Riyadh witnessed rounds of Russian-American negotiations, which addressed several issues in the region, including the situation in Gaza, and the Palestinian issue in general, according to press sources. These negotiations came at a sensitive time, as Russia seeks to strengthen its influence in the Middle East, and send specific messages to the United States about reorganizing the region. Despite the divergent positions of the major powers, these meetings may have a direct impact on how Washington deals with the Arab proposals regarding Gaza, and open the way for new negotiating opportunities that may take into account the interests of the various parties in the region.

Despite the EU’s public and verbal support for the two-state solution, its positions often lack practical action on this issue, given the ongoing Association Council with Israel. Regarding Trump’s plan for Gaza, the EU has not shown any serious action against it, but rather has been hesitant to support the Arab plan, reflecting its diminished role due to Trump’s attempts to marginalize it, as was evident at the recent Munich conference.

Although the PLO will participate in the Arab summit in Cairo next week, it will be absent from a mini-Arab summit with the participation of eight countries, which will be held on Friday, in a move aimed at reorganizing the political scene in Gaza, before the Arab summit in Cairo next week. This initiative comes within the framework of reconstruction attempts, but at the same time it carries strategic dimensions that should not intersect with American and Israeli interests, which raises fundamental questions about the extent to which Washington will accept this plan in the event of Arab agreement on it, which requires challenging American dictates, and the extent to which the Americans are prepared to abandon their declared vision for Gaza, which includes brutal scenarios such as displacing the population.

Although it is unusual for the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority to be excluded from such meetings, especially when it comes to discussing fateful issues such as the Trump plan, the absence in Riyadh may be the result of differing positions with some of the participating Arab countries, or perhaps due to the lack of internal consensus on how to deal with international and regional pressures, which is reflected in the Palestinian side’s ability to influence such forums under these circumstances.

However, in light of the current international reality, the American position can be inferred by comparing it to the way Washington dealt with other files, such as Ukraine and Zelensky, where the United States played a dual role represented by intensive military and political support accompanied by imposing a special vision for how to manage the crisis in a way that serves its interests, a principle that depends on exhausting those who cooperated with Washington throughout the history of its relations with them until they are exhausted. The question here is, will Washington adopt a similar approach in Gaza, so that it supports the Arab plan, provided that it remains under its direct supervision and serves its interests, or will it work to empty it of its content, as it did with many previous political initiatives?

Since the Trump administration presented its Middle East plan, the forced displacement of Gazans has been among the scenarios promoted as part of the implementation of the New Middle East Vision. Despite the change of administrations in Washington, the US approach to the Palestinian issue has not changed much, as it continues to seek to impose a reality that serves Israel, whether by supporting Tel Aviv militarily, politically and economically, or by obstructing any efforts that might lead to the unification of Gaza and the West Bank under a sovereign Palestinian leadership represented by the PLO, and lead to the embodiment of a continuous and sovereign Palestinian state. Therefore, even if Washington does not explicitly reject the Arab proposal, it is likely to work to modify it to become a tool for implementing Israeli policies.

The main challenge facing the Arab countries is to achieve a delicate balance between their desire to rebuild in order to prevent displacement to their lands and ensure their national security, and to prevent Gaza from turning into a new arena of conflict on the one hand, and American and Israeli pressures seeking to keep the Strip in a state of chronic weakness on the other hand, or to renew the war on it according to Netanyahu’s desires to ensure his survival in his position, unless the United States pushes for a change in the form of the occupation government.

Given previous experiences, any Arab initiative that does not have American support will be subject to abortion or distortion because the Arabs have previously agreed to follow a path of non-confrontation. The success of the plan also depends on the acceptance of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which may not be guaranteed, especially if a Palestinian committee independent of the Palestinian Authority government is imposed, reflecting the desire of some Arab countries to reduce the influence of the current leadership of the Authority, in order to serve the attempt to impose their vision of a “renewed authority” that will be acceptable to the United States.

As for Israel, it is unlikely to support any formula that restores Palestinian political and geographical unity.

If the United States has treated Zelensky as a functional card in Ukraine, it may do the same with some Palestinian parties that will be used to manage Gaza, without giving them any real margin for independent decision-making.

This raises questions about the independence of the proposed Palestinian committee, and whether it will turn into another functional entity that serves external agendas instead of being an expression of the Palestinian will with reference to the PLO and the independence of its national decision.

In this context, the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, may play a pivotal role in determining the future of Gaza. If understandings are reached on the ceasefire and post-war management, this may affect the extent to which the various parties accept the Arab plan. However, if the negotiations continue to falter, any political initiative will remain hostage to the reality on the ground.

With the continuation of the annexation and settlement expansion policies adopted by Israel in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, with American support, this expansion does not stop at the borders of displacing Palestinians from Gaza, but rather includes its plans to target Palestinian camps in various occupied territories, which poses a major challenge to our Palestinian people in preserving their identity and existence on their land, in the face of what seriously threatens the unity of the Palestinian land and people through attempts to embody the Greater Israel settlement project.

The continuation of these policies makes broad Palestinian national unity more important than ever, as efforts must be intensified between the various Palestinian factions, independents, and civil society to ensure that these schemes are confronted. By strengthening the unity of the Palestinian national ranks, clear vision, programs, and tools that must be characterized by development, change, and non-stagnation, and understanding the nature of the necessities of correct political positioning in light of the ongoing transformations in international relations and enabling our people to stand firm and confront, we can stand up to the major challenges surrounding the Palestinian cause, and begin to achieve our national independence, justice, and freedom for our people.

The position of the administration of US President Donald Trump differs from that of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu regarding progress towards the second phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. The Trump administration is putting pressure on Netanyahu to reach and implement the second phase, while Netanyahu is trying to obstruct or delay reaching it.

In this context, the Israeli media portrays Netanyahu as having to submit to threats from the head of the Religious Zionism Party and Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who sees the implementation of the second stage as the end of the war on Gaza, which he rejects, and threatens that in this case he will withdraw from the government, which threatens its collapse, because the remaining parties in the government, namely Likud and the Haredim, will not form a majority in the Knesset, after the Otzma Yehudit party headed by Itamar Ben Gvir withdrew from the government last month.

But this scenario is not necessarily realistic. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the war on Gaza will resume after the current first stage of the agreement is over. And if Netanyahu decides to end the war, he will show that he has failed to achieve its stated goals: eliminating Hamas militarily and politically, and returning all Israeli prisoners held in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Ben-Gvir's party did not join the opposition in the Knesset after withdrawing from the government, and Smotrich's party is not expected to join the opposition either, if he withdraws from the government. Ben-Gvir declared that "we will not bring down the right-wing government."

Netanyahu's government seems to be safe in this case. But there are two crises coming: a law exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military conscription, demanded by the ultra-Orthodox parties, and the state budget law for the current year, which the government must enact by the end of March, or the government will automatically fall. The ultra-Orthodox parties are threatening not to support the state budget if the law exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military conscription is not enacted before then.

In contrast, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s parties support mandatory conscription for the Haredim, as their voters enlist in the army at high rates compared to other population groups performing military service. Therefore, it is expected that they will oppose a law exempting the Haredim from conscription, especially since the Israeli army announces that it is facing a shortage of its personnel due to the war, and demands the conscription of the Haredim.

It is not clear how Netanyahu will resolve these crises in his government, but some estimates indicate that if he decides to implement the second stage of the ceasefire, prisoner exchange, and cessation of the war, he will provide “compensation” to Smotrich, in the form of implementing a plan to annex areas in the West Bank to Israel, although this will not be an easy step to implement, due to widespread international opposition to it, with the possible exception of the Trump administration, and in light of expectations of a deterioration in the security situation in the West Bank leading to a massive uprising. The most prominent thing in this scenario, the essence of which is to stop the war, is that Netanyahu declares his failure to achieve the goals of the war.

However, Netanyahu decided to resort to procrastination, and raised the possibility of extending the first stage. He excluded the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, from the negotiating delegation, and appointed Minister Ron Dermer, who is considered his closest advisor, as head of the negotiating delegation.

The change comes as a prelude to ending the Shin Bet chief’s term in office, either by forcing him to resign, as was done with the IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, or by dismissing him. This is expected to happen by the end of this month, when the Shin Bet is due to submit its investigation into its failure on October 7, 2023. Israeli reports indicate that Netanyahu will appoint someone loyal to him as head of the Shin Bet.

Dermer's appointment aims to obstruct or delay the negotiations on the second phase, as Dermer will conduct these negotiations with Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and not with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, under the pretext of taking the reins of the negotiations away from Qatar. Since the negotiations are between Israel and Hamas, and not with the mediators, it is not clear how Hamas will be communicated with, which has no direct contact with the Americans, but it is likely that Qatar will continue its efforts to end the war, as it is the closest to Hamas, whose leadership is based in Doha.

Installing a new system in Gaza

In the past week, there has been increasing talk in Israel about the displacement of Gazans, after Trump gave it legitimacy, when he spoke about “transferring” Gazans to other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, and Netanyahu mentioned that Saudi Arabia is also among these countries, in return for rebuilding the destroyed Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, the Arab countries and the entire world oppose this plan, except for the Trump administration.

Reports in the past week have indicated Israeli plans to displace Gazans during a war on Gaza, not during a ceasefire. This means that these plans indicate the possibility of resuming the war after the implementation of the second stage, and not implementing the third stage, which, according to the agreement, requires the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Strip and the beginning of reconstruction that is not linked to what Trump announced.

The Israeli displacement plans include details about “transferring” Gazans abroad by air, sea and land, while the Israeli army launches heavy-handed military operations against Hamas throughout the Strip. Israel imagines that this will eliminate Hamas’s military and governmental presence, after it has recovered its prisoners.

