German police forces arrested several demonstrators during a march held on Saturday in the capital, Berlin, in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the genocide committed by Israel against them, especially in the Gaza Strip.

More than a thousand people gathered near the Platz der Luftbrücke metro station to denounce the attacks that Israel has been carrying out on Gaza for more than a year, and to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The demonstrators later marched around the station, waving Palestinian flags and banners demanding that the German government stop supplying Israel with weapons used to kill the Palestinian people.

The correspondent pointed out that clashes occurred during the march between demonstrators and police forces, which led to many participants supporting Palestine being subjected to violence and arrest.

The demonstrators were forced to end the demonstration near the Gneisenau metro station after police intervened to disperse them. After they refused to leave the place, the police arrested another large group of demonstrators. Germany expresses its support for Israel explicitly through its officials, and has agreed to sell weapons and military equipment to Israel worth 31 million euros in the past few weeks.

On October 16, the Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection stated that the government had approved the sale of weapons and military equipment to Israel worth 45.74 million euros during the current year.

With full American support, the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, which has been ongoing for more than a year, has left more than 145,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that has killed dozens of children and elderly people.

Tel Aviv continues its massacres, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end them immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The poem of the late Mahmoud Darwish, the genius of Palestinian poetry, reconnects the entire scene in the Gaza Strip, mixing life and death, and the strange mixture of planting and martyrdom, to confirm that construction is not hindered by death, and rises one layer after another despite the destruction, and this is what our great people in the Gaza Strip are characterized by.

The love of life and education, despite the sinful aggression, yesterday gave birth to the opening of the largest and most massive school inside the shelter camps in the southern Gaza Strip. The children appeared with smiles on their faces, dancing, playing and having fun in a place not far from the sound of shelling and cannons, and the buzzing of planes that killed the dreams and hopes of large families, as happened in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and in the Asmaa School massacre in Al-Shati’ yesterday, where there was a great desire and enthusiasm to welcome the first school day, in more than a year.

One of the teachers gives an explanation to the media, saying: Today the largest field school in the southern Gaza Strip was opened, and greets the children of Gaza who deserve everything beautiful, as the children pass through the morning line, and the camera moves to tents set up inside the shelter camp with school desks, and a clown playing with the children, and the ribbon cutting in the presence of officials and the people, to the rhythm of a video clip that tells about the difficult days and life, but we can appreciate it, and we are a people who change what does not change, then another teacher appears and says: Even in a tent or anywhere, and despite the war, we must continue life, and a tape of a popular Palestinian dabke passes, and its heroes are wearing the keffiyeh of the martyr symbol Abu Ammar, and a student says: I am excited, and another: I love school very much, and a third: I am happy and a child is happy and a clown says: Despite everything, we must teach the sweet children, then the photographer captures a scene of a girl in a wheelchair, and how many of these scenes are due to the occupation’s attacks on the children of Gaza in an attempt to eliminate Their wishes and dreams.

A nurse speaks and says: “Masha’Allah, an abnormal turnout of excited and happy children.” A guide discusses the meanings of steadfastness, challenge and will, as a title for the lives of Palestinians from inside the tents. A guide thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its initiative, and concludes by opening the registration and expressing her pride in the contributors and participants in the opening.

In another spot, life was embodied through the opening of the first phase of the rehabilitation and equipping of Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City, where there is an urgent need for all the hospitals and health centers that were destroyed by Israel, to provide their medical services to tens of thousands of wounded who need operations and surgical interventions, and shelter, care and attention in hospitals due to the seriousness of their conditions.

Darwish was honest in describing the suffering of the Palestinian people in an interesting and wonderful way. At the beginning of his poem, we sense the emotional human tendency when he says (and we love life), to present the most beautiful description of a people like the rest of the peoples of the earth, who have the right and the power to live and survive, because they love life and do not turn to death and killing as Israel imagines.

This is how the proud Palestinian people rise from under the rubble to rebuild their homeland and land, despite the pain, massacres and smell of death that Israel and its army spread everywhere. This is a message to the entire world that the Palestinian people, their students and all their groups love life and seek it with pride. Is it time to stop this aggression?

Israel responds by deploying a new brigade, the Kfir Brigade, alongside the Givati Brigade and the 401st Brigade, continuing its massacres and killing of a people who love life, depriving them of this right, in an unprecedented crime in the history of humanity.

A writer friend confided in me that he feared for his venerable library, which he had collected over more than sixty years. He feared that these treasures would end up as scrap or trash on the side of containers. He confided that he regretted spending most of his life reading, writing, researching, and taking life seriously. He asked me sadly: What have my books given me? They haven’t even fed me bread or onions.

I remembered Al-Jahiz with the whisper of a friend. Al-Jahiz who died after his library fell on him with its shelves and heavy books. But I do not believe that his death was a coincidence. Rather, I am certain that it was a planned suicide, after he felt in a moment of anger that his fatigue and sleepless nights reading, writing, composing and researching would not find an echo in others.

Perhaps this is the same reason that prompted the philosopher of poets and poet of philosophers, Abu Al-Ala Al-Maari, to burn his books, thinking that they were against people who did not appreciate his efforts. Many did the same thing to their books. Yusuf bin Asbat put his books in an unknown cave and then closed its door. Abu Sulayman Al-Darani gathered his many books in an oven and lit them on fire, saying: By God, I did not burn you until I almost burned myself with you. The crown of the nation, Dawud Al-Ta’i, threw his books into the sea so that they would not reach the people who did not take him by the hand. Sufyan Al-Thawri tore them up and threw them in the wind, saying: I wish my hand had been cut off from here, or rather from there, and I had never written a single letter!

I was not convinced by the incident of one of the Abbasid caliphs, when he wanted to encourage science and literature, so he ordered that the writer who wrote or translated a book be given the weight of that book in gold. But what I liked very much was that one of the opportunists thought more about gold; so he engraved his book on a heavy rock, and rolled it to the caliph’s court, so that he would be given gold for it.

I do not dream that a writer will be given the weight of his book in gold, but I wish that writers in our country could eat their bread from the proceeds of their books. But we have contented ourselves with lamenting our situation and have not done anything that would restore the book to its true value.

Of course, I do not like it when a writer despairs or offers his books and efforts as a sacrifice to the unknown or to the fire of hell, on the pretext that others do not deserve it, and that time is unfair. I do not like it when readers despair either, and it pains me when they get rid of books that may be their last resort in a time when friends are scarce.

Since October 7, 2023, two battles have been taking place. The first is the Al-Aqsa Flood, which was planned and executed by the Hamas leadership, and the second battle is an Israeli aggression called “Iron Swords,” which aims to kill and displace civilians and destroy infrastructure and service facilities.

The Palestinian Authority has no role, neither in the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa, nor in the negotiations, nor in stopping this battle.

The second battle included air, artillery and tank shelling of civilians, infrastructure and civilian facilities.

This led to demonstrations all over the world, South Africa and others turning to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to accuse Israel of genocide, and the issuance of global condemnations of the aggression, the severing of relations, the withdrawal of ambassadors, and international recognition of the Palestinian state. The aggression also led to the entry of support fronts from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, with the aim of stopping this aggression.

The role of the Authority was clear in international courts and discussions of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations. Some Palestinian ambassadors also played a role in demonstrations and marches.

In the first battle, there is no role for the Authority, and in the legal battle, there is no role for Hamas.

The Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization behind it are the competent legal body accepted in international courts and foreign relations, and it alone bears responsibility for political moves to stop the aggression on Gaza and the West Bank.

