation in Gaza "must not include a role for Hamas."

Saudi Arabia and Qatar condemned Israel's cutting off of electricity to the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community to take action to stop Israeli "violations" of international humanitarian law.

Saudi Arabia called on the international community to take urgent measures to restore electricity and bring aid into the Gaza Strip "immediately without conditions or restrictions," renewing its call to activate international accountability mechanisms for these "serious violations."

Qatar, which contributed to mediation efforts to conclude a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, considered that "Israeli policies based on besieging the Palestinians and preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid to them aim to impose starvation and explode the situation in the Strip."

A young man was shot today, Tuesday, during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces in the Deheishe refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.

Medical sources reported that a young man was shot in the shoulder with live ammunition. He was transferred to Al-Yamamah Hospital in Al-Khader town to receive treatment. His condition was described as stable.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed bilateral relations and regional and international developments with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting in Jeddah early Tuesday.

This came during a meeting that included a number of officials from the two countries, after Rubio's arrival in the Kingdom, according to what was reported by the Saudi Press Agency "SPA".

The US delegation included US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy to the Kingdom Alison Dilworth, and a number of senior officials.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that during the meeting, "the aspects of bilateral relations and opportunities to enhance and develop them in various fields were reviewed. The latest regional and international developments were also discussed, and views were exchanged on them, as well as the efforts made towards them to achieve security and stability."

For its part, the US State Department said that the meeting was an opportunity to discuss ways to enhance common interests and work to address conflicts in the region.

She explained that the two parties discussed reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, and indicated that Rubio "renewed Washington's firm commitment that any solution to the situation in Gaza must not include a role for Hamas."

The ministry explained that Rubio discussed with the Saudi Crown Prince ways to support a stable government in Syria.

She said that the two parties discussed the Yemen file and the Houthi threats to target maritime navigation, and the threat it poses to global trade.

Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, a day before talks in Jeddah between officials from the United States and Ukraine, as part of efforts to reach a solution to end the war between Kiev and Moscow.

A female citizen was killed this morning, Tuesday, by Israeli drone fire in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, citizen Najad Abu Sanima was killed by the march's bullets in the town of Al-Shawka, east of Rafah.

In turn, the Ministry of Health reported that 36 dead (32 dead were recovered, and 4 new dead) and 14 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours.

It pointed out that the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 48,503 dead and 111,927 injuries since October 7, 2023.

The Arab Summit and later the Organization of Islamic Cooperation approved a detailed Arab plan for the day after the war on Gaza, which includes rebuilding Gaza without displacing Palestinians from it, in response to the US President’s proposal to rebuild but after displacing Palestinians from Gaza and then not returning to it. It is useful to look at some details about the differences between the plan and the proposal and the realism of each.

First, it is important to realize that what the US President presented does not go beyond the proposal without attaching any plan to implement it, which is to displace the residents of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan and not return to them, then rebuild Gaza and make it the “Riviera” of the region. Of course, Trump did not provide any mechanisms to displace two million Palestinians against their will, or what is legally known as ethnic cleansing, and he did not explain how the displacement to Egypt, which rejected this absolutely, did as did Jordan, which is not geographically linked to the Gaza Strip at all. Trump did not explain the reasons for refusing the return of Palestinians to Gaza after its “reconstruction” and its contradiction with his “sympathy” for the people of Gaza and his “desire” to provide them with a decent living without allowing them to return to their land and homeland. The proposal also did not explain how the United States would “own” Gaza, as Trump said, who would rebuild the Strip, and to whom its “ownership” would go. Despite the vagueness of the proposal, its blatant violation of all international laws, and its disregard for the fact that the Palestinians do not want to emigrate, nor are Egypt and Jordan prepared to receive them, the White House and the US State Department came out to describe the Arab plan as “unrealistic” as soon as it was issued, while Israel rejected it in its entirety. It is useful to review the main features of the Arab plan. In addition to presenting a detailed technical plan explaining how to rebuild without displacing the Palestinians through several stages that include housing them in prefabricated homes or tents, while reconstruction is carried out in stages extending over five years, while providing the residents with everything they need from mobile hospitals, schools, places of worship, and infrastructure. The plan also includes an estimated cost of $53 billion, and calls for a funding conference in Cairo next month to begin raising the necessary funds.

In addition to the detailed technical plan, the plan emphasizes essential matters for reconstruction to become a first step on the road to a political path that leads to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a Palestinian state. The most important of these matters is recommitting to the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for comprehensive peace after Israel withdraws from all occupied Palestinian territories, and calling for the start of an immediate political path to achieve this. Without this, it is difficult to imagine who in the international community would be willing to provide reconstruction assistance only to see Israel destroy it in the future, as it has done many times in the past.

What is required today is to mobilize the greatest possible international support for the plan, including the European Union, Russia, China, and Japan, and to try to convince the administration to adopt it, then pressure Israel to accept it.

The plan also emphasizes the unity of Gaza with the West Bank, especially in light of Israel’s repeated attempts to separate the Strip from Gaza in preparation for annexing the West Bank.

The plan proposes a transitional administration for the Strip consisting of independent technocrats under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, following the agreement reached with Hamas not to participate in the administration of the Strip, in response to the Israeli and American argument that absolutely rejects such involvement.