However, the success of the plan to displace the Gazans is not expected. All of Israel's attempts to displace the Gazans have failed, since the Nakba of 1948, and during the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, during which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and Sinai for a few months and was forced to withdraw from them, and also after occupying the Strip in 1967.

Although Netanyahu was aware of this historical fact, he was the first to propose, in the current war, implementing such a displacement. At the end of December 2023, he announced during a meeting of the Likud party faction in the Knesset that he was working on implementing a “voluntary migration” of the residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries, and considered that “our problem is (finding) countries willing to receive them, and we are working on this matter.” At the time, former Foreign Minister Eli Cohen formed a team whose mission was to try to make contacts with African countries that might agree to receive displaced people from Gaza, including Congo and Rwanda.

Netanyahu declares that at the end of the war Hamas will not be in power, and that he rejects the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. According to Trump's plan to "own" Gaza and turn it into a huge resort, Israel will not be in Gaza either. Netanyahu welcomed and praised this plan. This means that in Netanyahu's view, someone will be installed to lead Gaza.

The issue of installing a ruler or regime in an area occupied, besieged or controlled by Israel in any way is a complex one for the Israelis, and by their own admission, due to its failure. In the West Bank, Israel failed to install Palestinian groups loyal to it, such as the “Village Leagues,” in the late 1970s, to serve as an alternative to the Palestinian national forces and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the siege of Beirut in 1982, it failed to install the leader of the Phalangists, Bashir Gemayel, as president of Lebanon, and he was assassinated in the Phalangists’ stronghold three weeks later.

In both cases of inauguration, there were no local armed movements in the West Bank or Lebanon on the scale of the resistance in Gaza, which recorded great steadfastness in the face of the massive Israeli war machine, despite the horrific crimes of genocide and massive destruction in the Strip. Therefore, it is expected that the issue of inauguration in Gaza, regardless of who is the party that will inaugurate it, whether American, international or Arab, will be a story of declared failure.

The negotiations for the second phase between Israel and Hamas within the framework of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip are at a standstill due to the former’s procrastination in the talks, which are scheduled to end by the end of this week, at a time when the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, who was assigned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conduct negotiations on the second phase, is in Washington.

Israel claimed on Friday that Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement and handed over the body of a Gazan woman instead of the body of an Israeli prisoner, after the resistance factions on Thursday handed over to Tel Aviv the bodies of four prisoners, including the bodies of the Bibas family and the body of prisoner Oded Lifshitz, in exchange for the release of about 50 Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian resistance factions are scheduled to announce on Friday the names of 6 Israeli prisoners who will be included in the exchange batch on Saturday, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

US President's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is supposed to put an end to the war, noting that progress has been made in the negotiations related to it.

I was saddened by the scenes of the four bodies that Hamas handed over yesterday, along with pictures of the victims: the father, Yarden Bibas, the mother, Sheri, and their two children, Kfir and Ariel. In the background, there was a picture of Dracula, the bloodsucker and killer of children and women, as a reminder of the brutal criminal who did not care about the blood of the Israeli family, just as he committed murder and genocide against thousands of families in the Strip, many of whom were removed from the civil registry, in the incinerator of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

My grief over the killing of the two Israeli children and their parents was no less than my grief over the killing of Yousef, “Abu Shaar Curly,” Hind Rajab, Mohammed, George, and thousands of their peers, along with their families of mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers, who shared American bombs with the Israeli captives in the homes targeted for genocide.

Humanity is indivisible. Your heart cannot grieve over the loss of your beloved child, nor feel the same way toward other children, even if they are the children of the occupier who is killing your children. We were raised on a tolerant belief that does not differentiate between people on the basis of color, race, or religion. The Holy Quran says: “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” The Master of Creation also urged us to have the values of compassion in wars, as he advised the armies: “Do not kill a woman, a child, an old man, or a worshipper in a monastery. And do not cut down a tree.” These are the values that explain the appearance of the Israeli detainees in full health and wellness, in contrast to the appearance of our liberated prisoners, whose faces have turned pale and their bodies have become emaciated from the extreme torture and starvation to which they were subjected.

We look forward to escalating protests by Israeli families, to block the path of the killer who is trying to evade the deal’s requirements, to return to completing the massacre, not caring about the detainees, possessed by a desire to kill more children in Gaza.

It must be remembered that it is necessary to release the bodies of hundreds of martyrs, who numbered 665 martyrs in the cemeteries of numbers, and to turn the page on the pain and waiting of the bereaved families, and to cool their sorrows by burying their sons.

Perhaps the lesson that rises from the ashes of the incense burner is that peace, ending the occupation, and granting the Palestinian people their right to freedom and independence is the shortest way to stop the bloodshed and draw beautiful dreams for our children and their children alike.

Dr. Dalal Erekat: Trump, in his recent statements, used “coercive diplomacy” as a pressure tool to lower the ceiling of Arab and Palestinian expectations regarding future solutions

Dr. Saad Nimr: Adhering to the Arab position rejecting displacement is a positive step, but that is not enough without a clear strategic vision that guarantees the Palestinians their rights

Sulaiman Basharat: The meeting will define the general features of the Arab vision that will form the roadmap for the next stage, making it a very important strategic step.

Dr. Walaa Qadimat: A real test of the extent of Arab countries’ commitment to proposing practical solutions that guarantee the rejection of displacement and the protection of the Palestinian cause from liquidation attempts

Dr. Amr Hussein: A major station for formulating a unified Arab position to confront the displacement plan and working on formulating a comprehensive plan that will be presented to the White House

Daoud Kuttab: The Riyadh Summit aims primarily to secure the necessary financial resources to rebuild Gaza.. and the speed and efficiency of construction with Arab support is the strongest response to displacement

The Riyadh Summit will be held today, Friday, with the participation of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in addition to Egypt and Jordan, as an important diplomatic station in the path of Arab efforts aimed at confronting the challenges facing the Palestinian cause, most notably the dangers of forced displacement of Palestinians.

In separate interviews with “I”, writers, political analysts, specialists and university professors believe that this summit comes within the framework of completing the Arab diplomatic path that began since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, as the participating countries seek to formulate a unified Arab position that rejects any plans aimed at changing the demographic reality in Palestine.

According to writers, analysts, specialists and university professors, the summit is considered a test of the ability of Arab countries to translate their positions rejecting displacement into actual and binding policies that go beyond political statements to clear implementation mechanisms.

The expectations of writers, analysts, specialists and university professors indicate that the summit will seek to present a practical alternative for managing the situation in Gaza, including a detailed plan for reconstruction and management of the sector in the “post-war” phase.

They stress that the Riyadh Summit is a preemptive step to confront the American and Israeli plans that seek to impose new facts on the ground, and to confront any attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause or impose coercive solutions that serve Israeli interests.

Riyadh Summit comes within the framework of completing the Arab diplomatic path

Dr. Dalal Araikat, Professor of Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at the Arab American University, explains that the expanded Riyadh summit today, Friday, with the participation of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in addition to Egypt and Jordan, comes within the framework of completing the Arab diplomatic path that began since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Erekat points out that this summit comes as part of regional and international efforts aimed at protecting the Palestinian people and preventing forced displacement scenarios.

Erekat points out that Arab and international pressures succeeded in stopping the catastrophic scenario of the direct forced displacement of Palestinians, but the gradual displacement is still ongoing, which requires sustainable practical steps to confront it.

She stresses that what we are witnessing today are ongoing attempts to impose a new reality on the ground, through expanding Israeli settlements, destroying infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and creating an unlivable environment, which is forcibly pushing Palestinians towards migration, which is another form of undeclared forced displacement.

Erekat believes that the outcomes of the Riyadh Summit will be a real test of the ability of Arab countries to translate their positions rejecting displacement into actual and binding policies, going beyond political statements to clear executive mechanisms that prevent the reproduction of displacement scenarios in any form.

Erekat explains that the Arab countries are required to present a practical alternative to the Trump administration, which includes a detailed plan that is preferred for their vision of the “day after” stage in Gaza, in order to convince the American administration of an alternative plan that prevents displacement and annexation and the realization of the “Greater Israel” project, which eliminates the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

Erekat stresses that despite the clarity of the Arab positions in rejecting displacement and emphasizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the absence of the Palestinians from the meeting raises questions about the possibility of scenarios being prepared for the "day after" stage outside the framework of the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas movement.

Erekat points out that these scenarios may include new security arrangements, such as the presence of joint Arab or European security forces to administer Gaza, which requires clarity and coordination with the Palestinian leadership to ensure that it is not bypassed in any future arrangements.

Erekat stresses the need for the Riyadh summit to present a detailed, written, and practical alternative that is applicable and forms the basis for a comprehensive political solution, as this alternative must be more realistic and acceptable than any previous displacement plans, such as the Trump plan that was previously proposed to manage Gaza affairs.

Erekat calls for reading US President Donald Trump's recent statements in the context of "coercive diplomacy," as he uses them as a pressure tool to lower Arab and Palestinian expectations regarding future solutions.

Erekat explains that the threat of displacement comes as a tactic to make the Palestinians and Arabs feel the seriousness of the situation and push them towards making political concessions, in conjunction with expected normalization arrangements, which Saudi Arabia may be at the forefront of.

She points out that Saudi Arabia stands in a complex strategic position in light of the Trump administration, as it is at the same time leading the international coalition to implement the two-state solution.

Erekat stresses the need to exploit this role to push the international community towards a just and comprehensive solution that protects Palestinian rights and prevents any attempts to bypass them under any pretext.