The role of the Palestinian embassies in 100 countries has not been at the required level, nor is it commensurate with the size and number of these missions and the tasks that the Palestinian people expect from them. With limited exceptions, you rarely hear about the activity of these embassies and diplomatic missions. At the same time, we expect the Palestinian Foreign Ministry and its embassies to begin preparing files that condemn Israel, and those who stand with it publicly and secretly, from foreigners and Arabs, on charges of participating in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian media and diplomatic missions should start coordinating with the friendly Western media to spread the facts about the genocide taking place in Palestine. The West should know that it is accused and a partner in the war of extermination.

The terms "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" must be spread in every corner of the West and Western and global institutions. This is the minimum role of the hundred Palestinian embassies and consulates abroad.

After the battles are over, the Authority and Hamas can sit down and discuss how to heal the wounds, how to rebuild Gaza, and how to prosecute Israel for its crimes. This is how unity is embodied, and this is the least we can do.

The negotiation battle between the colony on one side, and the two parties of the Palestinian-Lebanese resistance; Hamas and Hezbollah, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, is no less than the battle of clash, confrontation and fighting between the two parties of the bloody war and conflict. The attacks of the extremist, barbaric colony forces that clearly and prominently target civilians, whether in the Gaza Strip or across Lebanon, are no different from the attacks of the colony and its toxic deal offered by it and adopted by the Americans and attempts to pass it, with the aim of imposing political victory for the colony as a result of bombing, destruction, devastation and assassinations, so that the colony’s superior air force weapon is the tool for imposing political results on the two factions of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.

The negotiation battle from the perspective of the colony and the United States requires separating the war on Lebanon from the war on the Gaza Strip, with the aim of continuing the Israeli monopoly on the Strip and the Palestinian resistance and maintaining the return of the occupation forces to the Gaza Strip, and even the return of settlement to achieve the central title of the Israeli expansionist colonial project: occupying the entire map of Palestine, to be the desired “Jewish state” for them, according to the mentality, positions and concepts of the Israeli coalition of the Netanyahu government: 1- The extreme right-wing political parties, 2- With the extremist Jewish religious parties.

The proposals submitted by the colony government do not include the four headings: 1- A complete ceasefire, 2- The return of the displaced to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, 3- The withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, 4- The exchange of prisoners.

The four titles are the title of victory or defeat for both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and therefore the Netanyahu government rejects any of the four titles and their contents, because they mean the current operational situation moving from a position of failure: 1- Failure to end the resistance despite the assassinations, comprehensive bombing, and destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals, 2- Failure to release the Israeli prisoners without an exchange, and even his failure to discover their locations despite his occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, 3- Failure to displace the Palestinians outside their country from the Strip to Sinai, 4- And the fourth failure will be the rejection of his proposals for a temporary and partial ceasefire.

What Netanyahu achieved in killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, destroying cities, villages and neighborhoods, and carrying out assassinations using the superiority of the air force, American and European support, and the lack of ground defenses for the Palestinians and the Lebanese, but he was not able to impose surrender, defeat or submission on Hamas and Hezbollah, and he was not able to impose defeat on the Palestinians and end their steadfastness.

Hezbollah's declared position is:

1- Rejecting any amendment to the provisions of Resolution 1701, or to its implementation mechanisms.

2- The party still adheres to its position in support of the Palestinian people, and rejects the disengagement between the Lebanese front and the Palestine front in Gaza.

3- For him, the weapon of resistance is not negotiable, and that resistance is his obligatory title, and anything else contradicts his ideological reference and political thinking.

Hamas's position is based on:

1- A complete, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire.

2- Complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

3- The return of the displaced to their homes and residences.

4- Lifting the unjust siege on the Gaza Strip and its people.

5- Conducting a prisoner exchange.

6- Providing life requirements such as food, water, medicine and reconstruction.

Therefore, because the proposals submitted by the parties regarding a limited temporary truce, increasing the number of aid trucks, and a partial exchange of prisoners do not meet the minimum Palestinian demands, they are therefore rejected, without closing the door to negotiations, neither by Hezbollah nor by Hamas.

The battle will remain open, hot militarily and sharp politically, until the conditions and pressing factors are available, imposing victory or defeat, or the intervention of a neutral third party, which is not available yet.

Coinciding with an Iranian threat to respond to Israel, Washington announced readiness to deploy an aircraft carrier in the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of B-52 long-range bombers, destroyers and aircraft to help defend Israel and American interests in the region.

“If Iran or its proxies target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary measures to defend them,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said. Axios, however, quoted a US official and a former Israeli official as saying that the US had warned Iran in recent days against launching another attack on Israel and that it would not be able to restrain Israel if Tehran attacked again.

Yesterday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to respond to “the two enemies, America and Israel, in a crushing and harsh manner,” and said: “Be confident of that.”

In Iraq, the “Islamic Resistance” claimed responsibility for carrying out 4 drone attacks against “vital targets” in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. The Israeli army announced the interception of 3 drones launched from the east over the Red Sea.

There has been much talk recently about the possibility of reaching a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, and leaks have spread about Hezbollah’s agreement to separate the Lebanese front from the Gaza Strip front. Hence, many are wondering about the extent of the impact of these negotiations on the war in the Gaza Strip and on the Hamas movement.

Hamas and its leadership abroad face a favorable opportunity to play a strategic role in stopping the war on the Strip and starting reconstruction, as it has a narrow window of opportunity to exploit the current developments to reach a deal that guarantees its survival, which requires greater flexibility and the ability to maneuver politically to conclude a deal or agreement that may grant Gaza a kind of stability that it has lacked, and ensure Hamas’s continuity within a formula that preserves its interests.

In the world of politics, where balances are constantly shifting, it is clear that Hamas has a limited opportunity to exploit what is happening in Lebanon. Time is a crucial factor, especially in light of the Lebanese Prime Minister’s talk about progress in negotiations towards a ceasefire, which makes the region ready for major transformations that could change the balance of power.

While the focus of international negotiations is on calming Israel’s northern border, it is necessary to remind the world of the tragedy of Gaza. There are 2.3 million people there who aspire to a safe and stable life, but cannot find a way to do so. The talk of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel indicates a regional trend towards a limited calm, which may have a positive impact on the situation in Gaza, but it may put additional pressure on Hamas to adjust its role regionally and achieve a strategic balance that ensures its survival without weakening its ability as an effective force in the region.

As the pace of negotiations accelerates northward, fears remain that the train will miss Gaza, leaving it once again outside any path to peace and calm, amid ongoing tension. This is what makes time crucial; the world’s response now may be the most prominent factor in giving the people of Gaza a chance to emerge from their isolation and achieve the desired stability.

With the growing international recognition that stability in the Middle East is of long-term strategic importance, the world can support a real effort to stabilize Gaza, which represents a unique case and one of the most prominent challenges, and the world can, if it wants, support efforts to calm it down. Here comes the importance of this moment in reaching an agreement that reduces the suffering of Gaza, and Hamas may consider following the option of "peaceful popular resistance", according to previous statements by its leaders, which may open the way for it.

The daily suffering of the Gazans is not just a passing headline; it is the daily reality of life for millions of men, women and children. There is an entire generation that has known nothing but war and siege, as the people of Gaza live in miserable conditions amidst a complete collapse of basic services.

The images of killing, destruction, war and massacres call for the world to act in support of Gaza, where the West has the ability to influence negotiations and support efforts to achieve a comprehensive truce that will restore some life to the Strip. It is essential to realize that peace in Gaza is an integral part of peace in the region as a whole, and that the world’s support for initiatives to alleviate humanitarian suffering is an important step towards broader stability.

Gaza deserves more than a temporary ceasefire; it deserves a permanent solution that makes life possible there and enables its people to regain their basic rights away from a harsh siege and an uncertain future. A ceasefire in Lebanon may be an opportunity, but if its effects do not extend to Gaza, the international community will miss out on supporting a purely humanitarian cause.