The plan also recognizes, albeit indirectly, that the Palestinian Authority does not enjoy broad support among the Palestinians, and accordingly, in an unprecedented move, the summit highlighted the need for the Authority to carry out internal reforms that include presidential and legislative elections within a year. The plan also made clear, in response to the American and Israeli demand to disarm Hamas, that this can only be achieved if a realistic path to ending the occupation is agreed upon.

Any objective comparison of both the American proposal and the Arab plan shows that the latter is much more realistic than Trump’s proposal. However, the chances of its implementation face several obstacles, the first of which is that Israel is not interested in rebuilding Gaza, regardless of any plans that are presented that do not include displacing the Palestinians from their land, which is Israel’s primary goal. In addition, Israel is also not interested in talking about a political horizon that would end the Israeli occupation, because its eyes are on annexing the West Bank to Israel. It is noteworthy that neither Israel nor the United States have commented on the part related to the political horizon in the plan at all, which indicates their complete lack of interest in it.

While the American side has shown some flexibility regarding the plan in contradictory statements, it is not clear whether the Arab side will succeed in convincing the United States to adopt the plan, even with some amendments. The chances of achieving this, especially with Israeli intransigence, seem weak.

It is important to realize that the alternative to the Arab plan, if it is rejected, is not the unrealistic American proposal that lacks any serious mechanisms to achieve it. The alternative to the Arab plan is the continuation of war, destruction, and the killing of innocent civilians. Therefore, what is required today is to mobilize the greatest amount of international support for the plan, including the European Union, Russia, China, and Japan, and to try to convince the administration to adopt it, then pressure Israel to accept it. I realize how difficult this is, but it seems to be the only option on the scene today. As for the displacement option, it will most likely not pass in light of Palestinian steadfastness and Arab rejection. The next stage is very difficult and will require high-level Arab coordination, and even a unified Arab position that can withstand Israel's expansionist intentions and the US administration's overly rigid and unrealistic ideas, which give Israel the green light to expand its aggression and continue to impose new facts on the ground.

Former Jordanian Foreign Minister

This paper is a call to Israelis and Palestinians to together create a Bi-National Commission on Trust Building. This should be done at the national governmental level, but it will not be done by the people who call themselves our leaders. The people in power in Israel and Palestine seem to be quite content fostering the conflict between the two peoples and have no intention to seriously lead to the eventual peace and reconciliation that must happen. The conflict keeps them in power. We have been killing each other and denying the right of the other side for national self-determination for more than 100 years. We cannot continue to do this and because our leaders are at the root of sustaining the conflict, we the people must take action to change our course. 

There are approximately 20-30% of Israelis and Palestinians who will reject any peace agreement between the two peoples, basically regardless of what the peace treaties may contain. That leaves us with a potential majority of up to 70% on both sides of the conflict that could agree and support a peace agreement. Presently we are quite far away from that potential majority of supporters of peace. Since at least the beginning of the second intifada in the end of September 2000, most Israelis and most Palestinians have claimed that they want peace, but the problem is that the other side does not. After October 7, 2023 that majority of potential supporters of peace on both sides has become even more convinced that the other side does not want peace and is not willing to make any compromise that might even indicate a willingness to imagine the possibility that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved. But everyone must realize that when this war ends, we will remain on this land in more or less equal numbers because neither side will surrender to the other. We must come to the conclusion that after more than one hundred years of killing each other, we have to turn the page and find the way to live in peace on this land. 

The most basic problem is the total lack of trust between the two sides, each believing deeply that the other side does not recognize their national legitimacy or their right to have any national status anywhere on the land between the River and the Sea. But because the situation is so desperate, on the Israeli side there are those who think about unilateral steps, unilateral separation, withdrawing behind the separation barrier, but leaving the Israeli army on the other side. Alternatively, there are those who consider annexation and making Israeli control over all of the land permanent. I suggest that they should consider the lessons of the unilateral disengagement from Gaza. Unilateralism that emanates from desperation is a breeder of negative unintended consequences. In Gaza this was a failed strategy that did not bring the Israeli people security – nor will it in the West Bank. There are those on the Palestinian side who expect the international community to impose some kind of solution – Trump or the region, or someone else. This has been a failed strategy for years and has not brought the Palestinian people freedom.  There are no unilateral solutions and only direct negotiations need to be the direction that must unfold, but there are many obstacles to a negotiated peace – the total mistrust between the two peoples is perhaps the most serious obstacle.

If we Israelis and Palestinians don’t come up with the way to move forward, no one can do it for us. There are those who think that nothing can be done to change the situation. They believe that the majority of the people on the other side are so indoctrinated to hate that nothing can change that. Mutual hate and mutual fear have reached new heights since October 7 and it seems that we have not yet peaked. Statements from Israeli leaders and influencers that there are no innocent Palestinians in Gaza or in the West Bank strengthen Israeli public opinion that Palestinians are enemies dedicated to the destruction of Israel.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's invocations to "Remember what Amalek has done to you," referencing the total destruction of Amalek by the Israelites in the Bible, President Isaac Herzog's statement "It's an entire nation out there that is responsible. It's not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware not involved. It's absolutely not true. ... and we will fight until we break their backbone," and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant's 'situation update' advising Israel is "imposing a complete siege on Gaza.  No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly”  - these are all a few of the statements that fortify the belief in the impossibility of ever living in peace. 

