After more than 4 decades behind bars, Nael Barghouti (67 years old), the dean of Palestinian prisoners, was released on Thursday morning, carrying decades of steadfastness and suffering in the prisons of the Israeli occupation.

Over the past years of his imprisonment, prisoner Barghouti sent many messages, one of which we recall: “If there was a free world as they claim, I would not have remained in captivity until today.”

On Thursday morning, Israel released Barghouti among hundreds of liberated Palestinian prisoners, as part of the seventh and final batch of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Barghouti spent a total of more than 45 years moving between Israeli prison cells, and is considered one of the most prominent symbols of the Palestinian prisoner movement.

Barghouti's release represents a turning point in the history of the Palestinian struggle, as he embodies a model of steadfastness despite the repeated sanctions imposed on him by Israel that failed to break his will.

The prisoner Nael Barghouti was born in the town of Kobar on October 23, 1957. He was arrested for the first time in 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment and 18 years. Over the course of 34 years, which he spent continuously, the occupation authorities refused to release him, despite the conclusion of many exchange deals and releases that took place within the framework of negotiations.

On October 18, 2011, as part of the “Wafa al-Ahrar” prisoner exchange deal, he was released along with hundreds of prisoners, including his comrade-in-arms, the freed prisoner Fakhri al-Barghouti. After his release, he married the freed prisoner Aman Nafi’.

On June 18, 2014, the occupation authorities re-arrested him again and issued a sentence of 30 months against him. After he had served his sentence, they reinstated his previous sentence, which was life imprisonment and (18) years, under the pretext of the existence of a (secret file), along with dozens of those released in the “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal, whose previous sentences were reinstated, and most of them are serving life sentences.

In 2018, the occupation forces killed his nephew Saleh Al-Barghouti, arrested his brother Asem, and a large group of his family members, and demolished two of the family’s homes, as part of the policy of collective punishment. During the past year, the occupation arrested his wife Aman Nafeh and his only sister Hanan Al-Barghouti, and released them.

During the year 2021, Barghouti faced a difficult station in his life, added to dozens of previous stations, with the loss of his brother and companion Omar Barghouti (Abu Asif), as the occupation once again deprived him of bidding farewell to one of his loved ones, just as he had previously lost his parents and was also deprived of bidding farewell to them.

The outgoing Israeli Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, expressed his concern about what he called the "security threat from Egypt," considering that it does not currently pose a threat to Tel Aviv, but the matter "could change in a moment."

Channel 14 Israel quoted Halevi, who is scheduled to officially hand over his position to his successor Eyal Zamir in early March, as making his statements to graduates of an officers' course in the city of Holon.

"Israel is concerned about the security threat from Egypt," Halevi said.

"We believe it is not a threat at the moment, but that could change at any moment," he added.

"We are very concerned about this," he continued, adding, "This is not our priority right now, and we have to say that."

The Israeli Chief of Staff said: "Egypt has a large army equipped with advanced combat equipment, aircraft, submarines, advanced missiles, and a very large number of tanks and infantry fighters."

This is not the first time that an Israeli official has expressed his fears about Egypt's military situation. Tel Aviv's permanent representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, expressed Israel's concerns about the Egyptian army's armament.

“They have no threats in the region,” Danon said in January. “Why do they (the Egyptians) need all these submarines and tanks?”

In February, Egypt's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek, responded to him by saying: "Since he (Danon) gave himself the right to ask questions, the answer is clear, simple and direct: Strong and major countries like Egypt require strong armies capable of defending national security in its comprehensive dimensions through sufficient and diverse armament."

He continued: "I confirm that Egypt was the first to establish the foundations of peace in the Middle East, and it is committed to the cause of peace as a strategic choice, but it is capable of defending its national security with a strong army and a history extending back thousands of years."

Abdel Khaleq stressed that "the Egyptian military doctrine is defensive, and it is capable of deterrence."

On March 26, 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in Washington following the Camp David Accords between the two sides in 1978. Its most prominent provisions were the cessation of the state of war, the normalization of relations, Israel’s complete withdrawal of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, and keeping the area demilitarized.

The General Authority of Civil Affairs announced today, Thursday, the death of Mahmoud Ibrahim Sanaqra (25 years old) by the occupation forces’ bullets in Balata camp, east of Nablus.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces assassinated a young man and detained his body during their raid on Balata camp.

The director of the Red Crescent Emergency and Ambulance Center in Nablus, Amid Ahmed, reported that the ambulance crews transferred a young man (32 years old) who was injured by the occupation forces’ bullets in the thigh area, while a child (14 years old) was injured in the hand and abdomen, and an elderly man (68 years old) suffered bruises after the occupation forces attacked him.

Local sources indicated that the occupation forces stormed Balata camp, amid heavy gunfire, after discovering special forces in the "Maqdousha" neighborhood, amid the arrival of reinforcements from the Awarta checkpoint.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation authorities issued a decision to seize and confiscate lands belonging to the town of Tamoun, southeast of Tubas.

The official in charge of the Jordan Valley file in Tubas Governorate, Moataz Basharat, reported that the so-called commander of the occupation army issued a military order to seize 5 dunams and 217 meters of Tamoun lands in the "Jalmat Asaf" area.

According to Basharat, the lands against which the decision was issued are located to the east of the “Bek’ot” settlement, which is located on the lands of citizens in the area.

Yesterday, the occupation forces issued a military order to seize and take possession of more than eight dunams of citizens’ land in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

Last month, the occupation authorities seized a total of 262 dunams of citizens’ lands, through two expropriation orders for the purpose of expanding a colonial road north of Jerusalem. The first order targeted a total of 258 dunams of citizens’ lands in the villages of Jaba’, Kafr Aqab, Al-Ram, Mikhmas, and Qalandia, north of the Jerusalem Governorate, through an expropriation order aimed at expanding Road No. 45, which connects Road 60 near the Binyamin Industrial Zone and the two colonial Kokhav Yaakov, all the way to the Qalandia military checkpoint. The second order stipulated the right to dispose of 4.5 dunams of the area’s lands, for the purpose of expanding a colonial road.

A child was seriously injured on Thursday when an Israeli drone bombed the center of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that the girl was seriously injured after an occupation drone bombed a group of citizens in Al-Shaboura camp in the center of Rafah city.

Israel has backed down from its commitment to withdraw from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) axis at the end of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal, and has also decided to suspend the release of female and child prisoners, Israeli media reported Thursday.

A senior Israeli official said that Israel will not implement the final stage of the agreement, and will not withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor as it pledged.

Israeli media quoted the Israeli official as saying: "We will not abandon the Philadelphia Road."

"We will not allow Hamas killers to roam our borders again with their small cars and rifles, and we will not allow them to regain their strength again through smuggling," he said.

In this context, Israeli Security Minister Yisrael Katz said that the Philadelphi Corridor will remain a buffer zone, just as is the case in Lebanon and Syria.

The Israeli statements about not withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor, at the end of the first phase of the deal, come in order to outline the features of the second phase, whose negotiations will begin in the coming days.

In the context of Israel's violations of the ceasefire agreement, Israel suspended the release of 46 female and child prisoners who were supposed to be released as part of the seventh batch in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Israel refused to release the 46 prisoners until the identities of the bodies of the four Israeli prisoners handed over by Hamas were confirmed.

Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners at dawn on Thursday, distributed between the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, in exchange for the Qassam Brigades handing over the bodies of 4 kidnapped Israelis to the Red Cross.