Great political importance of Riyadh and Cairo summits

Dr. Saad Nimr, a professor of political science at Birzeit University, confirms that the mini-Arab summit in Riyadh is of great political importance, but it is not the most prominent event, as the emergency Arab summit in Cairo is the most sensitive, as it will put the Egyptian plan for dealing with the situation in Gaza on the discussion table before the concerned Arab countries.

Nimr believes that the emergency summit in Cairo will be decisive in formulating the joint Arab position regarding Gaza, as the Egyptian plan will be officially presented.

Nimr explains that this plan is based on the principle of rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinians, a position agreed upon by all Arab countries, but it raises fundamental questions about the next steps, especially with regard to managing the sector after the war.

Nimr confirms that the leaks about the Egyptian plan indicate the possibility of deploying Arab forces to supervise the security situation in Gaza, in addition to disarming the Hamas movement, which may receive American approval in exchange for a commitment to reject the displacement.

He points out that these issues are being raised as part of a political bargain, as the United States and Israel seek to impose a new reality in Gaza without allowing the situation to return to what it was before the war.

Nimr confirms that the Arab countries are aware of the danger of the American-Israeli plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, especially Egypt and Jordan, which will be the most affected by any waves of mass migration.

He points out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously hinted at the possibility of transferring the residents of Gaza to Saudi Arabia, which explains the Arab consensus rejecting the displacement as an existential threat to the region.

Nimr explains that the summit will try to find an alternative solution to the displacement plan, but the basic question remains: What is this alternative?

Will the Arab countries accept the imposition of a joint Arab-Palestinian administration over Gaza? Will they be able to convince the United States and Israel that this option ensures security and stability without the need to displace the population?

He points out that the Arab position must be firm in rejecting displacement without any conditions or compromises, and not merely searching for alternatives that are in line with the American vision.

According to Nimr, the Arab summit will depend largely on the results of the meeting in Riyadh. If an Arab consensus is reached on the Egyptian plan, it is likely to be officially adopted, even if some countries, such as Algeria or others, object to some of its details.

Nimr stresses that agreeing to reject forced displacement does not necessarily mean reaching a just and fair solution for the Palestinians, but may be merely a tactical move to pass other solutions that satisfy the United States and Israel.

Nimr stresses that the central issue is not only in rejecting displacement, but in determining what comes after the rejection, i.e. how Gaza will be managed politically and security-wise, who will bear responsibility for reconstruction, and what are the guarantees to prevent the imposition of coercive solutions on the Palestinians that serve Israeli interests.

He believes that the meeting in Riyadh is the key to what will happen later at the Arab Summit, where the ability of Arab countries to impose their own vision, without submitting to American and Israeli pressure, will be tested.

Nimr stresses that adhering to the Arab position rejecting displacement is a positive step, but it is not sufficient if it is not accompanied by a clear strategic vision that guarantees the Palestinians their rights to self-determination without external interference.

An Arab attempt to address the current political situation

Writer and political analyst Suleiman Basharat asserts that the Arab summit being held in Riyadh is of great importance, not only for its sensitive timing, but also for the nature of the topic for which it was called, which is to discuss “Trump’s vision” for the Palestinian issue and address Middle East issues.

Basharat points out that the summit comes within the framework of an Arab attempt to address the current political situation and block what the United States and Israel may seek in the next stage.

Basharat explains that the speed of holding the summit reflects the desire of Arab leaders not to leave a political or temporal vacuum that Washington and Tel Aviv could exploit to impose visions or solutions that do not take into account the Arab position or the needs of the peoples of the region.

"The summit does not want to give a time frame that might allow for the imposition of a unilateral American-Israeli vision, which is what makes this step preemptive and important," Basharat says.

Basharat believes that the expanded Arab summit in Cairo, which will follow the Riyadh meeting, is largely protocol-based, while the Riyadh summit comes as a practical step aimed at formulating a unified Arab vision that can be adopted and activated if the appropriate conditions are available.

A proactive step to draw the features of the alternative Arab vision

Basharat points out that the Riyadh Summit includes the active parties directly concerned with the political repercussions of the Palestinian issue, which makes it a proactive step to draw the features of the alternative Arab vision.

Basharat stressed that the decisions that will come out of the Riyadh summit will form the basic ground and agenda for the discussions that will take place at the expanded Arab summit, if it is held.

Basharat says: “The Riyadh Summit will determine the general features of the Arab vision that will form the roadmap for the next stage, which makes it a very important strategic step.”

Basharat points out that the summit, even if its decisions have not been announced directly or clearly yet, will set the basic points for any future Arab position or decision regarding the Palestinian issue.

Basharat says: “The summit will present an alternative Arab vision to the American-Israeli plan, and it is an attempt to block the American position that ignores Arab and Palestinian rights.”

Although Basharat acknowledges that it is not possible to confirm the success of this Arab vision or fully define its features at this stage, he stresses that the summit is a serious attempt to confront the American-Israeli proposal.

"Ultimately, this summit is an attempt to fill the political vacuum that Washington and Tel Aviv may exploit, and it is a step towards forming a unified Arab position that reflects the interests of the Arab peoples and preserves Palestinian rights," Basharat says.

Basharat believes that the summit, although it is a first step, will lay the foundations for a comprehensive Arab vision that can be built upon in the coming stages, especially in light of the major challenges facing the Palestinian cause and the region as a whole.

The necessity of establishing a unified Arab position to confront challenges

Writer and political researcher, Dr. Walaa Qadimat, confirms that the expanded Riyadh Summit comes in the context of the necessity of establishing a unified Arab position to confront current challenges, most notably the dangers of displacing Palestinians, explaining that the Riyadh Summit is important for the participating countries to agree and set aside differences on how to finance the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and also how to manage the Strip.

Qadimat stresses that the summit represents an opportunity to formulate a joint Arab response that rejects any plans aimed at changing the demographic reality in Palestine, which calls for decisive decisions to prevent the implementation of these projects that threaten Arab national security.

Qadeemat explains that regional and international developments require a real awareness from Arab countries of the repercussions of the biased American position in favor of Israel, as this policy directly affects the national security of Egypt and Jordan, in addition to its repercussions on the Arab region as a whole, considering that the Palestinian issue is not only the issue of the Palestinians, but also an Arab and Islamic issue.

Qadeemat points out that the upcoming summit in Cairo holds special importance, as it is expected to constitute a major milestone in formulating a comprehensive Arab vision for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Qadimat stresses that this issue requires defining roles and responsibilities, and agreeing on clear mechanisms to ensure the reconstruction of the sector within a framework that enhances stability, rather than being a mere temporary measure without a clear political vision. Hence the importance of the expanded Riyadh Summit to formulate a position that establishes the Cairo Summit.

Qadeemat believes that the Riyadh Summit represents a real test of the extent of the Arab countries’ commitment to proposing practical solutions that guarantee the rejection of displacement and the protection of the Palestinian cause from attempts at liquidation.

Qadeemat stresses that the Arab and regional reality in light of the new American policies requires Arab leaders to realize the necessity of forming a unified, cohesive position, because the liquidation of the Palestinian cause will not only have repercussions on the Palestinians alone, but will affect Arab national security as a whole.

Qadeemat touched upon the fact that the US position cannot be relied upon, noting that the US bias in favour of Israel provokes Arab and Islamic sentiments, which could lead to an unexpected escalation in the event that displacement plans or the liquidation of the Palestinian cause are implemented.

Qadeemat stresses that betting on the silence of the Arab peoples is not a guaranteed option, especially since any attempts to force the Palestinians to leave their lands will be met with reactions at the official and popular levels, which will further complicate the situation in the region.

Qadeemat stresses that the reconstruction of Gaza must be part of a comprehensive solution, not just an emergency response to the humanitarian situation.

Qadeem believes that Arab leaders are required to develop clear and specific plans to secure international support for reconstruction, while ensuring that the Palestinian issue is not used as a political bargaining chip.

Qadimat indicates that Washington may be willing to back down from its position on displacement if it finds that the proposed alternatives serve its interests, which requires Arab leaders to present workable proposals that do not infringe on Palestinian rights.

She stresses that any solution that ignores legitimate Palestinian rights will further complicate the situation in the region, which could expose American and Israeli interests to unexpected risks.

Qadeemat stresses that rejecting displacement must be a firm collective Arab position, and not merely a negotiating position, noting that continuing to talk about “acceptable alternatives” instead of categorically rejecting displacement may lead to the erosion of the Arab position, which opens the door to projects that threaten the Palestinian existence.

Qadeem believes that the upcoming Arab summit should send a clear message to the United States and the international community that displacement is not an option, and that any attempts to impose it will be met with decisive Arab rejection.

Qadeemat stresses that the next stage requires joint Arab efforts to present a clear political vision that prevents the implementation of any plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause or threatening regional stability.

Presenting an Arab vision that supports the establishment of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution

Egyptian writer and political analyst Dr. Amr Hussein confirms that all eyes are on the upcoming Riyadh summit, which will be held today, Friday, with the participation of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, and Jordan, with the aim of discussing current challenges, most notably the displacement plan in the Gaza Strip.

Hussein points out that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi left Spain for Saudi Arabia to attend the Riyadh Summit, which is a major milestone for formulating a unified Arab position to confront the displacement plan.

According to Hussein, the Arab Republic of Egypt is leading efforts to formulate a unified Arab plan that aims to thwart the Israeli displacement project in Gaza and provide a strategic alternative that prevents the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

Hussein explains that the US administration, led by President Donald Trump, justifies its support for the displacement plans with two main arguments: the continued rule of Hamas in the Strip, and the unlivability of Gaza due to the widespread destruction. In this context, the Arab countries are working on formulating a comprehensive plan that will be presented to the White House, which has expressed its readiness to consider the Arab proposal, in light of simultaneous Arab efforts to mobilize European support for the Arab position.