Similarly, a statement put out by Hamas on March 8, 2025 (Gaza Now Telegram page) are the kinds of words that solidify in the minds of Palestinians that Israeli is illegitimate and it is destined to be destroyed:  “Israel is not a state; it is a terrorist gang built on murder and plunder. A group of outcasts and vagrants from the West were gathered by colonial Britain and unjustly granted the land of Palestine. They established their illegitimate entity on the blood of children, women, and men, stealing homes and lands, and displacing the rightful owners into exile and refugee camps.Teach your children that this artificial entity is doomed to vanish, that the hour of liberation is approaching, and that the occupiers will return to their homelessness, just as they began. Despite all the world’s conspiracies, Palestine will return to its free people.”

The failed Oslo peace process attempted to place the issue of mutual recognition up front, but it did not succeed. While Arafat wrote to Rabin “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security”, Rabin wrote to Arafat: “the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people”.  This was not parallel mutual recognition of the right to exist as a people on part of what is viewed by both sides as their homeland. Israel never recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the PLO never recognized Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people (perhaps a demand that should have never been made by Israel but once it was made and refused by the Palestinian leadership, it became a symbol of proof that the Palestinians are not prepared to make real peace with Israel). 

In truth, both peoples have more than ample evidence that the other side is not willing to make peace with the other.  The deepening Israeli occupation and control over the Palestinian people and their land for years, the expansion of settlements, the increased settler violence supported by the Israeli army (or not prevented by the Israeli army), the unimaginable limitations of movement of Palestinians, and more, are daily reminders to Palestinians that Israel is not at all interested in making peace with the Palestinian people. Palestinians are reminded everyday who is the enemy that has no intention of ever ending their occupation and control over their freedom. Israelis witness continued acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians and continued attacks against Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank and in Israel. Israelis witness Palestinians celebrating when Israelis are killed. Israelis see Palestinian public opinion polls that increasingly show large segments of the Palestinian public supporting the armed struggle against Israel. In fact, there is very little reason why Israelis and Palestinians should trust each other or believe that the other side is interested in living in peace. 

The daily reality of Israelis and Palestinians impacts the lack of trust or reason to trust the other side, and all of this is reinforced by public incitement and even more so by what is taught and what it not taught in our schools, on both sides. Much has been written and researched on the issue of text books and the research has clearly pointed to the compounding problem of our education systems in fostering stereotypes, fear, and hate, and providing a basis for denying the legitimacy of the other side’s right to exist as a people and as a nation-state. In the Oslo peace process, confronting the issue of education and the people-to-people aspects of peace building were an after-thought. They were not an integral part of the negotiations, nor a key element in the plans for peace building.   In reality, there is no better measure of the values of any society than what they teach their children. This is even more relevant when curricula and text books are determined at the national level. Any objective review of what we teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians will clearly demonstrate that we do not teach them that peace and mutual recognition is a possibility. We don’t teach them anything positive about the other people living on this land. We don’t enable our young people to be exposed to the culture of the other side. They don’t read literature from the other side, the don’t even learn the language of the other side and here it is worth noting that Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages which are amazingly close to each other. Teaching the other language should be the least controversial action of what I am proposing – all Israelis Jews should learn Arabic from grade one. All Palestinians should learn Hebrew from grade one. This should not even be considered as something negative. 

In the future, what we teach and what we don’t teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians (the crime of omission is as serious as the crime of what we include) will be denoted as one of the primary obstacles to breaking the deadlock in relations which has sustained the conflict for too many years. Eventually there will be a renewed peace process. That process must begin with genuine mutual recognition at the national level. The right of both peoples to self-determination is not negotiable. Secondly, the peace process must begin with the agreement of both sides to serious evaluate what they teach in their schools and to commit to reform and rectify what is taught within a given time frame. Each side must evaluate their own systems. It would not be wise for each side the evaluate the other. This is a national undertaking and in order for it to be serious, and to be taken seriously, each side must commit to do it on their own. The two sides must agree on the same criteria for evaluation, but the evaluation and recommendations of change and reform must be done separately by each side on their own side but then presented to each other. 

Since this will not be done by our governments in the foreseeable future, we the people must undertake this bi-national mission. We are undertaking the mission of launching this process and enlisting the top experts from both peoples to engage in the joint mission of beginning a process of building trust which will be the foundation stone of genuine peace making and peace building between the peoples of Israel and Palestine. If you are interested in taking part in this mission send a letter with your CV to: [email protected]

The author is one of two founders and co-directors of the Alliance for Two States. This call is in the name of the Alliance for two States

History does not repeat itself except for those who do not learn from its lessons.

The surprise in revealing the secret negotiations taking place between the US administration and the Hamas movement is that it surprised Palestinian circles that should not have been surprised by the existence of such a channel that was expected, not only because US policy is based on pragmatism that aims to achieve benefit in the easiest way, but also because these circles had previous experiences in secret negotiation channels with previous US administrations, and also in the famous Oslo channel.