The coffins of the four bodies arrived at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Abu Kabir, south of Tel Aviv, to confirm their identities.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that the bodies are now in Israel and that initial tests were conducted at the crossing, pending completion at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Tel Aviv, to diagnose and examine the causes of death.

For its part, Hamas renewed its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip with all its details and provisions, stressing its readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement.

The movement stressed that "the only way to release the occupation prisoners in the Gaza Strip is to negotiate and adhere to what was agreed upon only."

Hamas warned that "any attempts by Netanyahu and his government to backtrack on the agreement and obstruct it will only lead to more suffering for the prisoners and their families."

She called on the mediators to continue to pressure the occupation to abide by what was agreed upon.

Calling on the countries of the world to stop the "double standards" in the discourse related to the occupation prisoners without mentioning the Palestinian prisoners and the abuse they are subjected to.

Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation forces demolished a restaurant and facilities of a sports stadium in the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem.

Local sources reported that an occupation army force, accompanied by a bulldozer, stormed Nahalin and took up positions in the Wadi al-Baqara area at the main northern entrance, and demolished a restaurant and facilities for a sports field belonging to citizen Muhammad Sharif Najajra.

The sources added that the occupation forces closed the demolition area and fired tear gas and sound bombs at citizens and vehicles, without any injuries being reported.

It is noteworthy that months ago, the occupation forces demolished a commercial complex in the same area, which included four barracks, a warehouse, and an aluminum shop.

Last month, the occupation authorities carried out 76 demolition operations that affected 126 facilities, including 74 inhabited homes, 4 uninhabited ones, and 29 agricultural and other facilities. They were concentrated in the governorates of Jenin, with the demolition of 47 facilities, then the Jerusalem governorate with 14 facilities, Qalqilya with 11, and Bethlehem and Nablus with 10 facilities each.

The Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs Authority said that the conditions of detainees in Shatta prison are tragic, as they are subjected to severe beatings and continuous gas spraying, and the food is served raw and without salt.

It added in a statement issued today, Thursday, quoting sick detainees, that the occupation prison administration practices medical negligence against detainees, especially the sick ones.

She pointed out that the detainee Walid Muslim, who has been detained since September 2024, suffers from the skin disease "psoriasis" after his arrest, and his health condition is poor and he is not receiving any treatment, and he demanded that the necessary treatment be provided to him.

While the detainee Fadi Raddad complains of pain in his right shoulder and back after the prison guards severely beat him, in light of the prison administration’s deliberate medical neglect and failure to provide him with the necessary treatment.

Following the lawyer’s visit, the detainees demanded that the relevant authorities provide hours in the prison and know the times for fasting and the call to prayer, especially with the approach of the month of Ramadan, in addition to providing copies of the Qur’an in the rooms, as there is one copy of the Qur’an in each room. The detainees appealed to the relevant institutions to help them by allowing the prison administration to practice religious rituals during the month of Ramadan and to improve the quality of food.

Today, Thursday, a young man was injured by the occupation forces’ bullets during a raid on Balata camp, east of Nablus.

The director of the Red Crescent Emergency and Ambulance Center in Nablus, Amid Ahmed, reported that the ambulance crews transferred a young man (32 years old) who was injured by the occupation forces’ bullets in the thigh area in the vicinity of Balata camp.

Local sources indicated that the occupation forces stormed Balata camp, amid heavy gunfire, after discovering special forces in the Maqdosha neighborhood, amid the arrival of reinforcements from the Awarta checkpoint.

The Israeli occupation continues its aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the thirty-eighth consecutive day, leaving 27 dead, dozens of injuries, and widespread destruction of infrastructure and property.

Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rab said that the ongoing occupation aggression has led to heavy losses amounting to 20 million shekels per day, especially with the continued closure of the Jalameh military checkpoint in front of our people from within the 1948 territories, noting that the fate of about 6,000 students studying at the Arab American University is unknown, in light of the occupation’s continued prevention of them from reaching the university, in addition to preventing workers from going to their places of work.

He added that the occupation is trying to completely change the features of the camp, as it has carried out digging operations 3 meters deep in the ground, with the aim of building towers around Jenin camp.

He pointed out that since the first day of its aggression, the occupation has sought to change the map of the camp by creating new streets in it and expanding other streets, in addition to demolishing entire neighborhoods in it.

Abu al-Rab pointed out that the occupation's forcing of the residents of Jenin camp to leave and evacuate it is a prelude to its remaining for a long time inside the camp.

This morning, the occupation forces took measurements of the house of the martyr Islam Khamisa in preparation for its demolition.

Last night, the occupation forces attacked a number of young men in the vicinity of Yahya Ayyash roundabout in the city of Jenin, while the occupation forces pushed Eitan armored vehicles to the vicinity of the camp. They also continued to push their reinforcements accompanied by bulldozers to the camp, amidst the flight of warplanes, and bulldozed the vicinity of the Martyrs' Cemetery in the camp.

The occupation continued its movements with tanks on the outskirts of Jenin camp, specifically in the Al-Jairiyat neighborhood, near the Al-Assir Mosque, and other neighborhoods of the camp.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General said in a press statement yesterday, Wednesday, that the West Bank has become a battlefield after the occupation killed 50 citizens in five weeks.

He added that the West Bank is witnessing serious repercussions of the Gaza war, and that citizens are the first to suffer from these repercussions, calling for an immediate end to the occupation's aggression.

The occupation continues to burn homes inside Jenin camp, bulldoze roads and expand other roads. The occupation soldiers also continue to prevent and pursue citizens who are trying to reach their homes inside it to take their necessary supplies such as clothes and blankets, especially in light of the cold weather conditions and the approach of the holy month of Ramadan.

The displaced people are facing great difficulties as they continue to be displaced from their homes for the 38th day, as the residents fear that they will remain outside their homes throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

The occupation prevents local and international press crews from entering the camp to monitor the destruction and devastation inside it, and to cover the occupation’s practices against the citizens.

The occupation also continues to seize a number of citizens' homes and turn them into military barracks, especially in buildings close to and overlooking Jenin camp. Water is also cut off from a number of the city's neighborhoods due to the occupation's bulldozing of roads and water networks, and the difficulty of crews working to restore them with the continued presence of the occupation.

On the 40th day of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, attention is turning to the start of negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, after the completion of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal.

On Thursday morning, Israel released 642 Palestinian prisoners as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal, distributed between the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, while the International Committee of the Red Cross received the bodies of four kidnapped Israelis from Hamas, as part of the conclusion of the first phase of the Gaza agreement.

1,700 Palestinian prisoners were released, including 700 prisoners with life sentences and long sentences, and 1,000 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were released as part of the first phase of the exchange deal, while 33 Israeli hostages were released, including 8 bodies and 5 Thais, leaving 59 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The exchange process, which was supposed to take place last Saturday, witnessed Israeli procrastination, due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas had conducted “provocative ceremonies” during the previous detainee handover process, while Netanyahu continues to evade in order to extend the first phase and not move directly to the second phase, which means ending the war on Gaza.

In addition, Hamas renewed its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip with all its details and provisions, stressing its readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement.

The movement called on the mediators to continue to pressure the occupation to abide by what was agreed upon, sending a message to unnamed countries that they must "stop the double standards in the discourse related to the Zionist prisoners without mentioning our prisoners and the abuse they are subjected to."