Hussein believes that the Riyadh summit is a preemptive step towards the upcoming Cairo summit next month, during which clear foundations will be laid to confront the plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause, and to work on presenting an Arab vision that supports the establishment of the Palestinian state and the two-state solution.

Hussein stresses the importance of Arab moves at a time when Gaza is facing a serious challenge, which increases the importance of unifying the Arab position to thwart attempts to impose new facts on the ground, according to an Israeli vision supported by the United States.

Any funding for reconstruction is not possible with Hamas in power.

Writer and political analyst Daoud Kuttab believes that the Riyadh summit aims primarily to secure the financial resources necessary to rebuild the Gaza Strip, stressing that the speed and efficiency of reconstruction with Arab support will be the strongest response to the displacement plans adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Writers explain that Arab countries realize the importance of providing significant financial support to rebuild the Gaza Strip, which was destroyed by the Israeli aggression. However, this funding is contingent on making a fundamental change in the administration of Gaza.

Writers point out that there is a trend within the summit to ask Egypt and Qatar to exert pressure on the Hamas movement to push it to step down from managing the Gaza Strip, or accept the establishment of a new Palestinian Authority or a joint Palestinian-Arab administration to take over the affairs of Gaza.

Writers confirm that there is an international and Arab consensus that any funding for the reconstruction of Gaza will not be possible while Hamas continues to rule, pointing out that the international community is demanding a new administrative framework that ensures that wars are not repeated and prevents the exploitation of aid for political or military purposes.

Writers point out that Israel is convinced that it will not stop its ongoing aggression against Gaza as long as there is no change in the management of the Strip, considering that forming a new authority that enjoys Arab and international acceptance will be the only way to secure the necessary funding and stop the Israeli war of extermination against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested, at dawn today, Friday, three citizens from Jalazone camp and the village of Surda, north of Ramallah.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed Jalazone camp and arrested Kamal Hassouna and Jihad Misbah after raiding their homes. They also arrested the freed prisoner Iyad Abu Salama from Surda after raiding and searching his home.

Medical sources announced, at dawn on Friday, the death of citizen Ahmed Riyad Ahmed Awad, who succumbed to his serious injuries after a military vehicle hit his vehicle in the city of Tulkarm.

The martyr Awad, a resident of the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarm, was injured along with his wife when a military vehicle traveling at high speed in the opposite direction of traffic hit the vehicle he and his wife were riding in on Nablus Street opposite Tulkarm camp. They were taken to the hospital, and doctors later announced his martyrdom.

With the martyrdom of Awad, the number of martyrs in Tulkarm and its camps during the Israeli aggression that has been ongoing for 26 days has risen to 12 martyrs, including a child (7 years old) and two women, one of whom is eight months pregnant.

The Israeli occupation forces continued their aggression on the city of Tulkarm and its camp for the 26th consecutive day, and on the Nour Shams camp for the 13th day, amid military reinforcements, accompanied by destruction and vandalism of citizens’ homes and properties.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces sent military reinforcements towards the city and its two camps, and deployed their vehicles and soldiers in the streets and neighborhoods, concentrating on Nablus Street, which connects the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, and obstructed the movement of vehicles and citizens, and stopped them and subjected them to inspection and investigation.

Meanwhile, the occupation forces caused widespread destruction to citizens' homes and shops in Nour Shams camp, specifically in the Manshiyya neighborhood, and burned a residential building there, in addition to the extensive destruction of the infrastructure and water, electricity and communications networks.

Citizens who were able to enter the camp observed the extent of the destruction to their homes and public property, including the destruction and vandalism of the building of the Nour Shams Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, which specializes in caring for a large number of people with disabilities from the camp and the city, through humanitarian and social programs.

Citizens described what happened in the Manshiyya neighborhood as an indescribable scene and unbelievable destruction. Houses were open, some destroyed, and others completely demolished. Burned vehicles were in the alleys of the camp, and shops were damaged, but their contents were not spared. The effects of the bombing, destruction, and sabotage filled every corner, and the camp was completely afflicted.

The occupation forces also continued their campaign of raids on homes in Nour Shams camp, searching them, destroying their contents, and interrogating their residents after detaining them for hours.

In Tulkarm camp, destruction covered its neighborhoods after the occupation bulldozers demolished more than 14 houses over the course of two days, leaving behind rubble and debris, as part of the escalation campaign targeting the camp, as part of a plan to open a street extending from the agency area to the Balawneh neighborhood, passing through the Al-Sawalmeh, Al-Shuhada, and Al-Khidmat neighborhoods, in addition to burning other houses and causing damage to several houses, and the complete destruction of the infrastructure that accompanied it.

In the same context, the occupation forces caused destruction and vandalism to the houses they seized in the eastern neighborhood of Tulkarm and turned them into military barracks, while the municipality crews opened the roads and removed the rubble and debris from the streets after the occupation withdrew from the neighborhood.

The occupation forces seized a third building on Nablus Street in the city and turned it into a military barracks, after forcing its residents to leave it by force.

At the same time, the occupation forces continue to close the gate of the Jabara checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city of Tulkarm for the 14th consecutive day, isolating the city from the villages and towns of Al-Kafriyat and the rest of the West Bank governorates.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would travel to Washington to try to convince his US counterpart Donald Trump that his interests were aligned with those of his European allies and that showing any weakness to Russian President Vladimir Putin would make dealing with China and Iran more difficult.

Macron said the uncertainty over how Trump would handle Russia's three-year assault on Ukraine was worrying, but it also created uncertainty for Putin, something that should be used to help negotiations.

Macron's remarks came during a question-and-answer session on social media as part of the French government's efforts to make people more aware of the impact of the Ukraine war, France's role and the shift in the United States' position since Trump took office.

A young man was shot in the thigh with live bullets, Thursday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces’ raid on the village of Shuqba, northwest of Ramallah.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces fired live bullets at a young man (37 years old), which resulted in him being shot in the thigh.

The occupation forces stormed the village and, at gunpoint, took citizens out of the shops in the center of the village, subjected them to searches, and abused a number of them.

According to the sources, the occupation soldiers destroyed a number of vehicles in the village, and fired live bullets and tear gas bombs intensively towards citizens' homes.

The occupation police reported that an explosion occurred, which led to the burning of a bus in a parking lot in the city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, which necessitated an intensive security deployment at the site to investigate the causes of the accident.

According to the Channel 12 correspondent, the Shin Bet internal security service is investigating whether the explosions that targeted two empty buses in the city represent an operation.

So far, there have been no reports of injuries, while security investigations into the circumstances and possible causes of the accident continue.

The Revolutionary Council of the Fatah Movement held its twelfth regular session, "The Martyr National Leader Abdul-Ilah Al-Atira Session," this evening, Thursday, in the presence of the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, and members of the movement's Central Committee.

The first session was opened after the quorum was reached, with a speech by His Excellency in which he discussed the latest political developments.

The President said, "We meet today in the midst of another difficult phase that our national cause is going through, as the Israeli occupation continues its tyranny and aggression against our people, violating all international laws and treaties, without deterrence or accountability, in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. This is a phase through which it aims to undermine the two-state solution, weaken the Palestinian National Authority, and impose punitive policies and ethnic cleansing on our people. These policies in Jerusalem differ from those in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, with the aim of displacing our people and preventing the establishment of the Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital."

President Abbas added: "For a year and a half, our people have been subjected to a horrific destructive catastrophe and a war of genocide that has claimed the lives of 160,000 martyrs and wounded, and the destruction of more than 70% of the homes and facilities in the Gaza Strip. We have also witnessed persistent attempts to displace our people from Gaza and impose new facts on the ground."

The President continued, "We reiterate our firm position in confronting the displacement plans, which we have rejected and which the majority of the world's countries have rejected with us. We also affirm and work to consolidate the ceasefire, ensure the flow of humanitarian aid, have the State of Palestine assume its responsibilities and tasks in the Gaza Strip, and preserve the territorial integrity of the State of Palestine, noting that the Authority's crews have begun their work at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings."

President Abbas addressed the issue of the occupation's attempts to undermine the work of UNRWA, saying: We reaffirm the role of UNRWA as an irreplaceable international organization, and the necessity of preventing the occupation from undermining it.

The President added, "We also renew our absolute rejection of all Israeli practices, including settlement, theft of our land, and attacks on our people and our holy sites in the West Bank and Jerusalem."

He pointed out that at a time when the occupation deliberately undermines our efforts to impose the rule of law in Jenin and other areas, where our security services were about to complete their mission, we affirm that our security services will continue their missions to preserve security and stability, despite the Israeli obstacles to their missions.

The President called for the necessity of serious action to implement the two-state solution and end the occupation in cooperation with brothers and friends, on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. We are also working in this regard in all international forums and courts, and with the Global Alliance and the Arab-Islamic Committee in order to mobilize international support for implementing the two-state solution, preserving the legitimate rights of our people, international recognition of the State of Palestine and obtaining its full membership in the United Nations, and holding the International Peace Conference in New York City in June under the joint presidency of Saudi Arabia and France.

President Abbas said: We reiterate here and everywhere that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of our people, and that the unity of our internal front, strengthening the steadfastness of our people, and staying away from destructive outbidding are the basis for the steadfastness of our national project and saving it from liquidation.

The President noted that the reform program that the Palestinian government is working on is a necessity and a national interest, and we must all support it to ensure improving the performance of its national institutions, enhancing confidence in them, improving the services provided to citizens, most notably health and education, advancing the national economy, empowering women and youth, working with civil society institutions, unions, syndicates and the private sector, enhancing justice, transparency, integrity and accountability, the rule of law and expanding social protection.