It is useful to start by presenting the following observation: Wherever there are declared political negotiations to resolve a thorny conflict, it is useful to search for the secret negotiation channel, because there is always a channel, if not secret channels, in which the bulk and core of effective negotiation between the main parties takes place, calmly and deliberately. Since the announced negotiations are exposed and closely followed by the media and public opinion, the negotiating parties are exposed to pressure, and usually tend towards rigidity and intransigence in their demands, which leads to the loss of the flexibility necessary for the success of the negotiations. As for the secret negotiations that take place away from the spotlight, follow-up and monitoring, they allow the parties to overcome the pressures they are exposed to in the open negotiations, and open the way for them to fathom the true intentions of each other, and allow them to discuss more comfortably the details of their mutual demands, and open a wider space for them to give and take and make mutual concessions. The secret negotiation channel is what is often relied upon to reach an agreement. As for the announced negotiations, they are nothing but the framework that gives the real, secret negotiations the necessary cover to proceed without attention.

***

It is known that the declared goal of both parties, the Israeli and the American, in addition to other parties, to end the devastating war on the Gaza Strip, is summarized by ending the existence of "Hamas" as an armed resistance movement to Israel, and ending its control over the Gaza Strip. But it is clear that the massive destructive force that Israel has used so far on the Strip has not achieved the desired goal. Although it has been able to weaken the movement militarily, it has not been able to eliminate it as a resistance movement, nor has it been able to end its actual control over Gaza. Hamas remains present, is working to restore its entity, and is still, after all that has happened, the only internal force controlling the Strip, and has the “disruptive ability” to any future arrangements for its administration, if it does not obtain its participation in them, or at least its approval. Not only that, but the resumption of the temporarily halted war, at the same pace and even at a higher pace, does not promise anything more than inflicting more destruction and suffering on Gazan civilians, and does not guarantee achieving the desired goal. Rather, it will lead to turning the war into an open battle of attrition with a renewed and long-term Israeli occupation. Although this situation does not harm the far-right currently ruling Israel, and rather serves its goal of restoring settlement in the Gaza Strip, the resumption of war does not serve Trump’s goal of imposing long-term stability in the Middle East, allowing him to focus on more central and urgent issues to achieve his project of restoring the position of “America First” in the world.

If the war fails to eliminate Hamas, there are two methods that the US administration is employing, in an interconnected manner, to achieve the goal: The first method calls for the complete removal of Hamas from the future Palestinian political scene, by completely excluding it from working in the Palestinian arena, especially in its current center of support, the Gaza Strip. To achieve what the war failed to achieve, Trump announced the necessity of evacuating the Strip of all its residents, and emptying it by expelling them abroad without return, under the pretext that it has become an area unfit for human habitation. Under this flimsy pretext, Trump concluded that getting rid of Hamas and ending its rule over the Strip requires that there be no Palestinian presence in it in its entirety. This is the only guaranteed way to get rid of all elements of the movement, as the survival of one Palestinian in Gaza may lead to the survival of one of its elements, which will eventually rebuild itself. It is worth acknowledging that Trump’s conclusion was correct, as ending Hamas’s presence in the Palestinian arena requires closing this arena completely. Was Trump serious in proposing this method? Was he aware of the impossibility of accepting it from the various Palestinian, regional and international parties? Regardless of his intentions and visions, Trump achieved the purpose of this proposal, which is to exert maximum pressure on the opposing parties and confuse them. It is a skillful negotiating tactic to raise the ceiling of your demands to a higher level than the ceiling that could be imagined from the opposing parties, putting them directly in a defensive position, in order to extract the highest possible concession value from them. In order for the scene to be complete and the required concession to be obtained, the far-right Netanyahu government received Trump’s project to eliminate Hamas by expelling the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip with great support, as it is the best possible option to achieve the goal of emptying the Strip and regaining control over it. With the license that Trump granted to the idea of expelling the Palestinians from their homeland, this government began to take measures and put in place measures to transform this crazy idea into a reality that it has longed for. The restrictions on the continued living of the Gazans, the prevention of the entry of aid, and the rejection of the Arab plan for reconstruction are only parts of a systematic policy to transform the idea of expulsion into a reality, under the malicious name of “voluntary migration.” The second method is similar to the first in the radicalism of its proposal, but it goes in the opposite direction, which is to include the Hamas movement in the future Palestinian political scene, by containing and absorbing it within the Palestinian political arena, instead of excluding it from it. This option may be preferred by the US administration, after warnings that excluding the movement from the Palestinian political scene may have unwelcome repercussions from many "soft" countries in the region, which means regional instability, rather than stability. In addition, the requirements of containment and absorption will require it to make fundamental adjustments to its vision, program, and methods of work, which means adopting a new relationship with Israel, which means that the containment approach achieves the desired strategic goal better, faster, and with less effort and cost than exclusion. Under the item of discussing the issue of releasing Israeli-American hostages held in Gaza, the US administration opened a direct dialogue with the Hamas movement. If there are those who are hopeful and consider that this dialogue is merely limited discussions limited to a specific issue, they are completely wrong. This dialogue will most likely include much deeper issues, at the core of which will be the issue of absorbing the movement into the future Palestinian political scene, with Hamas shifting to political work completely and closing the door on its military activity.