This comes as an Israeli delegation heads to Doha or Cairo to begin negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on extending the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, after completing the first phase of the agreement, according to what the Axios website reported from an Israeli official.

In this context, the Axios website quoted US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as saying that an Israeli delegation will travel to Doha or Cairo in the coming days to negotiate a deal to exchange Israeli and Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire in Gaza. Witkoff added: "If all goes well, I may travel to the Middle East region on Sunday" next.

Last night, the Israeli occupation forces notified the cessation of work in an agricultural barn and a water pond in Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley.

Human rights activist, Leen Sawafta, reported that the occupation notified the cessation of work on an agricultural barn owned by citizen Tawfiq Abdul Raouf Sawafta, and a water pond owned by citizen Musa Muhammad Daraghmeh in Bardala.

The occupation and its settlers have recently escalated their attacks against the village’s citizens, including establishing a colonial outpost a month ago near the village, seizing agricultural equipment, and notifying several facilities of demolition and work cessation.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) has instructed committee staff to use the term “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied West Bank, according to an internal memo distributed to staff.

The international community, including the US government, refers to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 as the West Bank and does not recognize Israeli sovereignty there. About 3 million Palestinians and half a million Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank.

Mast is a staunch defender of the Israeli occupation, settlements, and genocide of the Palestinians, and has often appeared in Congress dressed as an Israeli soldier to express his complete loyalty to Israel. Mast also owes his funding and victory to AIPAC, the leading Israeli lobby in the United States.

Changing the terminology used by the committee is a symbolic move that reflects support among many Republicans in Congress for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, and forcing Palestinians to forcibly leave there.

It is noteworthy that the occupation of the West Bank and the Jewish settlements built there are considered a violation of international law, are illegal and must be dismantled.

A source with direct knowledge of Mast’s directive said the lawmaker sent the memo to the committee’s 50 Republican staffers on Tuesday. It is not binding on Democratic staffers.

“In recognition of our unbreakable bond with Israel and the inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will henceforth refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria in official correspondence, communications, and documents,” Mast wrote in his memo.

"Jewish roots in this region go back centuries," he added, "and as representatives of the American people, we must do our part to stem this reprehensible tide of anti-Semitism and recognize Israel's right to the cradle of Jewish civilization."

The Israeli occupation governments have not annexed the West Bank or officially applied Israeli law to it, despite the expansion of settlements and the displacement of Palestinian families by every Israeli government since the occupation on June 5, 1967.

According to Israeli sources, the Netanyahu government still uses the term West Bank in addition to Judea and Samaria.

During his press conference with Netanyahu three weeks ago, an Israeli reporter asked US President Donald Trump if he “supported Israeli sovereignty in the areas of Judea and Samaria,” and Trump said the White House was discussing the issue but had not yet taken a position.

“But we will probably make an announcement on that very specific topic within the next four weeks,” he said, referring to his speech to Congress next month.

After the agreement between Hamas and Israel, under pressure from mediators, to implement the release of the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners, which was obstructed by the Israeli political level, due to allegations related to the ceremonies held by Hamas during the release of six Israeli detainees last Saturday, all eyes are once again on the Ofer and Ketziot prisons, where the prisoners from Gaza will return to the Strip, in addition to a number of those who will be deported to move from Gaza later to the country or countries that will host them. The prisoners from the West Bank will also be released, including the prisoners from Jerusalem, while Israel will receive in return the bodies of four detainees held by the resistance. Once they are received by the International Red Cross and under the supervision of the Egyptian side, the identification processes will begin, heralding the continuation of the process of releasing the Palestinian prisoners in the largest batch, the chapters of which may be completed today, Thursday, if things go as they should.

Despite the exchanges, optimism remains low regarding the start of the second phase negotiations, as there is a prevailing impression that the agreement will continue beyond Saturday, amidst both Israeli and American desires to release more hostages, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. However, Israel has not yet taken any decision to send its negotiating delegation to Cairo or Doha, and even if that happens, estimates are that the Israeli delegation will be without a mandate to discuss the second phase, because Netanyahu is interested in not advancing to this phase, which means ending the war completely and withdrawing the Israeli army from the Philadelphi corridor.

Netanyahu succeeded in convincing Minister Smotrich to remain in the Israeli government in exchange for not withdrawing the army, in order to preserve his political interest, as Smotrich is considered an important weight for the continuation of the right-wing coalition, and the search for middle formulas with the help of mediators every time problems occur, which may endure for the coming weeks and focus on the release of prisoners, but despite the hints of the necessity of reaching the second stage of negotiations, they may not succeed in achieving the demands and conditions of the agreement, and accordingly Israel may return to war again, in an effort to eliminate the Hamas movement and its presence in the Gaza Strip, after obtaining approval to extend the first stage, which Hamas may give it but on its terms, and from here the drums of war may beat at any turn in which there is a sense of a breach of the agreement.

The political situation in Israel, especially the upcoming turning points such as the vote on the budget and the conscription law, are issues that worry Netanyahu, and hence it is not unlikely that he will resort repeatedly to manipulation, falsification and issuing resonant statements, to ensure that his government does not collapse. In fact, the only party that supports Netanyahu in his orientations is the American side, which is well aware that Netanyahu’s excuses and arguments are endless, but it knows that its responsibility as the most powerful country in the world is to preserve Israel and defend it in all forums, and even support it with weapons and ammunition, as Trump did recently in order to resume the aggression, and there is no better evidence of this than Trump’s recent statement that Israel is the one who decides on a ceasefire.

The ongoing Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank, its cities, towns, villages and camps, in which the "southern suburb" and "Jabalia" doctrines are being used, destroying and burning the popular incubator and policies of expulsion, displacement and ethnic cleansing, their goals go beyond the security aspect, and what they call cutting off Iran's arms in the region, eliminating the Palestinian resistance forces, preventing their rooting, expansion and extension, and developing their military and armament capabilities, and their possession of technical and technological capabilities, which enable them to manufacture missiles or drones, and which enable them to threaten the depth of Israel. Therefore, this ongoing and continuous military operation on Jenin and its camp, villages and towns, as well as Tulkarm and its camps and the town of Qabatiya and moving to Tubas and the Nablus camps, Far'a, Askar and Balata, all of this says that this extensive operation, which is similar to the so-called "Protective Shield" operation in 2002, aims to reformulate the field scene and achieve political and strategic goals that serve the right-wing government. And extremism in the long term, and to achieve direct and indirect goals. Carrying out geographic and demographic "engineering" operations, systematic destruction of Palestinian camps, opening wide streets in them, and cutting off communication between camp residents, through this widespread destruction of homes, 120 homes were completely destroyed in Jenin camp, and dozens of others were partially destroyed, as well as Tulkarm camp, 40 homes were completely destroyed and 300 shops, and dozens of homes were partially damaged.

The construction of wide streets, the demolition of homes, forced displacement, and preventing residents from returning to their camps for a long period, according to statements by Israeli Defense Minister Katz, until the end of 2025, confirm that this operation, which was planned before the October 7, 2023 operation, has goals related to eliminating the right of return first, after the United Nations Relief and Refugee Agency (UNRWA) was eliminated by an American-Israeli decision, which constitutes great economic and social pressure on the residents of the camps and Palestinian refugees, as well as preventing the residents of the camps from returning to their homes, is intended to dismantle the social fabric of the residents of those camps, so that they can settle in the surrounding villages and cities, and thus cut off social communication between the residents of those camps.