He called for strengthening the national front in these critical circumstances that our cause is going through, saying: “We must all work together to strengthen our national front, preserve the PLO as the sole legitimate representative, thwart any meetings, conferences or attempts to create alternative or parallel frameworks, protect the Palestinian cause and strengthen the steadfastness of our people at home and abroad. Sanctions must be imposed on anyone who participates in these meetings and conferences without obtaining official permission.”

The President added: "We must support the steadfastness of all segments of our people, which will strengthen the internal front. We reiterate that we are proud of the sacrifices of the martyrs, prisoners, and wounded, and we feel the suffering and sacrifices of the refugees at home and abroad. It is our responsibility to return the displaced in Gaza, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas to their homes and provide them with shelter and services."

He continued: "The Israeli aggression on our people has had additional repercussions, which have placed new responsibilities before us, which we are working to include in our economic and social support programs. In the Gaza Strip, 160,000 people were killed and injured, thousands of families are homeless, thousands of children have lost their families, 350,000 families have lost everything and need assistance, in addition to 250,000 workers who have lost their jobs, which requires serious consideration to support all these groups and strengthen their steadfastness."

President Abbas added, "We have established a comprehensive social protection and care system, and amended some laws to secure the needs of all affected categories of Palestinian families who need empowerment and assistance in Palestine. This system will work to preserve their dignity and material needs, and we hope that everyone will trust us."

Following the President's speech, reports will be presented by the Revolutionary Council and members of the Central Committee of the Fatah Movement.

During the three days of the session, the comprehensive aggression that our people are being subjected to in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem will be discussed, as well as the ongoing political movements, in addition to examining national issues and a number of internal issues of the movement.

Hamas spokesman Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Qanou stated that the movement is waiting for the Israeli occupation to implement all the provisions of the humanitarian protocol, stressing Hamas’ readiness to complete the implementation of the agreement in all its stages in a way that achieves its demands.

Al-Qanou accused the occupation of using internationally banned weapons against the Palestinian people, while demanding the disarmament of the legitimate resistance, stressing the need to form international committees to investigate the use of these weapons.

Al-Qanou' stressed Hamas's commitment to the ceasefire agreement as long as the occupation adheres to it, noting that the second phase negotiations have not yet practically begun, but the movement is ready to engage in them in accordance with what is stipulated in the agreement.

In a related context, Al-Qanou accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of procrastinating in implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The Egyptian presidency said on Thursday evening that the Riyadh meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, will discuss the Palestinian issue with the participation of the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

This came in a statement by the Egyptian presidency, stating that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Riyadh on Thursday, on an indefinite visit.

The presidency said that Sisi arrived in Riyadh "to participate in an informal meeting on the Palestinian issue, with the participation of the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan," without further details.

Earlier on Thursday, the official Saudi Press Agency revealed that a meeting will be held between the leaders of the Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan in Riyadh tomorrow, Friday, at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Quoting an unnamed "official" source, the agency said, "At the invitation of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, he will meet in Riyadh on Friday with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the King of Jordan and the President of Egypt."

She said that the meeting was "brotherly, informal" and came within the context of "special friendly meetings that have been held periodically for many years" between the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Jordan.

She pointed out that the upcoming meeting will be "within the framework of the close fraternal relations that bring together the leaders and that contribute to enhancing cooperation and coordination between the GCC countries, Jordan and Egypt."

She stressed that any decisions regarding joint Arab action will be issued "on the agenda of the upcoming emergency Arab summit" hosted by Egypt next March.

Egypt announced on Tuesday that it has set March 4 as the new date for the emergency Arab summit on developments in Palestine, instead of February 27, for “preparatory and logistical” reasons.

Since January 25, US President Donald Trump has been promoting a plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which was rejected by both countries, and was joined by other Arab countries and regional and international organizations.

Egypt is working to formulate and propose a comprehensive Arab plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians from it, for fear of liquidating the Palestinian cause through displacement.

A child was injured by live bullets, Thursday evening, during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the village of Shabtin, northwest of Ramallah.

The head of the Shabtin village council, Ibrahim Yaqoub, explained that the occupation forces shot a 15-year-old child directly without any confrontations taking place, which led to him being injured in one of his legs with live bullets, after which he was transferred to the hospital.

Yaqoub pointed out that the occupation soldiers assaulted citizens in two homes, after raiding them and destroying their contents.

US President Donald Trump's envoy, Steven Witkoff, confirmed that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza will be more difficult, but he stressed that there is a real chance for success if understandings are reached between the parties concerned.

Ceasefire Agreement and the Critical Phase

Witkov said that the second phase of the agreement is supposed to put an end to the war in Gaza, but he pointed out that there are major obstacles to the negotiations, especially regarding the status of the Hamas movement in the Strip.

He explained that "Israel" has a red line that Hamas cannot cross, which is continuing to control the Gaza Strip, noting that finding a solution to this issue is still difficult.

Progress in negotiations and Trump's plan on Gaza

Witkov announced that the talks on the second phase are making significant progress, expressing his hope that these efforts will lead to positive results that contribute to achieving a permanent calm.

Regarding Trump's plan for Gaza, Witkov denied that it aims to displace Palestinians, stressing that it seeks to change the way of thinking about the future of the Strip and provide solutions that serve the interests of the Palestinian people, according to his statement.

All eyes remain on upcoming developments amid intensified international efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement that will achieve stability in Gaza and the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened the Gaza Strip, vowing to avenge the deaths of four Israeli prisoners whose bodies were released by Hamas earlier on Thursday.

This comes as a result of his forgetting his responsibility for killing these prisoners, due to his obstruction for many months of reaching a deal to return them, while the Palestinian factions confirm that they preserved their lives, but it was their army that killed them along with their captors.

Earlier on Thursday, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released the bodies of four Israelis who it said were killed in the violent Israeli bombardment of Gaza during the 16-month aggression.

The four bodies belong to Sheri Bibas, her two children, Kfir and Ariel, and prisoner Oded Lifshitz, and were handed over as part of the seventh batch of the first phase of the current ceasefire agreement.

In his first comment on the release of the bodies of the four Israelis, Netanyahu, who is wanted for crimes against humanity in Gaza, said, "The voices of the blood of our loved ones are crying out to us from the ground, and this obliges us to hold the killers accountable, and we will hold them accountable."

In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu continued his threat to Gaza by quoting a phrase from the Book of Psalms in the Torah (the Jewish holy book) that says: “O God of vengeance, be revealed.”

"We all feel pain mixed with anger," he added.

He added, threateningly: "The return of the four bodies obliges us to ensure that what happened on October 7 (October 2023) will never happen again," hinting at his intention to resume the war on Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian factions in Gaza, through an operation called “Al-Aqsa Flood,” attacked 11 military bases and 22 settlements adjacent to the Strip with the aim of what they said was “ending the unjust siege on Gaza (which lasted for 18 years) and thwarting Israel’s plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause and impose its sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

On the same day, Israel, with American support, began a genocidal war on Gaza, leaving more than 160,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing, in addition to massive destruction.

** Hamas: We treated the prisoners humanely, and their army killed them

Following the release of the bodies of the four Israelis today, Hamas confirmed that the Israeli army was responsible for their deaths by bombing their detention centers, and stressed that the resistance in Gaza "treated them humanely and tried to rescue them."

The movement indicated in a statement that the Israeli army killed, along with the four Israeli prisoners, 17,881 Palestinian children through its "criminal bombing of Gaza."

She added: "The criminal Netanyahu is crying today over the bodies of his prisoners who returned to him in coffins, in a blatant attempt to evade responsibility for their killing in front of his audience."

Netanyahu's threat to Gaza comes as criticism of him mounts in the Israeli street, which is gripped by anger after the prisoners began returning in coffins for the first time as part of the current exchange deal.

It seems that these criticisms, according to Hebrew media estimates, are what forced Netanyahu to back down from his intention to participate in the ceremony to receive the bodies of the four prisoners today, after he wanted to turn the scene into a political victory for him, but it actually turned into resentment and anger against him.

The Israeli opposition holds Netanyahu responsible for the deaths of a large number of prisoners due to his obstruction for many months of reaching a deal to return them, for fear of the collapse of his government coalition, in which far-right ministers were pressing for the continuation of the war of extermination on Gaza.

On January 19, the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement began, divided into three phases, each lasting 42 days, with the condition that the next phase be negotiated before the current phase is completed.

Israel is still delaying the start of negotiations for the second phase of the agreement, which was supposed to begin on February 3.

The first phase of the agreement generally includes Israel handing over 33 prisoners, both living and dead, in batches.

Until the seventh batch that took place today, Israel received 19 living prisoners in addition to the bodies of 4 others.

Israel is scheduled to receive 6 living prisoners on Saturday, in addition to 4 bodies of prisoners next week, thus ending the prisoner exchange operations within the first phase of the agreement.

In return, Israel has so far released 1,135 Palestinians, including dozens of prisoners serving life sentences, while it is expected to release 602 Palestinian prisoners this week and next week, bringing the total number of Palestinian prisoners released in the first phase of the agreement to 1,737.

It is worth noting that on November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued two arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that Gaza should be completely disarmed and that anyone who wants to emigrate from the hell of Gaza should be given freedom of choice, as he put it.

Statements by Israeli officials calling for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza continue, especially after US President Donald Trump’s statements about the need to find lands for them in Egypt and Jordan, which was met with Jordanian and Egyptian rejection and an emphasis on rebuilding Gaza without displacing them.

Today, Thursday, the head of the Water Authority, Ziad Mimi, confirmed that the German Agency has allocated an integrated program aimed at institutionalizing and building the capacities of the sanitation sector in Palestine, which will extend over three years at a financial cost of up to 5 million euros.