The children, women and elderly of Gaza deserve the world’s attention and a genuine desire to support their basic rights as human beings, like any other human being on the face of this earth.

An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck Semnan province in northern Iran on Sunday.

According to a statement by the Iranian National Earthquake Monitoring Center, the earthquake occurred in Garmsar district at dawn on Sunday.

The statement indicated that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 11 kilometers below the surface of the earth.

The Emergency Management Center in Semnan province announced that no casualties or property losses were recorded.

Minister Mu'ayyad Shaaban, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said that the Israeli occupation forces and settlers carried out 1,490 attacks during last October, in a continuation of the ongoing series of terrorism by the occupation state against the Palestinian people, their lands and their properties.

Shaaban explained in the commission's monthly report, "Occupation Violations and Colonial Expansion Procedures," that the occupation forces carried out 1,130 attacks, while the settlers carried out 360 attacks. The total attacks were concentrated in the governorates of Nablus with 307 attacks, Hebron with 280 attacks, and the Jerusalem governorate with 179 attacks.

He pointed out that the attacks ranged from armed attacks on Palestinian villages, to imposing facts on the ground, to field executions, to vandalism, to bulldozing of land, to uprooting trees, to seizing property, to closures, and to setting up checkpoints that cut off the ties of Palestinian geography.

A dangerous wave of terrorism in the olive season

360 attacks, most of them in Nablus, 245 acts of vandalism and theft, and the uprooting of 1,401 trees

The settlers' attacks reached 360 attacks, concentrated in Nablus Governorate with 108 attacks, Hebron Governorate with 81 attacks, Ramallah with 48 attacks, Salfit with 40 attacks, Bethlehem with 37 attacks, and Tulkarm with 19 attacks.

According to the report, settlers carried out 245 acts of vandalism, preventing access and stealing Palestinian property against olive pickers, including stealing olive crops in 26 cases, stealing harvesting equipment in 22 cases, in addition to stealing 15 tents and caravans belonging to citizens, and 3 cases of vehicle theft. Settler attacks also resulted in the uprooting of 1,401 trees, including 1,339 olive trees in the governorates of Hebron with 740 trees, Nablus with 193 trees, Ramallah with 178 trees, Bethlehem with 160 trees, Salfit with 100 trees, and Qalqilya with 30 trees.

The current olive season is witnessing an unprecedented wave of terrorist attacks prepared by the official establishment in the occupying state by unleashing gangs of settlers on defenseless farmers, who are safe on their lands.

He added that the occupying state is targeting the olive season as an emotional season that demonstrates the original relationship between the Palestinian citizen and the land, and that everything the occupying state is doing now falls within the framework of undermining the strong relationship with the land, in declared and clear plans to control the Palestinian geography and prevent citizens from reaching it.

He said that the Palestinian citizens, by their steadfastness on the land and their insistence on going to the olive groves, foiled the settlers' premeditated plans and brought back to the forefront the courage of the Palestinian owner of the land who does not give in to terrorism and does not retreat.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, in addition to partner institutions and popular committees, enabled citizens, through the national olive harvest campaign, to reach vast areas that had been closed by settler gangs for years, in preparation for controlling them, stressing that the success of the season has certainly become a failure for the occupation’s plans.

Attempt to establish 7 new colonial outposts

The settlers have attempted to establish 7 new colonial outposts since the beginning of last October, which were predominantly agricultural and pastoral in nature. These outposts were distributed by establishing a new colonial outpost on the lands of the Hebron Governorate with three outposts, an outpost on the lands of Ramallah and another in Jerusalem, another in Salfit, Tulkarm, and the last in Ramallah.

According to the report, the decision to establish colonial outposts comes under directives from within the occupation's "cabinet", which sponsors the colonial project and provides facilities to the colonists in order to implement plans to control the land and forcibly displace them, while the occupation government later volunteers to turn these measures into a reality.

The occupation seizes 84 dunums of citizens' land

Last month, the occupation authorities seized 84 dunums of citizens’ lands in the governorates of Jerusalem, Jenin, and Salfit, through 3 military orders that were monitored, aiming to impose new facts, under the pretext of security and military purposes, including the military order that requires the construction of a road to replace the main road of the city of Salfit.

After reviewing the maps of the military order, it became clear that the occupation army is deceiving the citizens who will object in court against the decision by claiming that the seizure came for security reasons, but in reality the military order wants to control the course and outcomes of the street under the pretext of security and military, without objection from the citizens in the case of closing the road in front of them on the first street that was allocated for the benefit of the settlers of "Ariel" only, and controlling the opening of the second road.

45 facilities demolished and 38 others notified to demolish

During the past month, the occupation authorities carried out 34 demolition operations, affecting 45 facilities, including 12 inhabited homes, 6 uninhabited ones, and 19 agricultural and other facilities. They were concentrated in the Hebron governorates, with the demolition of 16 facilities, then the Jerusalem and Bethlehem governorates, with the demolition of 4 facilities in each.

The occupation authorities distributed 38 demolition notices to Palestinian facilities, concentrated in Jenin Governorate with 17 notices, then Jericho Governorate with 8 notices, Jerusalem with 7 notices, and Hebron with 5 notices.

Legitimizing a new colonial focus and studying 15 structural plans

Last month, the planning authorities in the occupying state studied a total of 14 master plans (approval and deposit) for the purpose of expanding the settlements of the West Bank and Jerusalem, including the approval of 7 master plans, while a total of 8 other plans were deposited.

The plans targeting the West Bank aimed to build a total of 1,151 colonial units on an area estimated at 584 dunums of citizens’ land, while the plans within the borders of the city of Jerusalem aimed to build 500 colonial units on an area estimated at 107 dunums of citizens’ land.

Upon reviewing the maps of the plans and the files attached to them, it became clear that the occupation intends to settle the situation of “legalizing” a new colonial outpost, through plan number (Yusha/8/237), and to consider it a new colonial neighborhood affiliated with the “Eli” colony, which was built on citizens’ lands south of the Nablus Governorate.

Nine citizens were killed today, Sunday, in the occupation's bombing of two houses in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, and Rafah in the south.

Local sources reported that the occupation warplanes bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in Jabalia Al-Balad, which led to the martyrdom of three citizens and the injury of others.

She added that the occupation bombed another house in Beit Lahia, which led to the martyrdom of five citizens and the injury of others.

A citizen was killed and two others were injured in an Israeli drone strike northeast of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

The occupation forces continue their aggression on the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 43,314 citizens and the injury of 102,019 others, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and rescue teams cannot reach them.

Last night and Sunday morning, the Israeli army launched a series of raids on several towns in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported on Sunday that "Israeli aircraft targeted the eastern town of Zawtar in the Nabatieh district (south) with two waves of raids."

Before midnight, the town of Kfarfila in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, the outskirts of the town of Ansar in the Nabatieh district, and the towns of Hanin and Shaqra in the Bint Jbeil district (south) were subjected to airstrikes launched by enemy aircraft, according to the same agency.

Until 09:30 (06:30 GMT), the agency had not reported any deaths or injuries as a result of the Israeli raids.

After clashes with factions in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, which began after Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing and wounding of more than 145,000 Palestinians, Tel Aviv expanded the scope of the genocide since September 23 to include most areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, through air strikes, and also began a ground invasion in the south.

The aggression on Lebanon resulted in a total of 2,968 deaths and 13,319 injuries, including a large number of children and women, in addition to about 1.4 million displaced persons. Most of the victims and displaced persons were recorded after September 23, according to Anadolu Agency’s monitoring of the latest official Lebanese data announced until Saturday evening.