The scene is being reshaped on the ground in the northern West Bank, and the process of introducing tanks and "Eitan" armored vehicles to operate in the northern West Bank, and the process of displaying broad force, through those large forces, which will not face an organized and trained army, or highly armed resistance units, and they also do not possess the capabilities and capabilities of the resistance forces in terms of armament, military, technical, espionage and technology, which the resistance forces in the Gaza Strip possess, and therefore one of the goals of that military operation is to spread terror and fear among the Palestinian people, and push the popular incubator to abandon and sever its relationship with the resistance, as well as sending messages of reassurance to the settlers about the ability of the Israeli army to provide security and protection for them on the personal and public levels, as well as protecting the settlement roads and streets, and this is proceeding according to the plan to annex and Judaize the West Bank, and plant it with dozens of settlement outposts and settlements, to establish what is known as the state of "Judea and Samaria" in the West Bank.

It seems that Israel is determined to weaken the Palestinian Authority, which cooperated with it on the security side, to the greatest extent possible. It no longer values this authority and what remains of the remnants of the Oslo Accords, as it operates in the “A” areas, which are supposed to be under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, it wants to show this authority as a helpless authority that cannot protect its people. This raises many question marks about the legitimacy of this authority and what it calls the option of “protecting the national project.”

Israel, in its vision and strategy, does not want there to be any Palestinian entity that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state on part of the land of historic Palestine, in the language of the extremist Smotrich, “the historic land of Israel.” There is a decision in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), which became a law after its approval in three readings, rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state between the river and the sea, and any cancellation or annulment of this decision requires 80 votes out of 120, in addition to the participation of the settlers in the West Bank in voting on it.

The projects of expulsion and displacement of the Palestinian people are ongoing and ongoing, under the pretext of “Israel’s right to defend itself” and provide security for its citizens. In America’s identification with it, it does not give any weight to international institutions, international public opinion, international institutions, or international legitimacy. It relies on America to prevent those institutions from translating their decisions into actions on the ground. The best example of this is the sanctions imposed by America on the President and judges of the International Criminal Court, because it dared to issue two arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his dismissed Minister of War, Yoav Galant.

America did not stop at providing unprecedented military and financial support to Israel, nor providing it with political and legal protection in international institutions, but rather announced its withdrawal from the Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, and completely cut off funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Today, we are facing an Israeli society whose government identifies with it, with its right-wing and extremism, and which rejects and closes any political solution with the Palestinian people, and supports projects and plans for the expulsion and displacement of the Palestinian people. In this society, the forces of religious and national Zionism are growing. After those forces were on the edges and margins of the Zionist project, they have become at its heart, and they control the Israeli political decision, and the survival and fall of Israeli governments. We see how Netanyahu fears them, as they hold the “neck” of his political decision, and threaten his political and personal future as well.

Today, the war is comprehensive against the Palestinian people, their existence, identity, culture, narrative, history and civilization, and it has moved to a war to liquidate this existence, in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior (48), and not with an American green light, but rather there is a complete American partnership, support, coverage and protection.

These Judaization and uprooting projects and plans that the Palestinian people and their living forces are confronting require a Palestinian will that unites this people and “melts” all its components and political, societal, institutional, popular and mass components in one “crucible” that enhances the capabilities and potentials of its survival and steadfastness. This will not be possible in light of the continued fragmentation and division and the absence of a trustworthy leadership armed with the people, their incubators, institutions and bases, as well as working to activate the Arab and Islamic popular dimension and continuing to pressure the official Arab regime to translate its political and media decisions by rejecting plans, projects and plans to expel and displace the Palestinian people “Trump’s plan” and others into action and decisions that are translated on the ground. Rejection on the theoretical, political and media levels, despite its importance, will not succeed in preventing the implementation of its plan or “burying” a project.

The occupation forces arrested a citizen from Nablus at dawn today, Thursday.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed Balata al-Balad, east of the city, and arrested the citizen Umm Baraa Kassab, while they stormed the vicinity of the old An-Najah University campus, raided several homes and a restaurant, and destroyed its contents.

He hardly leaves the screens before he returns with more revelations and lapses that have no decision; he says one thing and its opposite, he does not advance a step without taking steps back, he turns his face to the heavens, and sets his watch to the time of Gaza, which he wants to be the fifty-first state of his empire, he summons American Western films, and harasses friends, opponents and enemies alike.

The man, who is fascinated by winning a second term, quickly attacks his predecessor, calling him harsh names, and is seized by a state of revenge against everyone who opposed or criticized him, or was an obstacle in his path and caused him to be curbed.

The latest in the spectacle of the man obsessed with reality TV, he shared with a lightness unbecoming of a head of state a video clip he posted on his personal account, Truth Social, using AI technology, in which he and Netanyahu appeared, bare-chested, sipping cocktails on the beach in Gaza, where a forest of skyscrapers stretches out in the sands of the Strip, while luxury yachts rest on the surface of the Mediterranean, with children playing on the beach, under a shower of dollars falling like rain from the sky, with the appearance of semi-naked women dancing on grains of sand.

Disgusting, pitiful scenes of the level to which the great state has descended in terms of buffoonery, foolishness and frivolity, the end of which we do not know, nor the degree of its deviation or its repercussions.

Just as the real estate mogul and dealmaker backed down from the hell he threatened the children of Gaza with, he will back down from his sick imagination, his conceit and his snobbery, and he will discover that what his mind has woven is nothing but the stuff of media or movies!

The occupation forces continue their aggression on the city of Tulkarm and its camp for the 32nd consecutive day, and on the Nour Shams camp for the 19th day, amid widespread destruction of infrastructure and property, and human suffering.

The occupation forces sent military reinforcements to the city and towards the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, and patrolled the streets and alleys and positioned themselves along the Nablus Street linking the two camps, while they continue to seize residential buildings on the aforementioned street and turn them into military barracks and deploy snipers inside them.

The occupation forces also deployed infantry squads in the neighborhoods of Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps and prevented entry or exit from them, while reconnaissance aircraft flew at low altitudes. They raided homes, including empty ones, and vandalized and destroyed their contents, while seizing other homes and turning them into military barracks.

Eyewitnesses reported that the occupation forces raided the houses in the schools neighborhood in Nour Shams camp last night, and informed the residents to leave in the morning, after subjecting them to interrogation.

Dozens of citizens headed to their homes in Nour Shams camp, accompanied by relief teams from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Civil Defense, after the occupation gave them three hours to evacuate the contents of their homes, after notifying them of its intention to demolish 11 homes in the coming days, under the pretext of paving a road extending from the camp square towards Al-Manshiya neighborhood. The Red Crescent Society crews worked to evacuate families who were still in their homes and ensured their safe exit, while it later announced that it had received dozens of distress calls from families stuck in Jabal Al-Nasr neighborhood in Nour Shams camp, and were facing difficulty in reaching them, due to the dangerous situation and the area being besieged by the occupation forces.

The occupation forces caused complete destruction to the infrastructure in the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, affecting the electricity, water, sewage and communications networks, and razed more streets and roads, in addition to completely and partially destroying properties, including homes and shops, as a result of demolition, bombing and burning.

The ongoing aggression also led to the displacement of approximately 12,000 citizens from Tulkarm camp and more than 5,000 citizens from Nour Shams camp.