During his meeting today with the Director of the Water Resources and Sustainability Program at the German Agency for Development in Palestine, Natalie Bartlett, the Deputy Director of Cooperation at the German Representative Office, Ruth Miller, the Head of the Support Management Unit, Annette Bremer, and the Project Officer, in the presence of the Water Authority staff, Ramez Al-Titi, the Technical Advisor, Moaz Abu Saada, the Director of the Aid Coordination Unit, Nujoud Abdo, the Director General of Development and Training, Ziad Al-Faqha, and the Director General of Projects, Ziad Daraghmeh.

Al-Mimi appreciated the German Agency’s allocation of an integrated program aimed at institutionalizing and building the capacities of the sanitation sector in Palestine, which will extend over three years at a financial cost of 5 million euros. It includes supporting the establishment of water facilities, raising the efficiency of institutions and cadres working in the water sector, enhancing collaborative work and developing the institutional aspect.

Al-Mimi also touched on the Water Authority’s plan, which is based on unifying efforts, diversifying projects, and their comprehensiveness of various important aspects that the Water Authority places among the main priorities for what serves the water sector first, unifying work among all workers in the water and sanitation sector, and integrating the work of donor agencies.

For her part, Bartlett stressed the importance of involving the Water Authority in its development plan, which helps in unifying efforts and raising the efficiency of work in the listed projects, noting that the German side will work to develop a plan that is consistent within its framework with the Water Authority’s directions, to be discussed and agreed upon in the coming days.

A citizen and his wife were injured today, Thursday, after an Israeli military vehicle hit their vehicle on Nablus Street in Tulkarm.

According to local sources, a military vehicle was driving at high speed and taking the wrong route, and violently collided with a vehicle driven by a citizen and his wife, on Nablus Street opposite Tulkarm camp.

The sources added that the injured were transferred by ambulance to the hospital, and their condition was described as moderate, while their vehicle sustained severe damage.

It is noteworthy that a similar accident occurred last Tuesday, when a military vehicle driving against traffic hit a vehicle driven by a young man who sustained bruises on Nablus Street.

In this context, the city of Tulkarm and its two camps, Tulkarm and Nour Shams, witnessed a wide deployment of infantry soldiers and military vehicles, which patrolled the streets and neighborhoods, specifically along Nablus Street, which extends between the two camps, and were stationed at their entrances, and obstructed the movement of vehicles and citizens, through flying checkpoints that were set up at various intersections in the city.

Japanese Ambassador to Jordan Asari Hideki affirmed his country's firm commitment to supporting needy Palestinian refugees, especially in light of the current circumstances.

This came during his participation in the graduation ceremony of the Distinguished Leadership and Accountability Programme of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), today, Thursday, which is supported by the Government of Japan.

The Japanese Ambassador stressed the pivotal role played by UNRWA in providing humanitarian assistance, health care, education, and basic services to Palestinian refugees in Jordan and the region.

It is noteworthy that the programme aims to enhance accountability and compliance within UNRWA, in addition to improving service delivery on the front lines, by providing practical learning opportunities and workshops for management staff, with a focus on the concept of women, peace and security.

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on Thursday of the danger of escalation in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, reiterating his rejection of the displacement of Palestinians.

This came during his meeting in the capital, Amman, with a delegation from the US House of Representatives headed by member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Darrell Issa, according to a statement by the Royal Court.

The statement said that "developments in the region were discussed," and the Jordanian monarch warned of "the danger of escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem."

The Israeli occupation army's aggression on the northern West Bank, since January 21, has left 59 Palestinian martyrs, according to the Ministry of Health, in addition to the displacement of thousands of others, and widespread destruction of property, homes, and infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation army and settlers have expanded their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of at least 920 Palestinians, the injury of about 7,000, and the arrest of 14,500 others, according to official Palestinian data.

The King of Jordan stressed the "need to intensify international efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)."

He pointed to "the pivotal role of the United States in advancing these efforts," according to the same statement.

He reiterated Jordan's "rejection of any attempts to displace Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the necessity of sustaining the ceasefire in Gaza, and enhancing the humanitarian response."

On Sunday, the Jordanian monarch stressed, during his meeting in Amman with a delegation from the US Congress headed by Senator Richard Blumenthal, his rejection of the displacement of Palestinians, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the sustainability of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the Royal Court, a copy of which was received by Anadolu Agency.

This came days after the King of Jordan confirmed to US President Donald Trump, following talks between the two parties at the White House on Tuesday, his rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

Since January 25, Trump has been promoting a plan to displace the Palestinians of Gaza to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which was rejected by both countries, and was joined by other Arab countries and regional and international organizations.

On February 4, Trump revealed during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House that his country intends to seize Gaza after displacing the Palestinians from it to other countries, including Egypt and Jordan.

While Egypt is working to formulate and propose a comprehensive Arab plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians from it, for fear of liquidating the Palestinian cause through displacement.

With American support, Israel committed genocide in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, leaving more than 160,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

The meeting between the King of Jordan and the American parliamentarians also discussed "the strategic partnership between Jordan and the United States, and ways to enhance it."

The Jordanian statement did not specify the date of the American delegation's arrival in the Kingdom or the duration of its visit.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today, Thursday, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 48,319, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023.

It added that the number of injuries has risen to 111,749 since the beginning of the aggression, while a number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

It pointed out that 22 dead arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals, all of whose bodies were recovered, and 16 injuries during the past 24 hours.

It is noteworthy that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered into force on January 19, and since it came into effect, a number of citizens have been killed and injured in various parts of the Strip.

Physicians Against Genocide met in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge the U.S. Senate to take action to end the genocide in the devastated Gaza Strip.

The Global Alliance of Healthcare Workers mobilized more than 100 doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals on Capitol Hill.

“We are here because our duty as medical professionals does not stop at the hospital doors. It is our responsibility to protect life and to sound the alarm when we witness crimes against humanity,” the doctors said.

“What is happening to the Palestinian people is genocide, and it is being funded by American taxpayer money. We refuse to be complicit,” Dr. Nidal Jabbour, a co-founder of the group Physicians Against Genocide, told reporters at a news conference at the Hart Building on Capitol Hill. “We are calling on the Senate to take immediate action.”

Jabour said the group is calling for the restoration of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and an end to the forced displacement of Palestinians.

"We also demand a permanent ceasefire, not just negotiations, but a complete end to the massacre of innocent civilians," he added.

The Palestinian doctors' group also called for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was arrested by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the facility on December 27, 2024.

Meanwhile, Capitol Police interrupted the press conference, saying they were not allowed into the building.

Doctors continued to make their statements outside the Hart Building.

The ceasefire in Gaza and the prisoner exchange agreement in effect since January 19, suspended the genocidal war waged by Israel since October 7, 2023, which killed more than 48,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the Strip in ruins.

On October 21, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Galant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the Strip.

The presidency announced that the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, will present the Palestinian vision to confront the challenges facing the Palestinian cause at the emergency Arab summit in Cairo on March 4.

The presidency added that the plan includes elements that would preserve the legitimate rights of our Palestinian people, ensure their steadfastness and stability on their land, prevent displacement attempts, and rebuild what the occupation destroyed in Gaza and the West Bank, leading to the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, by ending the Israeli occupation, and embodying the Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The following are the most important elements of the Palestinian vision:

1. Enabling the State of Palestine and its legitimate government to assume its duties and responsibilities in the Gaza Strip as in the West Bank, based on the unity of the Palestinian territory, its political system, and its geographical, political, and legal jurisdiction, and ensuring the complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip. We stress the necessity of receiving all crossings, including the Kerem Shalom and Rafah border crossings with Egypt, and operating them in cooperation with Egypt and the European Union in accordance with the 2005 agreement.

In this context, the Palestinian government, based on its responsibilities and within its capabilities, has mobilized its energies and available resources in the Gaza Strip to restore water and electricity services, help the displaced return to their areas, provide them with shelter, open roads, activate health and education services, and provide humanitarian aid within the framework of the early recovery plan that is being supervised by a government team.

In this regard, the government has formed a working committee for Gaza affairs, whose tasks include supporting the government’s efforts in coordinating the provision of humanitarian, social and health services, and providing temporary shelter. The committee is composed of competent people from the Gaza Strip who are known for their integrity, transparency and experience in the affairs of the sector, headed by a minister from the Palestinian government.

2. The Palestinian government has prepared a plan for recovery and reconstruction, while keeping the population inside the Strip, in consultation and cooperation with our brothers in Egypt and international organizations, including the World Bank, United Nations organizations, and the European Union. It will be submitted to the Arab Summit for approval.

We are working with our brothers in Egypt and the United Nations to hold the International Reconstruction Conference as soon as possible, in which we call on our brothers and friends from countries and international organizations to participate effectively in this conference and to provide their contribution within the framework of the International Credit Fund in cooperation with the World Bank.

We highly appreciate the continued support of many countries around the world for UNRWA, which operates under a UN mandate and provides important and indispensable services.

3. The President stressed the continuation of implementing the reform and development program in various institutional, legal and service fields, in order to provide the best services to our Palestinian people. This program has received wide international welcome and support, and the government is working with the World Bank and specialized international organizations to ensure the application of the best practices and standards in its reform program.

4. President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, calls for the necessity of working to achieve a comprehensive and long-term truce in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, in exchange for halting unilateral Israeli actions that violate international law, halting practices and policies that undermine the two-state solution, weakening the Palestinian National Authority, and preserving the historical and legal status of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, which opens the way for a political path based on international legitimacy and international law.