Every day, Hezbollah responds by launching missiles, drones, and artillery shells targeting military sites, intelligence headquarters, military gatherings, and settlements. While Israel announces some of its human and material losses, military censorship imposes a strict blackout on most of the losses, according to observers.

Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad: Some parties’ attempt to reshape the Palestinian political system prompted Hamas and Fatah to take action

Ahmad Zakarneh: Palestinian reconciliation can provide a framework for a unified national vision supported by Saudi Arabia and the Arab group

Sari Arabi: National consensus is necessary and has become the main pillar to save the Gaza Strip from genocide crimes

Khalil Shaheen: Talking about agreements is due to Fatah and Hamas’ concern about the future more than it is a response to the needs of the stage

Samer Anabtawi: Ending the division and differences between Fatah and Hamas is no longer an option but a national necessity imposed by developments in reality

Attempts to reach an agreement between the Fatah and Hamas movements are increasing in light of the tragic conditions and the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, as national unity has become a necessity to confront regional and international challenges, and to try to reach an agreement on the administration of the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Authority, in anticipation of any Israeli, regional or international ideas in this regard.

In separate interviews with “I”, writers and political analysts believe that international and regional pressure and the suffering of the Gaza Strip have prompted the two movements to consider strengthening cooperation to confront attempts to reshape the Palestinian political system. Although the agreement may not be comprehensive, it could put them in a stronger position towards these transformations.

Writers and political analysts point out that Palestinian consensus enhances the possibility of support from Arab countries, which may lead to support for efforts to save Gaza and stop the aggression. Reconstruction in Gaza also requires an internationally recognized Palestinian leadership, which may push Hamas to accept the role of the Palestinian Authority in managing the sector, especially since the continued control of Hamas may hinder the arrival of international support.

They stress that national consensus is the basis for saving Gaza from genocide, as the Palestinian people need national unity to confront the Israeli aggression, and that the unity of the Palestinian position is necessary to establish Palestinian rights and prevent the occupation from consolidating its influence, and that the agreement between Fatah and Hamas may represent a positive step in the face of Israeli challenges, and may contribute to alleviating the severity of the aggression on Gaza.

Attempts to achieve reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas

Writer and political analyst Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad confirms that in light of the worsening conditions inside the Palestinian territories, new attempts to achieve reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas movements are emerging on the horizon, which has become urgent in light of the exceptional circumstances that the Palestinian arena in general and the Gaza Strip in particular are going through.

Awad believes that several factors make reaching an agreement between the two movements possible and appropriate for the current stage, even if this does not mean a comprehensive and complete agreement on all points.

Awad explains that both Fatah and Hamas are currently in a "bottleneck" as a result of the increasing pressures on the Palestinian national project from regional, international and Israeli parties.

Awad points out that there is a serious attempt by some parties to reshape the Palestinian political system in a new way, whether by marginalizing some political forces, or by imposing restrictive conditions, or even making radical changes in the structure of the Palestinian leadership, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, which is what prompted the Fatah and Hamas movements to take action.

Awad confirms that this situation prompted the two movements to think about enhancing ways of cooperation, even at a minimal level, to confront these pressures, in order to preserve their existence in the face of regional and international transformations.

Compatibility is a necessity, not an option.

He believes that agreement between Fatah and Hamas has become a necessity and not an option, as the two movements need to agree at this difficult stage in order to confront the current political challenges.

Awad stresses that the main goal of any agreement will be to protect the two movements from external pressures, and to avoid any attempts to eliminate them or force them to abandon the Palestinian national project.

He stressed that the alliance of the two movements could represent an important step in confronting the regional and international powers that seek to impose their own visions on the Palestinian scene, pointing out that the extent of the current pressures is unprecedented, and includes expected changes at the level of structure, ideologies and trends, which calls for immediate action to reach a minimum level of consensus.

Awad explains that the agreement between the two movements may be the basis for reducing the intensity of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, especially since Israel is waging an intensive war aimed at emptying the Gaza Strip, as it continues to direct strikes targeting the infrastructure and civilians, amidst a lack of response to any ceasefire initiatives except under strict Israeli conditions.

Awad believes that such an agreement will provide the international community with a basis on which to demand that Israel make concessions to stop the aggression, as unifying the Palestinian ranks will create a framework acceptable to international parties to stop the aggression on the Strip.

Regarding the reconstruction of Gaza, Awad points out that Hamas also realizes that it will not be able to rebuild the Strip if it continues to control its administration, because donor agencies will not deal with it directly, and therefore reconstruction requires a unified Palestinian leadership and internationally recognized legitimacy.

According to Awad, from this standpoint, it seems that Hamas may accept that the Palestinian Authority assume responsibility for managing Gaza, if consensus is achieved, to facilitate the arrival of international support and enhance donor confidence.

Awad points out that current evidence suggests that the understanding between the two movements may include the formation of a special committee to manage the sector under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority, which would contribute to providing an internationally acceptable framework that could open the way to providing the basic needs of the residents of the sector.

But Awad points out that the success of this approach depends to a large extent on the willingness of the international community, especially regional parties, such as Saudi Arabia, to pressure Israel to accept the new formula for managing the sector.

Despite the potential impact of the agreement between Fatah and Hamas on the field and political levels, Awad warns that Israel will not deal easily with this change.

According to Awad, Israel does not want any strong Palestinian leadership to emerge in the Gaza Strip, but rather seeks to impose new conditions, whether in terms of security control or the economy, to prevent any return of Palestinian organizations to the arena in an influential manner.

Israeli efforts to dismantle any unity between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

Awad asserts that Israel is adopting a policy aimed at dismantling any unity between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as it seeks to separate the two regions through policies aimed at creating a new Palestinian leadership that is subject to Israel’s requirements and deals with the Strip and the West Bank separately.

Hence, Awad believes that Palestinian consensus, even if limited, may create an incentive for Arab countries and countries supporting the Palestinians to intensify pressure on Israel and push it to deal with the emerging Palestinian unity as an official political framework.

Awad views the possibility of the Palestinian Authority taking over the administration of the Strip as a positive step that may help ease the current aggression, provided that Arab, American and European pressure is activated on Israel to accept this situation.

He believes that this step requires Arab and international consensus that stands in the face of the expected Israeli conditions, as Israel will seek to impose strict conditions that limit the effectiveness of the Authority in the Strip, in a way that ensures maintaining its military control over the region.

Awad stresses that the chances of success of this step remain dependent on the extent of the readiness of international and regional parties to activate pressure on Israel, which will certainly seek to place obstacles in the way of this agreement, especially in light of the absence of an effective role for some major powers capable of changing the equations on the ground.

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is closer than ever

Writer and political analyst Ahmed Zakarna believes that reaching an agreement between the Fatah and Hamas movements is closer than ever in light of the bloody events taking place in the Gaza Strip, specifically the northern part of the Strip.

Zakarna explains that the “extermination war” that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being subjected to has contributed to creating a new environment towards unity, which makes the time appropriate to achieve this necessary agreement.

Zakarneh believes that the agreement between the two movements will have a major impact on the efforts to save Gaza and cease fire, as Palestinian unity is a basic element to support Arab and international movements in this context, especially the movements led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within the framework of what is known as the international coalition to establish the Palestinian state, which requires Palestinian unity to support the efforts aimed at reaching a two-state solution.

He explains that Palestinian reconciliation could provide a framework for a unified Palestinian vision supported by Saudi Arabia and the Arab group, and presented to international allies to establish the Palestinians’ right to establish a sovereign state.

Zakarna confirms that this agreement will have tangible field and political effects, especially in light of the moves aimed at stopping the aggression and strengthening Palestinian legitimacy.