Amidst the continued tight siege on the two camps, appeals continue from citizens who are still in their homes and living in difficult and harsh conditions, to secure the arrival of their basic needs of food, water, medicine and baby milk, in addition to securing the exit of children to receive their vaccinations outside the camp, at a time when the occupation forces prevent entry into or exit from them, and hinder the work of relief crews while they are trying to deliver the necessary food supplies to them.

The occupation forces continue to close the gate of the Jabara checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Tulkarm for the 20th consecutive day, isolating the city from the villages and towns of Al-Kafriyat and the rest of the West Bank governorates.

The Israeli occupation authorities released tonight 42 detainees from the seventh and final batch within the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The occupation authorities were scheduled to release the seventh batch of detainees, as part of the ceasefire agreement, which includes 641 strongholds, last Saturday.

37 detainees arrived in the city of Ramallah, where hundreds of citizens and detainees' families received them in front of the Ramallah Cultural Palace and the Mahmoud Darwish Museum Square, while 5 released detainees arrived in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that its crews in Jerusalem received the injured released prisoner Kazem Zawahra from Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital and transferred him to Al-Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala.

The seventh batch, according to the Prisoners Club and the Commission of Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs, includes 641 detainees, 151 of whom are serving life sentences and long sentences, 42 of whom will be released to the West Bank, including Jerusalem, 97 of whom will be deported outside the country, 12 from the Gaza Strip who were arrested before October 7, 2023, and 445 from Gaza who were arrested after October 7, 2023, in addition to 45 women and children from Gaza.

The European Union called on Wednesday to preserve the special status of East Jerusalem, warning of the consequences of any attempt to change the status quo, amid strict Israeli measures to access Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan.

This came in a statement issued by the heads of the European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah, published on the Union's website.

On Sunday, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the Israeli police had put its forces on high alert in preparation for the month of Ramadan, and intended to deploy 3,000 police officers daily at the checkpoints leading to the city of Jerusalem and all the way to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The police recommended to the government, as in last year, to grant entry visas to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, according to the authority.

According to the police recommendation, entry permits will be granted to men aged 55 or older and women aged 50 or older, in addition to allowing children up to the age of 12 to enter Al-Aqsa accompanied by an adult.

The statement pointed out that the heads of missions of the European Union countries visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday, Tuesday, and met with the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem "as part of the regular exchanges dedicated to religious and cultural diversity in Jerusalem and the Old City."

The heads of the Waqf were briefed on “the latest developments and concerns in the arena, including violations of the status quo. The Waqf also expressed its concern about the restrictions imposed on access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the holy month of Ramadan.”

** Special mode

The European Union said its position on Jerusalem "remains consistent: the special status and character of Jerusalem and its Old City, the sanctity of its holy sites and the viability of all its communities must be preserved and respected by all."

The union explained that "any unilateral attempt to change the status quo would have deeply destabilizing effects and must be avoided," adding that "worshippers must be able to freely access their holy sites."

In their statement, the heads of missions referred to "Jordan's special role in maintaining the status quo" and renewed "their support for implementing this role through the Jerusalem Waqf Department."

Jordan retained its right to supervise religious affairs in Jerusalem under the Wadi Araba peace agreement it signed with Israel in 1994.

** Israeli pressure

The European heads of missions said in a statement that they were in contact with church leaders in Jerusalem "to discuss the challenges affecting their situation and their Christian communities."

“The churches emphasized, among other things, the ongoing financial pressures they face from local Israeli authorities through the retroactive imposition of municipal taxes on their properties, regardless of their use, which contradicts long-standing practices and previous agreements that exempted church properties from taxes,” the statement said.

The churches stressed that "this measure will limit their ability to work and continue their charitable and educational activities. The initiation of seizure procedures on the properties of the Armenian Patriarchate also raises increasing concerns," according to the same source.

On February 19, the Armenian Patriarchate in East Jerusalem warned of Israel’s intention to confiscate its properties in the city, claiming that it had accumulated “astronomical and illegal” debts since 1994.

The Armenian Patriarchate said in a statement that the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem is demanding that it pay taxes or else it will put its properties up for sale in a public auction.

Palestinians consider these restrictions part of Israel's intensive measures to Judaize East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity.

They cling to East Jerusalem as the capital of their desired state, based on international legitimacy resolutions, which do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1981.

The Judaization of Jerusalem, including settlement and displacement, accelerated in parallel with a genocidal war waged by Israel with American support on the Gaza Strip between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025.

This genocide resulted in more than 160,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing persons, amidst massive destruction, with the cost of reconstruction estimated at more than 53 billion dollars.

In parallel with this genocide, the Israeli army and settlers escalated their attacks in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which led to the killing of at least 926 Palestinians, the injury of about 7,000 people, and the arrest of 14,500 others, according to official Palestinian data.

The Chief of Staff of the occupation army revealed, according to what was reported by Channel 14, that the army studied the possibility of bombing the funeral of the late Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

Nasrallah's funeral

The funeral procession for Nasrallah and his late successor Hashem Safieddine set off from the Sports City, passing through Martyr Qassem Soleimani Street, and arriving at the Holy Shrine Street, in an event described by the committee as “an event that the free people of the world will not forget,” as participants began to arrive in Beirut from all over the world.

Hundreds of thousands of people participated in the funeral of Nasrallah and Safieddine, inside and around the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

A number of citizens suffered from suffocation, on Wednesday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, the occupation forces stormed Al-Khader and took up positions in the areas of: “The Great Mosque”, “The Gate”, and the main street (Jerusalem-Hebron) and fired live bullets, sound bombs and toxic gas towards homes, which led to a number of citizens suffocating.

On Wednesday evening, buses and vehicles belonging to the Red Cross began moving from the residence in Mawasi Rafah, in preparation for receiving the Palestinian prisoners who were released as part of the recent exchange deal.

This step comes within the framework of the Red Cross's efforts to ensure the safety of prisoners and facilitate their return to their homes after a period of detention.

It is noteworthy that the exchange deal includes the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners after negotiations with the relevant authorities, in a step that many analysts described as offering new hope in the Palestinian prisoners’ file.

The Wall Street Journal revealed in a report today, Wednesday, that the Palestinian resistance movement "Hamas" is regrouping and training its military forces in preparation for a possible return to fighting with Israel in Gaza, while mediators are working to save the ceasefire that expires at the end of next Saturday in the besieged Strip.

According to several reports from various sources, the movement’s military wing has appointed new commanders and begun mapping out where fighters will be stationed in case of a return to war, according to Arab officials who speak with Hamas. “These officials said the movement has also begun repairing its underground tunnel network and has distributed pamphlets to new, inexperienced fighters on how to use weapons to wage guerrilla warfare against Israel,” the newspaper reported.

The preparations come as Israel and the United States push Hamas to extend the first phase of a ceasefire (the current truce) in Gaza and release more hostages before entering into thorny negotiations on a permanent end to the war.

The two sides remain far apart on the basic conditions for a complete cessation of hostilities.

Israel wants Hamas to disarm and give up any role in governing Gaza, something Hamas completely rejects, and no one expects it to accept even mild demands for disarmament.

The United States, the third mediator in the ceasefire talks, said it was committed to reaching a second phase of the truce that would include negotiations to end the war, but needed more time beyond the current ceasefire deadline of Saturday.

Hamas has indicated it is open to extending the first phase of the ceasefire with Israel. But with the current stalemate between the two sides over the next step in its implementation, Hamas continues to plan for another round of fighting, 15 months after the war that devastated the Strip.