5. The President reiterates his emphasis on the importance of continuing political and legal action in all forums and courts, based on the fact that implementing the two-state solution based on international legitimacy, leading to the embodiment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, is the only guarantee that achieves security and stability in the region. This calls for accelerating the holding of the international peace conference next June under the joint presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France, continuing to mobilize energies, and preparing for the success of this conference through the preparations being made by the global coalition that includes more than 90 countries, achieving more international recognition, and the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.

6. The President stresses the importance of achieving national unity on the basis of commitment to the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, its political program, its international obligations, and the principle of one system, one law, and one legitimate weapon. The President stresses that the democratic option and resorting to the ballot box is the only way to respect the will of the people to choose their representatives through general elections, presidential and legislative, held in all Palestinian territories, in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, as was done in all previous elections, one year from now if the appropriate conditions are available, which we call on everyone to contribute to preparing.

In conclusion, His Excellency the President thanks his fellow Arab leaders for holding this summit, and wishes it success in achieving its goals.

The first batch of mobile homes (caravans) crossed from the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing to the Kerem Shalom crossing in preparation for their entry into the Gaza Strip, according to what Egyptian media reported on Thursday.

The semi-official Cairo News Channel said that the first batch of mobile homes crossed into the Kerem Shalom crossing, and that today will witness the entry of "a bulldozer with 15 mobile homes via 5 trucks," without further details.

The channel broadcast television footage showing trucks carrying mobile home equipment moving from the Rafah border crossing towards the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is under Israeli control.

Mobile homes were one of the most prominent relief items that Israel refused to allow into the Strip under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, before mediators intervened to enforce the agreement.

Reports from the Gaza Strip indicated that eight heavy bulldozers entered the Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing over the past 48 hours, in several batches.

This equipment is used to remove debris from damaged areas.

In contrast, officials in Gaza confirmed that there is an urgent need for at least 500 heavy vehicles to carry out multiple tasks in light of the widespread destruction.

With American support, Israel committed genocide in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2023, leaving about 160,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

On January 19, mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States succeeded in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and an exchange of hostages and prisoners in 3 stages, each stage lasting 42 days.

A young man was killed today, Thursday, by Israeli occupation forces east of Gaza City.

According to local sources, an unidentified young man was shot by soldiers while he was inspecting his house east of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood.

Has fate imposed on our Palestinian people that every generation of them should experience displacement and migration, due to the Israeli measures that are still ongoing in the northern West Bank, and the planning to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip?

Yesterday, the dream of the refugees in Jenin almost came true, when they returned to the door of their camp after news spread quickly via electronic engines, but the occupation, by an unjust decision, deprived them of their return. The question that arises here is: Do the refugees aspire to return to their camps from which the occupation expelled them only, or is it a dream of an eternal and everlasting return to their cities and villages from which the occupation forced them to emigrate, and demolished them in the Nakba of 1948?

The people of every camp, especially Jenin camp, say: We will definitely return, and we will rebuild the camp, and Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Al-Far’a camps will return, which were the victims of an Israeli terrorist operation last night that resulted in a major crime against three Palestinians who were assassinated by undercover forces from the “Border Guards”. The excuse is always, as the spokesmen for the army, police and Shin Bet justify, that they are wanted, and this time they were described as being involved in trading in combat equipment for the purpose of carrying out terrorist operations.

A big and deep wound in the Gaza Strip. Despite the destruction, rubble, and lack of homes or even tents, the message of response to the plan of the obsessed American President Trump, which Israel seeks to exploit and implement, came from the people of Gaza themselves, who expressed their absolute rejection of their displacement and expulsion.

Yesterday it was reported that the Israeli army had actually begun to develop a plan to displace the citizens of the Gaza Strip and to form a (Directorate for Voluntary Migration) at the behest of Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, and to choose wartime to implement it, not during a ceasefire. That is, if it succeeds, it will be a forced migration accompanied by a new aggression against our people.

Israel is planning to implement this plan after obtaining legitimacy from the American president, who appears to have lost legitimacy and competence. Despite Israel’s failure to implement such plans since the 1948 Nakba, this time the plan is broader, and includes a major conspiracy targeting the entire Palestinian cause, and is based on an attempt at voluntary displacement, beginning with convincing a number of countries to receive them and encouraging the citizens themselves through claims of creating better life opportunities.

The practical response to these steps and plans comes through the insistence of the Gazans on living with pride, even above the rubble and destruction, and despite the pain and calamities, as they consider Gaza to be the most beautiful country in the world, and even the entire world, according to a citizen who was exhausted by the return journey from the south to the north, as he says: “There is nothing better than the soil of Gaza,” and he confirms on behalf of the Gazans that whatever the reasons, and no matter how great the sacrifices, we will not leave or emigrate from it.

Another lady says that even if Gaza is destroyed, it is better than all other countries, explaining that enduring the suffering and pain during this period forces us not to leave it.

It is true that the people of Gaza complain about the lack of life and its components after Israel destroyed the infrastructure, water and sewage networks, energy and electricity sources, and the lack of places to shelter, but in their eyes Gaza remains more beautiful, and (Trump's) Gaza will not be beautiful, but rather very ugly without its people, and Gaza with all its camps, Jenin and the West Bank camps will remain attached and longing to memories of sadness, as they constitute a lifelong journey, and the destroyed houses will embrace all the evenings, which will be full of stories of pain and a sad voice in the symphony of farewell to the martyrs in a land riddled with wounds, to say to Trump and Israel: "Gaza and Jenin are beautiful only with their people."

Since October 7, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been completely isolated from the outside world, with their cell phones and radios confiscated, leaving us completely unaware of the developments of the war until the night before my release. That night, we met an officer from the Israeli intelligence service (Shabak), behind whom were posters showing the extent of the destruction in the Gaza Strip, a message to us that this is what awaits us in Gaza.

When I arrived in the Gaza Strip as part of the exchange deal, a chapter of suffering and deprivation ended and a new chapter of painful scenes began. On my way from

From the Kerem Shalom crossing to my home, I saw the massive destruction of homes, factories and infrastructure, as if a violent earthquake had struck the area, leaving nothing but an endless sea of rubble. Piles of solid waste piled up at intersections, while sewage flowed in the streets after the sewage networks were destroyed, a scene that reflected the scale of the humanitarian disaster that befell the Strip as a result of the war.

When I met my family and friends, my feelings of joy at my return were mixed with sadness and fear of the unknown. Everyone began to talk about what had happened and the bitter reality of Gaza after the war, to ease the shock of what I would see. There were no homes, schools, or hospitals left, water and electricity were unavailable, diseases and epidemics were spreading, and the smell of death wafted from the rubble under which victims were still buried who no one had been able to retrieve. In the north of Gaza, famine had set in, and people were forced to eat animals and tree leaves, while aid was being stolen in the south by thieves protected by the border fence with Israel. Even relief trucks were diverted to the black market, where the price of a 25-kilo bag of flour rose from $10 to more than $700, and the price of a kilo of sugar ranged between $30 and $35, leaving the displaced living between the risk of bombing, hunger, and looting. Even after the truce, the prices of basic commodities continued to rise sharply, while fuel and food supplies remained extremely limited. The price of a kilo of cooking gas has increased from $1.5 to $15, and the price of gasoline and diesel has increased tenfold. The prices of fruits and vegetables have also increased fivefold.

With more than 50 million tons of rubble, thousands of tons of solid waste, and sewage flowing into the streets, the health situation has become extremely dangerous, threatening the outbreak of new epidemics that will increase the suffering of citizens. Therefore, I believe that the top priority at the current stage is to rehabilitate the infrastructure, by removing mountains of rubble, and cleaning the streets of sewage to prevent a greater environmental and health disaster. This can be achieved through the efforts of municipalities, after providing the necessary materials and equipment, in conjunction with rebuilding and operating hospitals and schools, and preparing safe spaces for children to support them psychologically after this devastating war, in parallel with rehabilitating the destroyed agricultural sector to restore food security.

As for reconstruction, the practical solution for removing rubble in the camps is to use prefabricated housing units based on the Turkish model used after the recent earthquake that struck Turkey. The houses there are low-rise, while the task of removing rubble outside the camps should be handed over to specialized international companies, so that the rubble can be recycled for use in building roads and producing building materials. Reconstruction efforts must also be invested in expanding the Gaza port, rehabilitating agricultural lands and greenhouses, and repairing water wells, which will improve food security and gradually reduce prices. After the 2014 war, we succeeded in rehabilitating thousands of dunams of agricultural land in one year, and despite the massive destruction of the agricultural infrastructure this time, the agricultural sector can be restored within two years if the necessary budgets and materials are available. As for the fishing sector, it can be restarted in just three months, by providing basic equipment to fishermen.

On the human level, all residents of the Gaza Strip have been psychologically traumatized by the war that targeted every home. However, the most affected group are children, which portends the emergence of a more cruel generation if the children of Gaza are not psychologically and socially rehabilitated. History shows that children who lived through the 2008 war joined the confrontations in 2011 out of revenge, and those who were not rehabilitated after the 2011 war were more ferocious in 2014, leading up to the October 7 attack, which was the most violent ever. The continuation of the economic blockade and the loss of hope push young people to search for any party that provides them with a better life, which makes it easy for them to be recruited by parties seeking to achieve their interests in the region by exploiting their feelings that are inflamed as a result of the destruction they witnessed.

After the 2014 war, World Vision created safe spaces for children, where thousands of them received psychosocial support and flew kites carrying messages of peace to the world. The organization also supported their families through food security programs, which helped guide them towards building a positive future. However, after the organization’s activities were stopped in 2016, signs of a new generation’s deviation emerged, as children used kites to set fires in the Gaza envelope settlements, a clear indication that the blockade and war only bring more violence and losses to everyone.