Regarding the Hamas movement’s orientations, Zakarneh believes that the movement has accepted for some time the PA’s management of the Gaza Strip, noting that Hamas does not seek to return to leadership of the Strip, for several reasons, the most prominent of which is that the world will not deal with the Gaza Strip under the rule of a factional movement, but rather prefers to deal with the Palestinian Authority, which represents the executive arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Zakarna stresses that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip requires the existence of an internationally agreed-upon political address, which makes Hamas’s acceptance of the administration of the Authority something expected and accepted internationally and regionally.

Zakarneh explains that Hamas’s losses, whether on the political or field level, in addition to the damage inflicted on the structure that the movement established over the past seventeen years, prevent it from regaining sole rule over the Strip. Although it may be a partner in the administration, its role will be secondary and not at the forefront.

The impact of the Authority's management of Gaza on efforts to stop the war

Regarding the impact of the PA’s management of the Gaza Strip on efforts to stop the war, Zakarna believes that this step may contribute tangibly to achieving this, as it is expected to be used as an important political card by the countries of the region and by the Western allies, in addition to international pressures led by the BRICS countries, Russia and a number of allies.

Zakarneh believes that redefining the role of the Palestinian Authority as an executive arm of the PLO will be a pivotal point, especially with efforts to prevent Israel from redefining political and security relations in Gaza to serve its interests.

National unity is a necessary condition to face challenges

Writer and political analyst Sari Arabi asserts that Palestinian national consensus constitutes the fundamental pillar for saving Gaza from the threat of genocide, explaining that achieving national unity is a necessary condition for confronting the profound challenges surrounding the Palestinian cause, not only in Gaza, but in all of Palestine.

Arabi believes that the Israeli occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip might have been less fierce if there had been Palestinian national unity, pointing out that the Palestinian people are being subjected to systematic attacks by the Israeli war machine, which exploits military and logistical superiority to achieve its goals, while Palestine lacks the sufficient capabilities to confront this comprehensive war.

Arabi explains that confronting the Israeli aggression requires a unified vision and an agreed-upon national program, considering that the current dispersion hinders the efforts of the Palestinians and increases the size of the challenges imposed on them.

Arabi stresses that national consensus is not just an option in confronting aggression, but also a basic condition for advancing the Palestinian cause and stopping the attempts at genocide being practiced against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Arabi points out that the Israeli occupation's efforts to succeed in implementing its plans in Gaza aim to consolidate the Zionist project, which seeks to expand its influence and control over the Palestinian territories, so that it is not limited to Gaza alone, but rather extends to include the rest of Palestine, which threatens the Palestinian identity and the rights of the Palestinian people.

Arabi stresses that the national interests of all Palestinian political forces require reaching a national agreement, pointing out that Hamas has shown a willingness to give up the administration of the Gaza Strip on several occasions before the current war, such as the 2017 agreement, where the movement announced its willingness to do so and dissolved the administrative committee in Gaza, as well as the 2014 agreement, which witnessed similar steps.

Hamas shows greater flexibility regarding giving up control of the Gaza Strip

Under the current circumstances, Arabi explains that Hamas is showing greater flexibility regarding the possibility of relinquishing the administration of the Gaza Strip, but it stipulates that Gaza not be subject to any Israeli, regional or international guardianship, but rather that the agreement be made according to a purely Palestinian vision.

Arabi believes that the emergence of a unified national position can play a positive role in attempts to stop the Israeli war, even if the Palestinians face major challenges in imposing a halt to the aggression, stressing that national unity remains an urgent necessity in the face of a historical enemy that seeks to undermine Palestinian rights.

Arabi stresses that the solution to the issue does not lie in the ideas, proposals or available visions; since the Palestinian division, many ideas have emerged that contribute to resolving the issue of division and achieving unity, but the real problem lies in the political will and the agreement of the national forces to achieve common aspirations, considering that the responsible national position towards the war on Gaza requires serious work to confront the comprehensive and ongoing war on the Palestinians, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank, and Palestinian consensus is important as it is a common national interest and a collective responsibility.

Arabi points out that the Israeli occupation is targeting the Palestinian people in the West Bank as well, through policies that aim to eliminate any political entity for the Palestinians, which makes Palestinian unity an unavoidable necessity.

US Election Options Between “Bad” and “Worse”

Writer and political analyst Khalil Shaheen believes that the recent moves towards understanding between the Fatah and Hamas movements in light of the rapid regional and international changes, especially with the approach of the US presidential elections, come in the context of the two movements’ concern about the future and uncertainty regarding US policies towards the Palestinian issue, more than being a direct response to the needs of the current stage.

He explains that the upcoming US elections may bring the Palestinian Authority options ranging from “bad” to “worse.” Even if current US Vice President Kamala Harris wins, no fundamental change in US policy towards the Palestinians is expected, given that she was a partner in the decisions taken by the Biden administration during the war on Gaza.

Harris, Shaheen believes, is not a candidate for a radical shift, as she is likely to continue the approach taken by the previous Democratic administration, including continuing the partnership with Israel on many issues without serious pressure to change the current reality.

But the most dangerous and worst scenario, according to Shaheen, is the possibility of former President Donald Trump winning, which brings to mind the “nightmares of the deal of the century.” His return to power means reviving ideas that focus on enabling Israel to extend its full sovereignty over Jerusalem, and ensuring Israel’s freedom to operate in the West Bank, including the possibility of annexing parts of it.

Shaheen also points to Trump's previous statements about "the small size of Israel," which suggests the possibility of supporting Israeli plans aimed at expanding its geographical influence, and perhaps re-introducing plans for forced displacement or encouraging immigration.

For the people of Gaza, with the aim of creating a new reality and perhaps beyond that.

Shaheen believes that the Gaza Strip is at the heart of this future concern. The Palestinian Authority believes that Trump’s victory may reinforce Israeli-American tendencies that push toward creating a military administration for the Gaza Strip, and leave the Palestinians there with two choices: accepting a situation in which Israel controls security matters, or emigrating from the Strip. On the other hand, the Hamas movement, which has been subjected to pressure and assassinations of its leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, finds itself in a difficult defensive position, as it seeks to find an administrative formula that allows it to control the Strip without losing its influence there.

In this context, Shaheen refers to previous statements by the former head of Hamas's political bureau, the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, when he said after relinquishing the presidency of the tenth government: "Hamas is relinquishing the government, but it is not leaving power."

Hamas moves to maintain its influence in the Gaza Strip

Shaheen believes that this strategy will continue, as Hamas is now moving towards maintaining its influence in the Gaza Strip by providing basic services to the population and resisting the occupation.

Shaheen highlights the complexities of reaching an administrative or governmental agreement between Fatah and Hamas, as attempts to agree on an “administrative committee” to administer Gaza have failed, while Shaheen points out that disagreements have emerged over the authority and powers of this committee; will it be under the management of the national consensus government headed by Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, or will it be a new government that is agreed upon? President Mahmoud Abbas is also hesitant to grant the committee expanded powers to administer the sector during the reconstruction phase, which prompted Mohammed Mustafa to form a parallel committee with the aim of preempting any powers that might be granted to the agreed upon committee.

Due to the complexities of this file, Shaheen believes that returning to the initial dialogue has become inevitable, expecting that any serious move towards Palestinian unity will be postponed until the results of the US elections become clear, and the new US administration assumes its duties until next March, as the matter will depend largely on the possibility of Trump winning or not, and the orientations of the new US administration that will take over after the elections.