Arab officials told the newspaper that Izz ad-Din Haddad, Hamas’s military chief in northern Gaza, met earlier this month with lieutenants to explain how a new Israeli offensive might unfold, warning that Israel would first move to retake the strategic Netzarim Corridor that bisects the strip.

The Arab officials said Hamas militants reused unexploded ordnance in improvised explosive devices and scoured property for eavesdropping devices left behind by the Israeli military to monitor their movements. The militant group has assigned fighters to monitor Gaza for spies and another unit to watch for possible infiltration by Israeli forces, the officials said.

The Israeli military is aware that Hamas is regrouping and acknowledges that its enemy has recruited thousands of new militants during the war. But Israeli officials claim that Hamas’s military, despite recent public displays of force during the hostage handover, has been significantly weakened by the war.

Israel claims to have killed thousands of Hamas fighters and most of its top leadership, destroyed Hamas's rocket-launching capabilities and parts of its tunnel network, and "defeated Hamas's regional allies, cutting off its opportunity to rearm."

“Of course, someone new is taking over,” Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli general who still speaks to Israeli military officials, was quoted as saying. Hamas, he said, is “like a magazine in a gun: you shoot one bullet and another one comes out to replace it,” claiming that Israel “destroyed Hamas as a military organization,” he said. Arab intelligence officials said Hamas’s position as an organization that has been battered but not defeated has sparked debate among its leaders about its overall direction.

Hamas officials said they agree that the group will have to publicly relinquish control of Gaza if the territory is to be rebuilt with money from foreign donors. But hardliners within the movement also want to remain an armed force that can wield influence behind the scenes and potentially return to fighting Israel, according to Arab intelligence officials and a Hamas official. The newspaper claims that “Arab intelligence officials and a Hamas official said the debate has become so intense that the Doha-based Hamas leadership has considered breaking with the group’s Gaza cadres, who were behind the decision to launch the October 7, 2023, attacks that sparked the war.”

Reflecting the internal tension, one official based outside the Strip, Moussa Abu Marzouk, expressed reservations about the attacks in an interview published Monday, telling The New York Times that “it would have been impossible to support the attacks if Hamas had understood the chaos they would cause in Gaza,” according to the paper.

Shortly after, a Gaza-based Hamas spokesman issued a statement saying Hamas was committed to armed struggle with Israel, and hailed the October 7, 2023, attacks that killed 1,200 people, including 311 soldiers, and captured 250 others as a pivotal moment in the Palestinian national struggle. The subsequent war in Gaza killed more than 48,000 people, most of them women and children.

“There is clearly a divergence of views between those in Gaza who tend to be more hardline and militaristic, and those in Doha who tend to be more pragmatic,” claimed Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“Hamas is a unified movement at home and abroad,” Hossam Badran, a member of the group’s political bureau in Doha, said in an interview when asked about the divisions earlier this month.

During the truce, Hamas used the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza to project a sense of strength and boost its image among Palestinians, after hundreds of prisoners were freed from Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire agreement. The movement paraded hundreds of militants in body armor and military uniforms throughout the Strip, and displayed dozens of pickup trucks and a stockpile of assault rifles, many of them manufactured in Israel and the United States.

Hamas set up platforms with loudspeakers and huge banners freshly printed with national slogans.

The movement also asserts its administrative control over civilian matters. Hamas police forces are now working to secure the flow of aid into Gaza through humanitarian organizations during the current ceasefire.

Hamas this month called on students and teachers to return to schools — an unlikely prospect, as the facilities have largely been repurposed as shelters for displaced families — and its Housing Ministry said it was assessing the number of homes destroyed during the conflict. Amir Avivi, a former Israeli military chief, told the paper that the Israeli military was prepared to return to combat if Hamas did not step down. “The government, the army, the American administration, everyone agrees that Hamas cannot survive and that Gaza needs to be cleared of weapons,” he said. But Hamas has so far shown no public signs of giving in to those demands, he said, making the chances of a return to combat “very high.”

The Arab Parliament stressed that any vision calling for controlling the Gaza Strip, violating Palestinian sovereignty, and displacing the Palestinian people from the Strip to other countries is condemned and rejected in its entirety and in detail, and is a flagrant violation of all international laws, and a clear violation of international legitimacy resolutions, and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

This came in the decision issued by the emergency session held today, Wednesday, under the slogan "Reconstructing Gaza is a duty... and displacing its people is a crime", headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Yamahi, with the participation of the Vice-Chairman of the Palestine Committee, MP Nasser Abu Bakr, and MP Mai Al-Kaila.

The Arab Parliament affirmed its absolute rejection of any attempts aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause or imposing unfair solutions, considering that any attempts to impose displacement in all its forms on the Palestinian people constitute a crime against humanity under international law and the Geneva Conventions, and that this unfair plan does not serve the efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, but rather fuels the conflict and increases the intensity of tension in the region.

He expressed his complete rejection of any initiatives or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and his refusal to accept any attempts to change the equation and impose a new reality of displacement and liquidation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and harm their historical rights in their homeland and liquidation of the Palestinian cause. He called on the international community, the Security Council and the United Nations to take a firm international position against any calls or plans aimed at displacing the Palestinians from their land.

The Arab Parliament also stressed that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and rejected any external attempts to circumvent it, and the necessity of strengthening its role, position, and various frameworks, and the position of the Palestinian National Council, the "Parliament of the Palestinian People". It also called on all Palestinians to engage in the Palestine Liberation Organization, and to make Palestinian national reconciliation a success through the upcoming rounds of dialogue, to achieve unity of the position of the Palestinian factions, and to enhance the ability of the Palestinian people to persevere and struggle nationally.

The Parliament called on the US administration to retract any positions or statements that contradict international legitimacy and the rights of the Palestinian people, and do not contribute to achieving the two-state solution, which is the only way to establish peace and security in the region, especially US President Trump’s statements regarding the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

He stressed his full support for the Palestinian people in their adherence to their land and their support for achieving all their inalienable rights, foremost among which are their right to return, self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and called on international and regional parliaments to urge their countries to protect these rights and support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of plans and initiatives aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.

The Arab Parliament called for the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation from the Gaza Strip, expressing its complete rejection of any attempts to divide the Strip. It also called for working to enable the Palestinian Authority to assume its duties in the Gaza Strip, as it is part of the occupied Palestinian territory, along with the West Bank, including Jerusalem, in a way that allows for addressing the humanitarian catastrophe that the Strip is currently facing due to the Israeli aggression.

He condemned the dangerous escalation of crimes and violations by the Israeli occupation and settlers, on a number of cities, villages and camps in the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem, especially the brutal military attack on the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nour Shams and Al-Far’a and their camps, and the martyrdom and injury of dozens of civilians, which the occupation began since the start of the implementation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab Parliament held the occupation government responsible for this escalation, which threatens to explode the security and humanitarian situation, and destroy all efforts aimed at peace, a ceasefire, and ending the war, calling for holding the occupation leaders and settlers accountable for their crimes against the Palestinian people.

He welcomed the announcement of reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, considering this step an important development towards ending the war of extermination and military escalation, which claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people and caused great human suffering for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, calling on all parties to fully adhere to the terms of the agreement and continue working towards calm to avoid any new escalation.