There are those who bet that the Trump administration cannot make a deal with Hamas, but if it achieves its goal, why not? These people must ask themselves: What is better for this administration, to follow the first method that will not take off and will not succeed, or to achieve the desired goal through the second method? It is important to remember what Shimon Peres said in the past, that the best way to manage the conflict is to bring the PLO inside, instead of keeping it outside. It may be Hamas’s turn now. There are also those who bet, on the other hand, that Hamas cannot go in the opposite direction of its current position, which is to continue its adherence to the option of resistance. However, these people must be aware that Hamas is a political movement, and that the goal of political movements is to ensure survival and do whatever is necessary to continue. As is known, Hamas includes a strong pragmatic current that was able to make changes in its vision and make adjustments in its program, which were necessary to cross previous difficult junctures. It is also worth noting that after facing this bitter war, the movement faces a difficult future situation whose repercussions must be taken into account. It has lost much of its own capabilities and the effectiveness of its allies in the regional arena, and is exposed to a barrage of pressure factors that threaten to continue to pursue it until it achieves withdrawal or changes its course. The PLO fell under a series of successive pressures after its exit from Lebanon following the Israeli invasion in 1982, which ultimately led it to the Oslo Accords with Israel. What is happening now with Hamas is similar, but with the difference that reaching the same result will not require a period extending to a decade. The conditions of the region and the world have changed for the worse for the Palestinians, and there is no longer much room for maneuver. What leverage will Hamas have to preserve its existence after its stock of hostages is exhausted, in one way or another?! The ongoing secret negotiations with the US administration are opening an outlet that may be the most important for the future of Hamas. 

It goes without saying that the process of transformation for any political party requires providing incentives that guarantee its continued survival. The current push by regional and international parties, led by America, towards the necessity of holding Palestinian elections in the near future, and showing signs of Palestinian approval of this, may be the new approach and the promised sign to absorb the Hamas movement not only as a party in the future Palestinian political scene, but may also open the way for it to control it. All of this is contingent, of course, on providing the required compensation. ***

The options are becoming narrower for all Palestinian parties, and with them the paths are becoming clearer. But the paradox remains that the Palestinian parties, instead of drawing lessons and mending the internal rift to more effectively confront the imminent dangers facing the Palestinian cause, still insist on antagonizing each other, and going to the "guillotine" in succession, with warm cheers from those waiting!

The summary of the title, which was reached by the late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, after a thirty-year rule, and which was mentioned by the late writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal in his book, “Mubarak and His Era... From the Platform to the Field,” is the summary of someone who lived through the fluctuations of American politics and was one of its victims.

This conclusion has clear evidence in different eras of ancient and modern history. In short memory, the incident of the white coup in the White House against Ukraine appears, which was interspersed with words that resembled punches, and was tainted with roughness that almost reached the point of raising a hand to the Ukrainian leader.

In the average memory, what Iraq witnessed of destruction, in the name of freedom, democracy, reconstruction and stability, the dismantling of the Iraqi army was a recipe for the cultivation of militias, and bringing them from their distant dens, to work on dividing the country and its people, by inciting strife between races and ethnicities, just as it is trying to replicate in Syria these days.

In Beirut in 1982, after eighty days of resistance, Philip Habib intervened to negotiate with Abu Ammar to leave or be destroyed, while Sharon was standing with his tank columns on the outskirts of the destroyed capital.

Philip Habib returns today in the form of "Adam Boehler", to bargain with "Hamas" to leave and surrender the weapon or go to hell, but the difference today is that Gaza is not Beirut, in which the immortal martyr said his immortal words: "If Beirut were a Palestinian city, I would not have left it."

Hamas's loss is not only a loss for it, but it is a loss for the entire cause, and no one should take the issue as a matter of political spite or factional bickering. What happened in Sabra and Shatila after the resistance withdrew, something similar and more could happen if the experience is repeated, God forbid.

The great sacrifices should not go unaccounted for in the general national account, and it is still possible to compensate for the deficiency and make up for the missed opportunity to thwart the plans drawn up for the issue, from which no one will be safe after Trump’s appetite for swallowing the land and displacing its owners has opened.

The question of the fate of the cause and its people is what should be at the forefront of the dialogue that has been interrupted between the parties. Hesitation is of no use, nor is managing politics piecemeal or with crosswords. Absorbing Hamas within the framework of the organization and immediately going to elections is the safest option capable of providing a lifeline, so that history does not repeat itself, this time as a farce, as Karl Marx said.

There is something in history called the critical moment; yesterday is early, tomorrow is late.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the severe water shortage in the Gaza Strip has reached critical levels, as only one in 10 people currently have access to safe drinking water, or 90% of the population.

According to the website, UNICEF official in Gaza, Rosalia Poulin, reported that 600,000 people regained access to drinking water in November 2024, but it was cut off again.

UN agencies estimate that 1.8 million people, more than half of whom are children, urgently need water, sanitation and health assistance, stressing that the situation has deteriorated further after the decision to cut off electricity to the Strip, which led to the disruption of vital water desalination operations.

This morning, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces injured two citizens and arrested others in the West Bank.

In Nablus, Israeli military vehicles stormed the eastern area and Askar camp at dawn today, where some soldiers climbed onto the roofs of houses, raided a number of them, searched them and tampered with their contents, before arresting three citizens: Asid Duweikat from the Masaken al-Sha'biyya area, Qassam Duweikat from Askar al-Balad, and Saleh Awad from Askar al-Qadeem camp.

Another force from the occupation army stormed the Zawata junction west of the city, raided the home of citizen Amer Sanobar, and arrested him, although they had released him yesterday evening after arresting him at dawn.

This morning, the occupation forces stormed Balata camp, east of Nablus, and raided and searched a number of homes, before arresting the young man, Moamen Ahmed Issa Tirawi.