A common Palestinian vision to thwart attempts to control Gaza

On the other hand, Shaheen stresses that achieving internal Palestinian consensus has become a strategic need to ensure the formulation of a common Palestinian vision that will block Israel’s attempts to control the Gaza Strip after the war, as the existence of a Palestinian agreement will be an indicator of the independence of the Palestinian decision, and will show that the Palestinians alone decide their affairs, which will make it difficult for countries that may propose alternative plans for the Strip to continue their efforts.

Shaheen believes that the presence of a unified Arab position, even if reluctantly, will lead to support for the Palestinian position on the international scene, including Russian, Chinese and perhaps European support, which puts the United States in a complicated position and makes it more submissive to listening to Palestinian demands.

Shaheen believes that the changes on the northern front and with Iran, and the developments in the conflict in the region, have made communication with regional parties more necessary, especially since the files have become interconnected. Reaching an agreement on Gaza may be reflected on the northern front and vice versa, which means that everyone is waiting to see what the US elections will lead to in order to know the fate of the regional file in general.

He stresses that these regional and international variables are pushing the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to achieve internal Palestinian consensus, especially with the possibility of changes in the US foreign policy discourse about not eliminating Hamas, but rather wanting the movement to not be in power the day after the war, such that it has been observed that there is a tendency to manage the conflict instead of liquidating it, which imposes on the Palestinians a new readiness to deal with any scenario that may appear after the upcoming US presidential elections.

A systematic policy to liquidate the Palestinian cause

Writer and political analyst Samer Anabtawi believes that the escalation of current events in Palestine reflects a systematic policy by the Zionist movement aimed at completely liquidating the Palestinian cause.

Anbatawi points out that this policy constitutes an unprecedented escalation against the Gaza Strip, and extensive attempts to impose new facts on the ground in the West Bank through settlement, in addition to strict measures targeting prisoners, holy sites, and any element that represents the Palestinian identity.

In this context, Anabtawi believes that the responsibility of ending the division between the Fatah and Hamas movements is no longer an option, but rather a national necessity imposed by developments in reality, stressing that the shedding of Palestinian blood requires the Palestinian parties to confront these challenges as one in order to emerge from the crisis.

He points out that this situation requires the Palestinian parties to form a unified national leadership, which has been repeatedly agreed upon during meetings held in Arab and foreign capitals in the presence of the secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions.

Anbatawi points out that the Palestinian Central and National Councils approved a number of decisions supporting unity, but none of them were implemented, which kept internal differences between the Fatah and Hamas movements on various political and administrative issues.

Anbatawi explains that if these decisions had been implemented based on the Palestinian constants of liberating the land, resisting the occupation, completely severing relations with Israel, and rebuilding Palestinian society on the basis of it being a people under occupation that resists, this would have had a direct impact on the current events in Gaza.

He points out that the internal division represents a loophole exploited by the United States of America, Israel and some regional parties to implement their own ambitions in Gaza.

Hamas will not accept the authority's administration of the Gaza Strip

On the other hand, Anabtawi believes that Hamas will most likely not accept the Palestinian Authority administering the Gaza Strip as long as the fundamental differences between the two sides continue.

Anbatawi points out that the repetition of the authority’s positions, which he sees as ineffective in confronting the war of extermination, and the increasing impact of the division on the bases and leaders of the two movements, reinforce this rejectionist position in the Hamas movement.

Anbatawi believes that Hamas has a different vision for managing the Gaza Strip, and that reaching a deep consensus between the two movements regarding Gaza requires that no regional or international party interfere in this matter.

Regarding the impact of the PA taking over the administration of Gaza on the current war or ceasefire, Anabtawi believes that Israel will not accept this scenario, even if the PA is the party that administers the Strip.

Netanyahu's government seeks annexation and deepens Palestinian division

Anbatawi asserts that Netanyahu's far-right government is adopting a policy aimed at annexing most of the West Bank and controlling parts of Gaza.

He points out that Israel's acceptance of the existence of a unified Palestinian entity, even if it is under the authority's administration, is considered an obstacle to its strategy, as this approach contradicts Netanyahu and his government's plans to dismantle and weaken the Palestinian Authority to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the future, which is what Netanyahu's government does not want by rejecting the Palestinian entity.

Anbatawi believes that the Israeli strategy aims to deepen the Palestinian division and maintain the status quo in Gaza as part of a policy of gradually cleansing it of its population and turning it into an area unfit for living, while the occupation continues to control large parts of the West Bank.

Anbatawi points out that the Israeli occupation state aims to gradually seize about 60% of the West Bank lands, by gradually weakening the Palestinian Authority until it abolishes its existence and powers, and by escalating the conflict between settlers and Palestinian citizens in the West Bank.

Thus, Anbatawi believes that Israel ultimately seeks to eliminate any Palestinian political entity that could claim its rights and represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state.

Anbatawi believes that this complex situation requires Palestinian leaders to realize the extent of the surrounding risks and work to strengthen unity to confront the increasing challenges, but achieving this goal requires a real will for national unity and overcoming any obstacles that prevent its achievement.

Dr. Suleiman Abu Sitta: The Palestinian issue has returned to its basic roots, which are the direct conflict with the Israeli occupation

Hatim Abdel Qader: The Balfour Declaration is the cornerstone that enabled Israel to commit massacres and violations against the Palestinian people

Dr. Rifat Sayed Ahmed: The resistance is steadfast and will win if it can prevent Israel from achieving its strategic goals of displacement and division

Dr. Saleh Abdel Jawad: The historical injustice that happened in the past is being repeated today in a more horrific way as a result of the unipolar world order.

Jawdat Manna: New alliances led by Russia, China, Iran and Turkey will lead to an inevitable change in the management of international conflicts

Dr. Abdul Rahim Jamous: Legal complaints must be filed against Britain and Israel to hold them accountable for their crimes against the Palestinian people

The 107th anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration coincides with the war of extermination waged by the occupying state on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 150,000 martyrs and wounded, and causing almost complete destruction of the Gaza Strip, which led to turning more than two million Palestinian citizens into displaced and homeless people, searching for salvation with their lives, and for what keeps them alive, such as food and water.

This unprecedented Israeli aggression in its brutality was tried by the occupying state to justify it under the pretext of the attack of October 7, 2023, in a desperate attempt to promote the narrative that the conflict began with that attack launched by the Palestinian resistance on that day and not 76 years ago. Many hypocritical countries in the world, especially the old colonial countries, have adopted this narrative, ignoring the reality of the oppression and injustice that the Palestinian people have been living for nearly a century, especially the people of the Gaza Strip who have been living a life of misery and suffering for seventeen years due to the siege imposed on them.

The anniversary of the Balfour Declaration comes to remind the world that the conflict in Palestine began when this promise was given by “those who do not own to those who do not deserve,” as a culmination of colonial ambitions that established a racist colonial entity on the land of Palestine, at the expense of the Palestinian people, their land, and their existence.

The Palestinian issue is the root of the regional conflict

Writer and political analyst Dr. Suleiman Abu Sitta said in an interview with “I” on the occasion of the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration: The Palestinian issue has returned to its basic roots, which are the direct conflict with the Israeli occupation.

Abu Sitta pointed out that the high prices paid by the Palestinian people, especially in light of what he described as the "criminal war of extermination" in Gaza, have begun to highlight the continuation of the Palestinian cause as the root of the regional conflict, as security cannot be achieved in this vital region without stopping the occupation's attacks.

Abu Sitta added: "The recent events, which began in Gaza on October 7, have gone beyond the borders of the Strip and moved to Lebanon, bringing the region closer to an open regional war, which could lead to the disruption of navigation and threaten vital interests of the West, such as oil transportation."

He pointed out that these conditions prompted the United States to redirect its focus towards the Middle East at the expense of major international issues such as the Taiwan and Ukraine issues.