He stressed the need to respect international humanitarian laws, protect civilians and ensure the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to those affected in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab Parliament praised the tireless and great efforts made by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar in reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, highly appreciating their role in stopping the escalation and the war of genocide and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

He stressed that these efforts reflect the commitment of Arab countries to defending the Palestinian cause and their keenness to achieve security and stability in the region, calling for the continuation of these efforts to establish calm and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and to work to launch a just and comprehensive peace process that leads to ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He stressed the need to support efforts to ensure humanitarian support reaches all parts of the Gaza Strip, and to remove all obstacles to the entry of all humanitarian aid in an appropriate and safe manner.

The Arab Parliament also called for leading urgent international efforts to support the reconstruction process of the Gaza Strip, which was subjected to widespread destruction, and to ensure the provision of sufficient and sustainable funding to rebuild the infrastructure and provide the basic needs of the residents of the Strip as quickly as possible, in a manner that guarantees the Palestinians’ continued presence on their land.

He welcomed the Arab Republic of Egypt hosting an emergency Arab summit on March 4, 2025 in Cairo, at the request of the State of Palestine and in coordination with the Kingdom of Bahrain, which holds the presidency of the summit in its current session, to address the new and dangerous developments in the Palestinian issue, as well as its hosting of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to affirm the constants of the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic position on the Palestinian issue, and adherence to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost of which is their right to self-determination and to live in their homeland and on their land.

He also welcomed the announcement of the establishment of the "Hague Group", which consists of nine countries: South Africa, Malaysia, Colombia, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Namibia, Senegal, and Belize, to work towards achieving two main goals: supporting the Palestinian people and their right to establish their state, pursuing the occupation in international courts, ending the occupation of Palestinian territories, supporting the Palestinians' right to self-determination, and coordinating efforts to confront the occupation's violations of international law.

The Arab Parliament welcomed the outcomes of the Seventh Conference of the Arab Parliament and the Presidents of Arab Councils and Parliaments, in cooperation with the Arab Parliamentary Union, on February 22, 2025, which issued an Arab parliamentary action plan to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and to thwart plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

He also welcomed the outcomes of the six-party Arab meeting held in Cairo at the invitation of the Arab Republic of Egypt, which stressed the need for the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the complete rejection of any attempts to divide the Strip, and working to enable the Palestinian Authority to assume its duties in the Gaza Strip as part of the occupied Palestinian territory alongside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and rejecting any attempts to bypass UNRWA or limit its role, in a way that allows the international community to address the humanitarian catastrophe that the Strip has been exposed to due to the Israeli aggression.

The Parliament called on all countries to ban the export or transfer of arms and ammunition to the Israeli occupation, and urged countries to join the initiative proposed by the Republic of Turkey and the core group of 18 countries, which was signed by 52 countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, and to send a joint letter to the UN Security Council, the President of the UN General Assembly and the Secretary-General, in order to stop providing arms to the occupation, and to call on all countries to sign it.

The Arab Parliament called for the establishment of an Arab fund to support Arab countries financially and morally, which are being pressured financially by the American administration to accept the displacement of Palestinians, and to support their steadfastness in the face of these threats.

He stressed his support for all efforts made by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem, and stressed the role of the Hashemite guardianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and its role in protecting its Arab, Islamic and Christian identity, and its role in preserving the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites, and stressed that the Jordanian Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Administration is the exclusive legitimate body with jurisdiction to manage the affairs of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, maintain it and regulate entry to it.

The Arab Parliament also stressed the efforts of the Kingdom of Morocco, through the important role and continuous efforts of the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency, affiliated with the Al-Quds Committee, in order to preserve the identity of the city and its legal status and support the steadfastness of its people.

The Arab Parliament adopted a plan of action to support Palestinian rights, assist efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip, and confront the displacement plan, through: the Arab Parliament addressing regional and international parliaments, urging their countries to participate effectively in the global coalition to implement the two-state solution, and supporting the Palestinian right in the international peace conference scheduled to be held at the United Nations in mid-June 2025, co-chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of France, which constitutes an opportunity to mobilize international efforts to recognize the State of Palestine, obtain full membership in the United Nations, and implement the two-state solution based on international legitimacy.

The action plan stressed that the Arab Parliament should address regional and international parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union to push parliamentary diplomacy to confront any plans to displace the people of Palestine and liquidate the Palestinian cause, given the seriousness of this matter on the chances of peace in the region and on regional and international security, and to demand that they abide by the resolutions of international legitimacy, and to call on the parliaments of countries that have not recognized the State of Palestine to recognize it in support of the right, in support of peace, and in strengthening international security.

The plan called for assigning delegations from the Arab Parliament to visit similar parliaments, especially the African Parliament and the European Parliament, and a number of parliaments of active European countries, to hold meetings and mobilize the support of the international community to reject any plans that detract from Palestinian rights, including the right of return and self-determination, and to take practical steps to end the occupation and recognize the independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which stipulated the illegality of the occupation and the necessity of ending it within 12 months, in accordance with the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.

The action plan also called for preparing a memorandum with the necessary legal grounds for the request to freeze the participation of the Israeli Knesset in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, due to its enactment of racist laws that contradict international laws and norms, and to support the efforts of the Arab group in New York to implement steps to freeze Israel’s participation in the United Nations General Assembly, due to its failure to adhere to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, its threat to international peace and security, and its failure to fulfill its obligations that were a condition for accepting its membership in the United Nations.

She stressed the Arab Parliament's full support for all decisions of the Palestinian Authority, regarding confronting any decisions to displace the Palestinian people, and any attempts to undermine Palestinian sovereignty over its lands.

She called for writing to members of the US Congress who support and oppose the Palestinian and Arab positions and informing them of the Arab Parliament’s protest, denunciation and condemnation of any plans to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and its refusal to support the Israeli occupation’s war of genocide against the Palestinian people, and the necessity of supporting the popular boycott of the products of all companies that support the Israeli occupation and the countries that supply it with weapons.

The plan also called for the necessity of continuing the work of the parliamentary team formed by the Arab Parliament to file a complaint against the Israeli occupation before the International Criminal Court regarding its crimes against the Palestinian people throughout the 15-month genocidal war from October 7, 2023 until the ceasefire was declared in January 2025, taking into account the complaint that the Arab Parliament had previously filed with the International Criminal Court during the first three months of this war, and requesting the official Palestinian authorities to provide the team with the documents they have that support this serious move.

The action plan also called for assigning the Palestine Committee, headed by the President of the Arab Parliament, to implement the Arab Parliament’s action plan at all levels and in all forums, Arab, regional and international, to support Arab and Palestinian efforts, and to preserve the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and their right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and to consider it a permanent item on its agenda.

As the ceasefire agreement in Gaza enters its 39th day, an agreement has been reached to resolve the issue of delaying the release of the 620 Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to be released in the seventh batch of the ceasefire agreement with the Israeli occupation government, provided that they are released simultaneously with the bodies of four Israeli detainees who were agreed to be handed over during the first phase, in addition to the equivalent number of Palestinian women and children.

Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida announced on Wednesday that the Brigades will hand over the bodies of four Israeli prisoners tonight: Itzachi Idan, Itzik Al-Jarit, Ohad Yahlomi, and Shlomo Mansour, while Palestinian prisoners' institutions said that the occupation will release the Palestinian prisoners before midnight. For its part, Hebrew media reported that the occupation will release the prisoners gradually during the night of Wednesday to Thursday.