In Ramallah, the occupation army arrested three citizens after raiding their homes in the village of Kafr Ein, northwest of Ramallah. They are: Ahmed Saeed Al-Eiss (59 years old), his son Samer (18 years old), and Sadar Al-Eiss (20 years old).

The occupation soldiers also arrested the young man, Basil Al-Mash, during the storming of the Jalazone camp, north of Ramallah, while another force arrested a young man - whose identity has not yet been known - from the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah.

In the same context, the occupation forces stormed the town of Birzeit and the village of Jifna, north of Ramallah, and the village of Budrus, west of Ramallah, in addition to several neighborhoods in the city of Ramallah, without any news of arrests.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to calm tensions with Israel, against the backdrop of direct talks held by US envoy for prisoner affairs, Adam Boehler, with Hamas, over the past two weeks, in an attempt to reach understandings regarding prisoners held in Gaza.

This came according to what was reported by the political correspondent for the Israeli website "Walla" and the American website "Axios", on Monday evening, who indicated that Tel Aviv avoided directing public criticism of these talks or of Boehler himself, but it conveyed "angry messages" to the White House through undisclosed channels.

During the Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday evening, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that Boehler's direct talks with Hamas "do not reflect the position of the Trump administration," according to an informed American official.

Dermer claimed that Israel had received assurances from Washington that "this will not happen again," noting that the US president's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, would be the only channel for negotiating over the prisoners, without clarifying whether this would be done directly or through mediators.

White House: Trump was aware of Boehler's negotiations with Hamas

In contrast, the report quoted White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt as saying that US President Trump was aware of the talks that Boehler had with Hamas leaders, and stressed that the US President "fully supports Boehler" in these negotiating efforts.

In a related context, an Israeli delegation headed to Doha on Monday to hold a new round of negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The US envoy, Witkoff, is scheduled to join the talks on Tuesday in an attempt to push the parties towards an agreement.

An Israeli official said Witkov told them that "if there is seriousness in the negotiations, he is willing to stay in Doha for 3-4 days to try to reach a deal." In a television interview he gave before his visit to the region, Witkov stressed the need to set a "deadline" for the negotiations.

"The main point is that Hamas must give up its weapons, not rearm, leave all its weapons on the ground and leave Gaza. I don't see any other option for them but to leave. And if they leave Gaza, all options will be on the table," he said.

Israeli delegation begins negotiations in Doha without mandate to discuss ceasefire

According to the Israeli official, Witkov will not meet with Hamas leadership "for free," but will require a "tangible concession" from the movement for him to agree to meet with them.

In turn, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation ("Kan 11") reported on Monday evening that the Israeli delegation that had left for Doha had not received a mandate to discuss stopping the war on Gaza, and noted that it consisted of only a technical team, including a senior official in the Shin Bet referred to by the letter "M."

She said that the talks that the Israeli delegation will hold will begin tonight (Monday - Tuesday), adding that it also includes the coordinator of prisoners and missing persons affairs in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Gal Hirsch, along with a number of specialists from Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israeli army.

According to "Kan 11", due to the month of Ramadan, the negotiations are being held in the late hours of the night and continue until dawn. The US envoy, Witkoff, is expected to return to Doha on Tuesday to push the talks forward.

Bowler: America is not a 'proxy' for Israel

According to the Walla report, Boehler held at least two rounds of talks with Hamas leaders in Doha, including a meeting with the movement's head of negotiating team, Khalil al-Hayya. Boehler stressed in television interviews on Sunday that he did not only discuss the release of Israeli prisoners with American citizenship.

He said he "also discussed a broader deal that would include all hostages and a 5-10 year truce between Israel and Hamas," and Boehler acknowledged that he "understands Israeli concerns" about his talks with Hamas, but stressed that "the United States is not a proxy for Israel" and that it has "its own interests."

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 13, Boehler was asked about reports of a heated exchange between him and Dermer, a close Netanyahu adviser, last week. “Honestly, I don’t care much about it, with all due respect to Dermer,” he said. “If every tension between me and him was going to be a big problem, he would have big problems almost every day.”

For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Monday evening, during his visit to Saudi Arabia, that the talks held by Boehler with Hamas were a "one-time", stressing that they "have not borne fruit" so far.

Rubio added that the main channel for negotiating a prisoner swap and ceasefire remains through the US envoy to the Middle East, Witkoff, via Qatari mediation.

At dawn on Tuesday, settlers set fire to three vehicles in the village of Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah.

Local sources reported that a group of settlers infiltrated the western side of the village in the early hours of the morning, and stormed a car garage belonging to citizen Muhammad Yusuf al-Sabti Sabah and his brother Raafat, where they set it on fire, which led to the complete burning of three vehicles.

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced this morning, Tuesday, that its crews had retrieved a 60-year-old victim from the Jalameh checkpoint in Jenin.

A citizen was killed, Monday evening, in an Israeli occupation bombing in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, the martyr Abdullah Ali Al-Shaer arrived in pieces at the European Hospital, after being targeted by a drone east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Earlier today, medical sources announced that the death toll in the Gaza Strip had risen to 48,467, and the number of injuries to 111,913 since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, noting that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and rescue crews cannot reach them.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday they would take military action once a four-day deadline to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip expires, Reuters reported.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said on Friday that the movement would resume naval operations against Israel if it did not end its suspension of aid to Gaza within four days, indicating a possible escalation.