He added: In light of the ongoing massacres committed by the occupation in Gaza, Israel has not yet been able to resolve the conflict, but rather finds itself facing a long war of attrition, whether in Gaza or Lebanon. According to recent estimates, it has lost twenty soldiers in Gaza, most of them from the elite brigades, in addition to sixty soldiers in other confrontations.

The goal is to change the political and geographical structure of the Gaza Strip.

In another context, Abu Sitta pointed out the major challenges currently facing the Palestinian people, as the occupation seeks to change the political and geographical structure of the Gaza Strip, which is evident in the harsh living conditions faced by the citizens there.

He said: "The Palestinian people, despite their steadfastness and the qualitative resistance operations carried out from time to time, still suffer from a lack of effective support to confront the ongoing genocide."

He explained that this reality raises crucial questions about the Palestinians' ability to defend themselves, especially if the occupation government, led by the extreme right-wing movements such as Smotrich and Ben Gvir, moves to expand the circle of violence towards the West Bank and the interior.

Abu Sitta also pointed out that the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration comes this year amid a state of official Arab inability to confront the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians, which could ignite popular Arab anger that could develop into a movement similar to the Arab Spring.

The region is heading towards a long war.

He added: "The current indicators point to the escalation of Arab popular anger towards these conditions, as we witnessed in limited protests in Jordan, but they may be an indicator of broader anger to come."

As for the outcome of the conflict, Abu Sitta believes that the region is heading towards a long war that could extend to the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Palestinian interior, as a result of the Netanyahu government’s insistence on “resolving the conflict” with the axis of resistance. Netanyahu has stated that his goal is to “change the shape of the region and eliminate Hamas,” something that seems difficult to achieve in light of the current confrontation.

Abu Sitta stressed the necessity for the Palestinians to hasten to regain their strength, strengthen their unity, and engage in a comprehensive confrontation with the occupation, to pressure the occupation to stop its aggression by strengthening resistance action everywhere, because the Palestinians will pay the increasing price in all cases, whether they initiate confrontation or remain in the waiting column.

The disastrous repercussions of the Balfour Declaration

In turn, Hatem Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Commission for the Defense of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, confirmed in a statement to “I” that “the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration reminds us of the catastrophic repercussions that continue to affect the Palestinian people.”

Abdul Qader pointed out that the Balfour Declaration, by which Britain granted Palestinian land to the Zionist movement, represents the beginning of the catastrophes that the Palestinians were subjected to, as successive Palestinian generations witnessed continuous tragedies of displacement, killing and destruction.

Abdul Qader explained that what the Palestinian people are facing today, in light of the war of genocide in Gaza, comes with the support and cover of Western countries, most notably Britain, which he believes bears legal, historical and moral responsibility for the Palestinian suffering that has continued for more than a hundred years.

He added, "The Balfour Declaration is the cornerstone that enabled Israel to commit massacres and violations against the Palestinian people in all their components, and contributed to uprooting them from their land and eliminating their right to exist."

Britain must admit responsibility for this “historic crime”

Abdul Qader called on Britain to fully acknowledge this "historical crime," stressing the need for it to apologize to the Palestinian people for the material and moral damages they suffered as a result of this ominous promise.

He stressed that Britain's duty also extends to supporting the rights of the Palestinians by recognizing the State of Palestine and working to restore the Palestinian people's legitimate rights on their land.

Speaking about the catastrophic circumstances that the Palestinians are currently going through, Abdel Qader pointed out that the passage of 107 years since the Balfour Declaration, under the current conditions, will not push the Palestinian people to surrender or raise the white flag in the face of the Israeli occupation.

He said: "Despite the difficult times and great challenges, we have the determination and will to adhere to our legitimate national rights, foremost of which is the establishment of our Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Abdul Qader stressed that Israeli crimes and violations will not deter the Palestinians from continuing the struggle to regain their full rights.

A regional war led by America and Israel against Arabs and Muslims

For his part, Egyptian strategic expert Dr. Rifat Sayed Ahmed said: This anniversary comes in the midst of a new war with a different character in light of the current escalation in Gaza.

He added: This Israeli war on the Palestinians goes beyond being a local conflict, but rather is a "regional war" led by the United States and Israel against the Arab peoples and Islamic countries.

He explained that the conflict today is not limited to the confrontation between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but that the United States is the main party in this war, as it exerts pressure and uses its modern technologies to strike the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, specifically by targeting Hezbollah sites and its leaders. In his view, this is an "American-Arab round" and not just an Israeli-Arab confrontation.

He pointed out that the world is witnessing a new fascism led by Israel, where difficult choices are imposed on the Palestinian people: "Either they live in humiliation, or are displaced, or are killed." He also expressed his concern about the total collapse of the global order, considering that this order has become completely biased in favor of Israel thanks to the Western alliance led by the United States.

Despite this, Ahmed sees a glimmer of hope for the future. He asserts that the resistance is still steadfast, and that it will win if it can prevent Israel from achieving its strategic goals, such as displacement and partition.

He also sees Hezbollah's continuation, despite the blows it has suffered, as a victory for the resistance as a whole, in addition to the Palestinian people's continuation of their resistance, which has sent the Israelis into shelters.

Ahmed called on the Arab peoples and their armies to move to support the Palestinians, stressing that patience and steadfastness are the keys to the coming victory, and that failure to achieve Israeli goals is a defeat in itself.

The international system has been flawed from the start.

Historian and political science professor, Professor Saleh Abdel Jawad, believes that the problem is that the international system has had flawed standards since the beginning, and that there has never been a period in which the values of justice and democracy prevailed in the world.

He pointed out that "the directed media, which is controlled by Western colonial capitalism, has succeeded in influencing us and deceiving us that there is a kind of justice."

Abdul Jawad stressed that the Balfour Declaration itself, which was issued 107 years ago, is evidence of the injustice of the past, as Britain, the country that has no right to Palestine, gave Palestine to the Jews without right.

He pointed out that the historical injustice that occurred in the past is being repeated today, albeit in a more horrific manner, as a result of the global system after 1990 becoming unipolar.

He stressed that "what is happening today in terms of American and international support for Israel is not only related to political interests, but also to Israel's success, from his point of view, in penetrating the world and influencing the leaderships of many countries, including, unfortunately, a superpower such as the United States, Britain, France, or Germany."

Abdul Jawad stressed that the real hope is that part of the international system that is currently in the process of formation will respond to the suffering of the Palestinian people, stressing the need to rely on the Palestinian people’s own efforts, which is what is happening in practice.

Formation of economic interests and distribution of influence

In turn, Jawdat Manna, coordinator of the International Campaign to Defend Jerusalem, said: The Balfour Declaration had repercussions that began with the British colonial forces launching a wide-scale campaign of arrests among the Palestinian people, and imposing a ban on their possession of weapons. It is natural for the Palestinian people to take the initiative to resist the British army to defend the homeland.

He explained that the promise was not issued by chance, but was preceded by events that left their mark on European countries as a result of the formation of economic interests and the distribution of influence of major countries around the world.

He said: “In the midst of the struggle for influence between the European countries, the Zionist movement began to practice practices that focused on Germany, and had an impact on the nature of German economic, social and political life. The Jews gained influence that led to the growth of anti-Jewish sentiment that extended to European countries, where Germany experienced suspicious events that preceded World War II, and as a result of which the Holocaust occurred.”

He pointed out that "it is not possible to separate the Zionist ambitions from the British and European desires to get rid of the Jews and transfer them to settle in Palestine, and this partnership will remain an important element in the process of settling the Jews and occupying Palestine from the river to the sea after the aggression of June 5."