The policy of starvation and strangulation has proven to increase radicalism and hostility, and the Israeli approach to Gaza has failed miserably, as was clearly demonstrated after the October 7 attack. Even in prison, the abuse and starvation of Palestinian prisoners after the attack led some of them to take revenge and target Israeli civilians immediately upon their release. Israel and the world must realize that the iron fist is counterproductive in Gaza, and that continuing the blockade will only lead to further escalation.

In conclusion, rebuilding Gaza requires not only engineering efforts, but also a comprehensive vision that focuses on rehabilitating the community psychologically and economically, to ensure a more stable and hopeful future for future generations.

It is clear that there is a complete identification between the forces of the Zionist Talmudic Torah right and the forces of the extreme Evangelical right in America, and that America thinks with an Israeli mind and sees things only through Israeli eyes. This is what Trump’s statements, plans, threats and intimidation reveal, according to what is known as his plan to expel and displace the residents of Gaza, control its land and establish what is known as the “Riviera of the East”, as well as seeking to annex large parts of the West Bank, within the project of “geographical and demographic engineering” of the West Bank. To strengthen these projects and plans, great American pressure is being exerted on its Arab allies from what is known as the “moderate” camp, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, in order to force them to bear the consequences of the occupation and bear the burdens of rebuilding the Gaza Strip.

American support for Israel goes beyond all military and political dimensions, to providing Israel with the latest advanced weapons, including guided bombs weighing two thousand pounds, strategic Hellfire missiles, and even the “Mother of All Bombs” bomb, which weighs 11 tons.

This identification between these extremist forces aims to restore Israeli hegemony, which was subjected to major shocks after October 7, 2023, and absolute support for all policies of the extreme right and the religious Talmudic Torah right, including support and endorsement of the annexation of the West Bank, changing its name to the state of "Judea and Samaria", and legislating this through a law in the "Knesset", where the Ministerial Committee for Foreign Affairs and Security approved this decision in the preliminary reading, and there is also a draft resolution presented to the US Congress to change the name of the West Bank to "Judea and Samaria", in line with the Israeli decision.

This American-Israeli encroachment and brutality, which we are witnessing on the ground, through the dissolution of the agreements in which America was a guarantor on the Lebanese front, and a guarantor and mediator on the Gaza Strip front, all indications are that it is on its way to collapse. On the Lebanese front, there was an American-Israeli agreement on the continuation of Israel’s occupation of five strategic Lebanese hills: Tal al-Labouneh, Tal al-Awida, Tal al-Hamamis, Tal al-Aziziya, and Tal Jabal Balata. In the Gaza Strip, the agreement is faltering, the aggression is ongoing and continuous, there is no commitment to the terms of the agreement, no humanitarian protocol has been implemented, no heavy equipment has entered, no mobile homes or tents, no regularity in the exit of the wounded and sick, and no trucks carrying humanitarian aid are entering in the required number, not to mention the non-stop violations in the form of destruction, shelling, overflights, and multiple attacks.

We said that America under Trump is completely identical with Israel, America is Israel and Israel is America, and Trump, as his partner and ally Netanyahu described him, is America’s best friend in the White House throughout all American governments, and not as former US President Biden said about himself, it is not a condition to be Jewish in order to be a Zionist, as this Trump says that I am more Zionist than the Zionists themselves, and more loyal to the generation of Zionist founders, Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion.

American pressures will continue to weaken the axis of resistance and thwart any efforts to reach a just political solution, which will place the region in an explosive scene dominated by power calculations and the interests of international alliances, especially the United States of America and Israel.

Netanyahu, after meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said that Israel is on the verge of victories that we have never dreamed of before with Trump’s support. He added: We will change the face of the entire Middle East in coordination with the Trump administration and “we are on the cusp of a historic change to ensure the future of the State of Israel.”

Israel is becoming more brutal and aggressive, with full American coverage of everything it does. It is rampaging in Syria, occupying new Syrian lands, and establishing more than twenty observation points inside its lands, paving roads, blowing up and destroying, and continuing to bomb and destroy, without anyone to hold it accountable or supervise it. It is doing the same thing in southern Lebanon, despite the truce that prevents it from any attacks and destruction operations, but it did not pay attention to the truce, nor to Resolution 1701 and its executive mechanisms. America extended its stay until the eighteenth of this month, and it continued its aggression, military actions and violations that exceeded 1500 violations, in which more than 60 martyrs and dozens of wounded fell, and to announce that it will not withdraw from five strategic Lebanese hills, in joint coordination with America.

What applies to the Lebanese front applies to the Gaza Strip front. It is clear that there is an American-Israeli agreement to recover the largest number of prisoners and to transform the first phase into a long transitional phase to recover the largest number of Israeli prisoners and to prolong the term of Netanyahu’s government and prevent it from collapsing from within. Netanyahu has begun to make contradictory statements. Sometimes he sees Trump’s plan to expel and deport the residents of the Gaza Strip as the ideal solution, and he tasks his Minister of War with forming a committee to “voluntarily” deport the residents of the Gaza Strip, with the participation of multiple ministries in that plan, and to be carried out by land, air and sea. On the other hand, he announces that he intends to go and implement the second phase of the prisoner exchange deal, that phase whose fate and the possibility of its implementation are shrouded in mystery, as Netanyahu is shackling it with impossible conditions: disarming Hamas and the resistance, and Hamas not remaining militarily and politically the day after the cessation of aggression, and deporting its military leaders and senior prisoners who are being released and deported to the Strip to multiple countries. These impossible conditions are a recipe for returning to Fighting, and perhaps America and Israel agree on this direction, but returning to fighting is not an easy option, and it cannot achieve goals that Israel failed to achieve in 471 days, in which it used all its surplus power and tried all types of advanced American weapons. This option would also threaten the lives of the rest of the Israeli prisoners. Perhaps Netanyahu’s change of the negotiating team in the second phase, by excluding the heads of the Mossad, David Barnea, and the Shin Bet, Gonen Bar, and making this team led by his close friend, Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, reflects Netanyahu’s desire to control the security and military institutions, in a way that serves his political and personal interests, after he worked to dismiss his former Minister of War, Yoav Galant, and after him, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

It seems that the region will be pregnant with developments, especially since Netanyahu's options in this direction are limited, and he is walking in a minefield, and facing great and contradictory pressures. Trump is pressuring him to go with the plan to expel and displace the residents of the Gaza Strip, and he says that he will change the face of the Middle East in partnership with him, and the region will face a historic change that guarantees the future and existence of Israel, and pressures from within the government, exerted on him by Smotrich to return to fighting again, after recovering the largest number of prisoners, as well as pressures from outside the government, Ben Gvir who resigned from the government and the coalition, and pressures from the political opposition and the families of the prisoners, in order for him to continue with the prisoner exchange deal in its three stages. It seems that Netanyahu's decision is no longer in his hands, and perhaps the decision is now in the hands of his partner Trump, and the coming days will answer all these developments and the nature of the options

The first thing that can be inferred from the flood of Israeli reports and analyses of the Arab summit expected to be held soon is that it is a very important milestone in the history of the Arab world’s positions on the Palestinian issue.

According to one report, the assessment of the political and security establishments in Israel of this summit will be determined by their position in the face of the policy proposed by the United States and Israel following the change in the US administration and the return of President Donald Trump, Israel’s strongest ally, to the White House, whose main goal can be defined as eliminating the Palestinian issue and imposing unilateral solutions that do not meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and the Arab peoples, including supporting annexation in the West Bank and institutionalizing the apartheid system.

Israeli politicians are waiting to see what the Arab leaders’ decisions will be, and whether they will agree on a unanimous position in the face of the challenges posed by this US and Israeli policy, especially in light of the push forward of Trump’s plan to deport Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which is recognized as a threat to the national security of some countries, specifically Egypt and Jordan.

In the same context, it is also noted that Arab summits can leave an imprint on developments related to the Palestinian issue, and this was the case at least twice: the first time when the Arab summit in Rabat in 1974 recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and the second time when the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002 adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, which Israel has been trying to circumvent since that time through normalization relations and its declared agreements.

Israel has repeatedly stated that its conclusion from the normalization agreements, known as the “Abraham Accords,” is essentially that the Arab leaders have completely forgotten this initiative, and no longer commit themselves to it. They may even have accepted that it has become impossible to revive or even restore. They have also accepted that Israel has succeeded in aborting it, although it did not accept it completely or reject it outright. This conclusion may not be justified, but it cannot be ignored that it governs Israeli behavior at its core.

There is an Israeli emphasis that the Arab countries cannot only declare their complete rejection of the transfer idea proposed by Trump, but must also present a plan for the future of the Gaza Strip after the war, which must include a reconstruction and rehabilitation program, and the establishment of an authority to manage it civilly.

According to the articles of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mouthpieces, Israel is sending two messages to the Arab summit: The first is the need to exclude Hamas from any administration that will be formed to take over the civil administration of the Gaza Strip. There is a near-firm belief in Israel that even if Trump abandons the transfer plan, he will not abandon the demand to exclude Hamas, and will perhaps push for a plan of action “aimed at combating the continued military capabilities of this movement in the Strip,” which means destroying Hamas as a military force in the Strip. The second message is a threat that if the summit does not reach such a result, Israel will have no choice but to resume the war on Gaza to impose this by force, despite the failure of the war, which has entered its 500th day, to achieve this.

Even if we assume that the war will actually end, the Palestinian issue will remain. At the same time, it must be noted that as a result of the war, there is a decline in the willingness of the Israeli Jewish public to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state, despite the fact that more than 70% of the Jewish public supports ending the war, returning the kidnapped soldiers, and wants normalization with Saudi Arabia, along with a “separation path” from the Palestinians, and the establishment of a regional security alliance against Iran, according to a public opinion poll in Israel last month (January).