The Iran-allied rebel movement has launched more than 100 attacks on shipping since November 2023, saying the attacks were in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war on the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. The attacks subsided in January after a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

During those attacks, the Houthis sank two ships, seized another and killed at least four sailors, disrupting global shipping and forcing companies to reroute their ships to take a longer, more expensive route around southern Africa.

Al-Houthi said on Friday: “We will give a four-day grace period, and this is a grace period for the mediators in their efforts. If the Israeli enemy continues after the four days to prevent humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and continues to completely close the crossings and prevent the entry of medicine into the Gaza Strip, then we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy. Our words are clear, and we meet the siege with a siege.”

On March 2, Israel blocked aid trucks from entering Gaza as the dispute over the truce escalated, and Hamas called on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.

The Palestinian movement welcomed the Houthi announcement on Friday. It said in a statement: “This courageous decision, which reflects the depth of the connection between the brothers in Ansar Allah and the brotherly Yemeni people to Palestine and Jerusalem, is an extension of the blessed positions of support and assistance they have provided over the course of fifteen months of the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli forces opened fire on Monday evening at a school in the town of Ramyeh in southern Lebanon.

A number of young men survived the Israeli forces’ shooting at the Ramyeh School in the Bint Jbeil district in southern Lebanon. The Israeli soldiers descended from the Ramyeh Israeli position towards the eastern entrance to the town, and directed their machine guns towards the school, which the residents had turned into a service headquarters, according to what the official Lebanese National News Agency announced.

It is noteworthy that a ceasefire agreement was announced between Lebanon and Israel on November 26, with Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory after 60 days.

The deadline for implementing the agreement was extended until February 18. Israel did not abide by the terms of the agreement. Its forces are still present at a number of points in southern Lebanon.

Hebrew media reported on Monday that the families of the "Israeli detainees" in Gaza gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 24 hours to cancel the decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, threatening to go to the Supreme Court, and considering that the decision puts the lives of their relatives detained in the Strip at risk.

The Hebrew media added that dozens of families of the "detainees" had sent a warning letter to Netanyahu a short time ago, as well as to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Energy Minister Eli Cohen.

They demanded that the decision to stop the flow of electricity to Gaza be immediately cancelled, or they would file a petition with the Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority in the country) within 24 hours.

In a letter sent through lawyers to Netanyahu, Sa'ar and Cohen, the families warned that stopping the electricity supply to Gaza "puts their loved ones in immediate danger."

The Hebrew media added: "The letter cited the position attributed to the Israeli occupation army, which believes that providing electricity is also necessary to prevent diseases that may endanger detainees."

Syrian TV reported today (Monday) that Israeli aircraft launched raids targeting military sites in Daraa in southern Syria.

Syria TV said that Israeli aircraft targeted the 89th Regiment north of Daraa, and also bombed the vicinity of the city of Izraa east of Daraa.

Israel controls the buffer zone inside Syrian territory and has been bombing military targets across the country since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad late last year.

Israel said Monday it was ready to defend Druze in Syria after days of violence that a monitoring group said led to the mass killing of another religious minority.

The violence began last week between fighters linked to Syria’s new government and forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Israeli government spokesman David Mincer told reporters that the violence was a “massacre of civilians” and that Israel was “prepared, if necessary, to defend the Druze,” without giving details on how that might happen.

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student and "pro-Hamas" activist, on the campus of Columbia University in New York.

The arrest came under executive orders previously signed by Trump, with US authorities describing Khalil as a "pro-Hamas extremist."

Trump stressed that this arrest is the first of many to come, noting that there are other students at Columbia and other American universities involved in "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic and anti-American" activities.

According to reports, Mahmoud Khalil was arrested at his Columbia University-owned apartment in Manhattan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

His green card, which allows him to live and work in the United States, was revoked. Khalil's lawyer, Amy Greer, said the arrest was made without warning and that he was immediately detained.

"The Trump administration will not tolerate this. Many are not students, but paid provocateurs," Trump said in a statement, adding that the administration would continue to pursue individuals who engage in activities that support terrorism or are hostile to the United States.

For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will cancel the visas and residencies of Hamas supporters in America, in preparation for their deportation.

"We will revoke the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so we can deport them," Rubio said.

The move reflects growing tensions between the United States and Hamas, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.

This move also comes in the context of US efforts to monitor and hold accountable individuals suspected of participating in activities that support armed groups or are hostile to US policies.

The arrest has drawn mixed reactions, with some US officials supporting it as a necessary step to protect national security, while others have criticized it as a violation of civil rights and academic freedoms. The case is expected to spark a broader debate about the balance between national security and individual rights in the United States.

Three citizens were injured by live bullets and dozens suffocated, Monday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces' storming of the town of Dura, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, the occupation forces stormed Dura, amidst the firing of live bullets, sound bombs, and toxic gas, which resulted in three citizens being injured by live bullets in the lower limbs, who were subsequently transferred to the hospital. The Ministry of Health described their conditions as stable, while dozens of citizens suffered from suffocation and were treated in the field.

In the same context, anti-settlement activist Osama Makhamreh told WAFA that the occupation forces stormed the village of Al-Zuwaydin in Masafer Yatta and arrested the young man Ali Muhammad Al-Atimin after raiding his house, destroying its contents and seizing a sum of money.