Hebrew media outlets, including the Ynet website and the Haaretz newspaper website, quoted an unnamed Israeli official on Wednesday confirming that an agreement had been reached on the problem of Israel delaying the release of Palestinian prisoners. Haaretz quoted the official as saying, "If there is no last-minute glitch, Hamas will return the bodies of four detainees on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, in conjunction with the release of the prisoners who were scheduled to be released last Saturday." Ynet added that the agreement also includes Hamas handing over the bodies of the four detainees agreed upon in the first phase to Egypt, without ceremony, so that the latter will hand them over to the Red Cross, and from there to Israel, which will simultaneously release Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Axios quoted US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as saying on Wednesday that an Israeli delegation will travel to Doha or Cairo in the coming days to negotiate a prisoner swap deal for Israelis and Palestinians and a ceasefire in Gaza. Witkoff added: "If all goes well, I may travel to the region (the Middle East) on Sunday" next.

On Tuesday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an Israeli official as saying that Witkov had postponed his visit to the region for several days after he was scheduled to begin his visit today, Wednesday, without specifying a new date for the visit. For its part, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported that the reason for the postponement of Witkov's visit was Israel's failure to release Palestinian prisoners, as part of the seventh batch of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Cairo announced on Wednesday its rejection of the circulating proposals regarding governance during the next phase in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the proposal for Egypt to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip for a period of time.

She stressed that these are "rejected and unacceptable proposals, as they are half-solutions that contribute to renewing the cycles of conflict instead of resolving it once and for all."

This came according to what was stated by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tamim Khilaf, "in response to press inquiries about the circulating proposals regarding governance during the next phase in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which is the proposal for Egypt to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip for a period of time," according to what was reported by the official Egyptian news agency.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "Any proposals or arguments that circumvent the constants of the Egyptian and Arab position, and the sound foundations for dealing with the essence of the conflict, which relate to Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, are rejected and unacceptable, as they are half-solutions that contribute to renewing the cycles of the conflict instead of settling it once and for all."

He stressed the "organic connection between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as Palestinian lands that represent the territory of the independent Palestinian state, and must be subject to full Palestinian sovereignty and administration."

On Tuesday, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid proposed that Egypt take over the administration of the neighboring Palestinian Gaza Strip for 15 years, in exchange for canceling its foreign debts.

Lapid announced his proposal in a speech he gave at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) research center in Washington, according to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, and then followed it with a post on the X platform.

The Israeli opposition leader wrote: “A short while ago, I presented in Washington a plan for the day after the war in Gaza. The core of the plan is that Egypt will take responsibility for Gaza for 15 years, and at the same time the international community will cancel its foreign debt of $155 billion.”

Lapid added that during the 15 years, "Gaza will be rebuilt and conditions will be prepared for self-rule, and Egypt will be the central player and will supervise the reconstruction, which will further strengthen its economy."

He believed that "this solution has a historical precedent: Egypt took control of Gaza in the past, and this was done with the support of the Arab League, with the understanding that this was a temporary situation (...) and this is what must happen again today."

Egypt was legally responsible for the Gaza Strip for most of the period between 1948 and 1967. This began when Israel was established on Palestinian lands occupied by armed Zionist gangs that committed massacres and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Hamas had previously announced its rejection of disarming the Palestinian factions or removing them from Gaza, stressing that any arrangements for the future of the Strip would be based on Palestinian "national consensus."

The young man, Abdul Rahman Khaled Nawas, died this evening, Wednesday, as a result of his injuries from an Israeli bombardment on the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm two months ago.

Nawas was injured by shrapnel from a missile in the head and chest, launched by an Israeli drone in the middle of the camp, between the Al-Manshiya and Al-Shuhada neighborhoods, on the evening of December 24, while three other young men were injured at the time.

Nawas's death was announced from the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah, where he was receiving treatment.

US President Donald Trump is facing backlash on his Truth Social platform after sharing an AI-generated video of himself drinking cocktails with a shirtless Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, in a futuristic vision of the enclave that Israel has utterly destroyed, killing more than 48,000 people, the vast majority of them women and children, and wounding more than 110,000.

The video of the vision of the future Gaza is computer-generated for Trump's real estate development plan for Gaza, under which he said he wanted to "cleanse" Gaza of its more than two million residents.

The plan, dubbed the "Middle East Riviera," has been criticized as a scheme for ethnic cleansing.

The footage shows Trumpian Gaza transformed into a Dubai-style resort with skyscrapers and luxury yachts.

Children play on the beach as money rains down and scantily clad belly dancers twirl across the sand.

Trump, who says he wants the US to “own” Gaza, is presented as the dominant figure in the footage. A boy walks by carrying a gold balloon of the president’s head and a giant dictator-style statue of Trump overlooks a city street.

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a Trump supporter, also appears several times in the video, eating flatbread and later dancing as dollar bills fall from the sky. Musk's electric Tesla cars cruise the gleaming streets.

After the 78-year-old president shared the footage — which includes the caption “Gaza 2025… what next?” — he faced a backlash on his social media platform.

“I couldn’t be a bigger supporter of President Trump but this particular video is in very bad taste. Very bad taste, really!” wrote one Truth Social user. “I hate this. I love our president but this is terrible,” wrote another.

It did not go down well with Trump's Christian supporters, with many comments referring to the worship of the golden statue, while others lamented a scene showing Trump in a nightclub alone with a woman dressed as a belly dancer as a crowd of people looked on.

“Only one is worthy of glory and honor, Mr. President,” another user wrote. “The statue is a symbol of the Antichrist, please humble yourself before God. Jesus is the King and He alone.”

Other users described the video as "sick" and "filthy."

It was not immediately clear who made the video, though it had been shared online previously by other accounts not affiliated with the White House. Trump shared it without comment.

The images were accompanied by words that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence: “Donald is coming to set you free, bringing the light for all to see, No more tunnels, no more fear: Trump Gaza is finally here.

"Gaza Trump, a bright golden future, a whole new life. Celebrate and dance, the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one."

Israel is fighting allegations of genocide in Gaza, where it killed nearly 50,000 people, mostly civilians, in the war. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif on charges of war crimes. Netanyahu denies committing war crimes, while Deif may already be dead

Previous economic plans for Gaza have failed after they were strangled by Israel, which has besieged the Strip for 17 years.

It is worth noting that last month, there was international condemnation of Mr. Trump's plan for American control of war-torn Gaza and the creation of a "Riviera."

Trump said he envisions building a resort where international communities could live in harmony after more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment that has devastated the tiny coastal enclave, killing more than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.

The informal proposal sent diplomatic shockwaves across the Middle East and the world. Countries including Russia, China, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom said they continued to support the two-state solution, which has been the basis of Washington’s policy in the region for decades.

Hamas described Trump's statement about seizing the Strip as "ridiculous."

The military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Abu Obeida, confirmed that within the framework of the Al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange deal, the Al-Qassam Brigades decided to hand over the bodies of 4 detainees held by the occupation this evening, Wednesday.

He said the names of the detainees who will be handed over are:

I'm going to take your sticks

Itzik the Grit

Ohad Yehlomi

Channel 12 reported that the handover will take place simultaneously at 11 pm Palestine time, 12 pm Jordan time.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that an agreement had been reached with mediators to hand over the bodies of four Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip.

The prime minister's spokesman said an agreement had been reached without providing further details. Two Palestinian sources had previously confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four "Israeli" detainees in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli occupation.