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The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, stressed that every possible effort must be made to maintain the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip so that lives can be saved and humanitarian aid can enter.

The international official pointed out in a statement, today, Monday, that "the ceasefire agreement saved countless lives, and provided a beacon of hope amid unimaginable suffering, and any disintegration of the momentum built over the past six weeks would lead people back to despair."

“As a neutral humanitarian intermediary, our teams helped advance the ceasefire agreement by safely carrying out these vital operations at the request of the parties. We have never wavered from our commitment to this work,” she added.

The young man, Ahmed Fathi Ahmed Salah (32 years old), was killed this evening, Monday, after being run over by an Israeli military vehicle in the city of Jenin.

Local sources said that an Israeli military vehicle ran over a young man who was riding his motorcycle near the Interior Ministry roundabout in the city of Jenin, causing him serious injuries. He was then transferred to Ibn Sina Hospital, before his death was announced.

Doha is hosting a new round of talks to consolidate the truce in the Gaza Strip, amid disagreements over the terms of a possible second phase, and talks about the imminent participation of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in efforts to resolve the conflict.

This expected American presence, after direct talks between Washington and Hamas, and Israel sending a delegation to Doha on Monday, are steps that experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat see as a push towards a new breakthrough that will enhance the chances of the faltering truce agreement remaining in place. They expect that the closest thing will be an extension for about two months beyond Ramadan and the holidays, followed by understandings regarding the start of the postponed second phase.

A team of Israeli negotiators left for Doha on Monday to hold a new round of talks on the continuation of the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Witkov is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and then to the Qatari capital on Wednesday, where the talks are taking place, The Times of Israel reported on Monday, citing a source, without clarifying whether he will visit Israel or not.

According to the same source, the "Wittkoff Plan" supported by Israel is on the table for discussion in the talks. It includes Hamas releasing ten live hostages, including Israeli-American Idan Alexander, in exchange for another 60 days of ceasefire.

The Trump administration is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Easter, possibly leading to a long-term truce that could end the war, Axios reported Sunday.

With the end of the first phase of the deal, early this March, with the release of 33 hostages, including 8 dead, and 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, Hamas refused, according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, to accept the “Witkoff Framework,” while Israel agreed to it, according to the statement, which prompted the latter to prevent the entry of aid into the Strip.

Netanyahu's Obstacles

Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, is betting that Witkov’s visit to the region will provide a real opportunity for the agreement to hold and for Netanyahu’s obstacles to be overcome, noting that the escalating American position, in which Trump seeks to prevent a war and for Arab countries to continue normalizing relations with Israel, will make the agreement largely steadfast, even given the current data.

Palestinian political analyst Dr. Abdul Mahdi Mutawa believes that Witkov's upcoming visit to Doha means that a serious breakthrough has occurred, and thus Trump's envoy has returned to the region after several postponements, especially since the mediators succeeded in convincing Hamas to accept the Community Support Committee as the movement announced in a statement on Sunday, expecting the agreement to hold and move towards extending the first phase and then starting a second phase.

Amidst this anticipation, Hamas said in a statement on Monday that “the occupation continues to overturn the agreement and refuses to begin the second phase, which reveals its intentions to evade and procrastinate,” expressing its readiness “to immediately begin negotiations for the second phase,” shortly after issuing a statement confirming that it “dealt flexibly with the efforts of the mediators and Trump’s envoy, and we await the results of the expected negotiations and the occupation’s obligation to the agreement and move to the second phase.”

The movement's leader, Taher Al-Nunu, revealed in statements on Sunday that several meetings were held between the movement's leaders and the US envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, noting that the two sides also discussed how to implement the interim agreement that aims to end the war.

For his part, the US envoy described the meeting in an interview with CNN as “very useful,” expressing his confidence that an agreement could be reached to release the hostages in Gaza “within weeks.”

Various pressures

The Jerusalem Post published the results of a recent poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, which says that nearly three-quarters of Israelis support Netanyahu’s resignation either now or after the war so that he can take responsibility for his role on October 7, 2023. Regarding the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage agreement, about 73 percent support the continuation of the agreement to secure the release of all hostages, even at its high cost, which includes a complete cessation of hostilities, withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

According to Rakha, there is a relative change in the American position, especially after Boehler’s positive statements after the meetings with Hamas, which reinforces the assessment that Washington prevented Netanyahu from going to war. He explained that the movement is betting on the start of the second phase, considering it the core of the solution, as it includes important Israeli withdrawals, without which the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will not take place.

It is believed that Arab, European and internal pressures in Israel, in addition to American moves, will push towards continuing the implementation of the agreement, even if in a temporary manner. It is not unlikely that Netanyahu will be sacrificed from his position, especially since Washington’s move with Hamas means that the Trump administration is showing discomfort with the Israeli Prime Minister and has resorted to direct negotiations.

The Commissioner-General of UNRWA stressed that "the collapse of the agency will create a dangerous vacuum in the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon," noting that "we need additional emergency support so that the agency can continue to operate."

He pointed out that "there are efforts in Israel to silence organizations supporting the Palestinians," explaining that "it refuses to facilitate the entry and exit of individuals through the Kerem Shalom crossing."

He stated that "50,000 children attend our schools, and we provide health services to 100,000 people in the West Bank," stressing that "we need additional emergency support so that the agency can continue to work." He pointed out that "stopping support for UNRWA will deepen the suffering of the Palestinians."