Manaa stated that, “With the passage of time, the Palestinian people mobilized their forces, and the Palestine Liberation Organization led their legitimate struggle, in accordance with the United Nations resolutions that stipulated the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state on part of the land of Palestine, in conjunction with the partition resolution.”

Resistance crowned with the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa

Manaa stressed that the continuous attacks on worshipers, the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the daily attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites left no room for the Palestinian people to prepare to defend their homeland. This resistance was crowned by the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa, which led to a war of extermination against the Palestinian people after a malicious propaganda campaign based on lies to justify waging the largest war on the Palestinian people.

While the Israeli war of extermination against the Palestinian people continues, Manna’ sees the number of Palestinian victims increasing, resulting in the destruction of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of its citizens to homeless places after the water, oil, food and medicine were banned from two and a half million Palestinians.

He explained that "the war revealed the lack of political morality of Tel Aviv's allies, who supplied the occupation army with huge quantities of weapons that led to unprecedented destruction and the fall of an unprecedentedly large number of victims."

Waqqa: Despite US President Biden’s manipulation of words to show deceptive emotions when he pretended to pressure Israel to allow the passage of food supplies to the citizens of the Strip and not to bomb populated areas, this did not happen, but rather the opposite is true.

Manaa also criticized the positions of some European countries, such as Germany, France and Britain, which supported the Israeli aggression and considered it self-defense, ignoring the fact that these lands are occupied and that what Israel claims is a slander against the Palestinian people.

He believed that this Western moral decline was preceded by its experience in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, where European countries imposed sanctions on Russia, thus threatening the stability of the Middle East region.

Manaa pointed out that the new alliances led by Russia in cooperation with China, Iran, Turkey and the BRICS countries will lead to an inevitable change in the management of international conflicts, and will redistribute influence among the growing powers in our contemporary world.

The ominous promise casts a heavy shadow over the Palestinian people

For his part, writer and member of the National Council, Dr. Abdul Rahim Jamous, stressed that this ominous promise, by virtue of which British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour granted the land of Palestine to the Zionist movement, still casts a heavy shadow over the Palestinian people, who are today facing the worst aggression since the Great Nakba, especially in the Gaza Strip.

Jamous described what the Palestinians are facing today as crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed in full view of the world, which is unable to impose a ceasefire or end the aggression.

Jamous added: "The colonial policy of Britain and America is old and renewed. It began with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and continued in subsequent positions supporting Israeli superiority in the region, passing through American presidents such as Donald Trump and Joe Biden."

Jamous considered that British and then American colonialism represented a fixed approach that changed in its methods while its goals remained the same, which is to destroy Palestinian rights.

Jamous pointed out that the Balfour Declaration was a promise from “the one who does not own to the one who does not deserve,” and paved the way for the establishment of the Israeli colony, which represents the last colonial occupation supported by Britain and America.

The United States completes the colonial approach

He added: "Britain does not apologize for its actions, but rather takes pride in them and celebrates the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration annually. Today, the United States is completing this colonial approach by supporting Israel without limits, thus defying the most basic principles of international law."

Jamous called on Britain to officially apologize to the Palestinian people for the historical crimes that resulted from the Balfour Declaration, and to work to support the Palestinians’ rights to return, self-determination, and the establishment of an independent state.

He also stressed the need to file legal complaints against Britain and Israel to hold them accountable for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, calling for raising cases in international judicial forums and demanding the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation by all possible means.

Jamous stressed that the Palestinian people, with their steadfastness and resistance, will not give up their legitimate rights, and that they will continue to demand justice and freedom, relying on the justice of their cause and their tireless efforts to restore their usurped rights.

Two days before “Super Tuesday” in the US elections, polarization is intensifying, and competition is heating up in the heated race for the White House between the two arch rivals, Harris and Trump.

In the race, Gaza is strongly present in the propaganda narrative of the two competitors, who are trying to bring the voters’ wheat, each to his mill, at the decisive moment in which Gaza determines the outcomes and destinies, and the identity of the new occupant of the White House for the next four years.

By voting for one of the two traditional competitors, or by withholding them from them, and voting for the Green Party candidate Jill Stein, as punishment for the two parties that are partners in the war of extermination in Gaza and Lebanon, new facts are growing about the size and weight of the Arab vote and its influence in determining the identity of the new resident of the White House, which was not present before, as it is present today.

With the bleeding of its wounds, the pain of its suffering, the groans of its children, the wailing of its women, the crying of its elderly, and the rubble of its homes, Gaza shakes the votes with its hand, drenched in the blood of the raging genocide, sifting them, and sterilizing them before they reach the ballot boxes.

The deep wounds of Gaza and the blood of its children will haunt the silent ones whose silence was bullets and bombs that killed the Gazans, and will punish the partners and accomplices with the votes of American voters who reject the policies and orientations of their politicians, which contradict the values of the founding fathers of the state that once created a statue of liberty, before its face was stained with the blood of Gaza’s children.

Stop the war of extermination now..!

The Israeli occupation forces launched a wide-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank at dawn and this Sunday morning.

In Nablus, the occupation forces stormed Askar camp, raided several homes, and arrested citizen Ghassan Al-Masry and his two sons, Yassin and Mahmoud.

In Tubas, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Alaa Suleiman Bani Odeh, after raiding and searching his family’s home in the village.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces stormed the city from its eastern entrance, and fired live bullets randomly on Nablus Street, which resulted in a young man being injured by a live bullet fragment in the foot, and his injury was described as moderate.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested the citizen Saleh Hassan Ankoush (70 years old), and his two sons Hassan and Yousef, after raiding their homes in the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, west of Ramallah, and the young man Salam Ayyad, from the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah.

The same sources added that the occupation forces opened fire at a citizen's vehicle in the village of Al-Madiyah, west of Ramallah, causing it to collide with a concrete wall, without any injuries or arrests being reported. Meanwhile, the occupation forces stormed the towns and villages of Ni'lin, Deir Qadis, Beit Sira, Beit Liqya and Kafr Ni'ma, west of Ramallah.

In Hebron, the occupation forces stormed Al-Fawar camp and searched several homes, and arrested the two young men, Khaled Abu Omar and Salah Al-Din Al-Maghalsa, after raiding and searching their homes.

The World Health Organization reported that 6 Palestinians, including 4 children, were injured when the Israeli occupation forces bombed a polio vaccination center in northern Gaza.

"The Sheikh Radwan Primary Health Care Center for Polio Vaccination in Gaza, northern Gaza, was bombed while parents were taking their children to be vaccinated against polio," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He added, "The region is witnessing a humanitarian truce that was agreed upon to allow the vaccination process to continue."

The occupation army launched a drone bomb on a medical clinic during the second round of polio vaccination in Gaza.

The march also opened fire on an ambulance transporting wounded people in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.

The occupation forces launched a bombardment on several areas in the Gaza Strip, including the Nuseirat camp, Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Tel al-Zaatar, while violent clashes took place between the occupation army and the Palestinian resistance in the Jabalia camp.

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib declined to endorse her party's presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris during a union rally in Michigan, one of the seven swing states expected to decide the presidential race.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American member of Congress, urged those present to vote, but focused her remarks on local polls that will coincide with the presidential election next Tuesday.

"Don't underestimate the power that you all have. It's bigger than those ads, those signs, those billboards," she told participants at a rally organized by the United Auto Workers in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday night.

“You all have a greater power to rally people who understand that we have to fight against corporate greed in our country,” she continued.

Tlaib is the only one of the four left-wing Democratic congresswomen known as the Squad who has not declared her support for Kamala Harris.

The Palestinian-American representative criticized the Democrats' position on the war on Gaza, especially after the party held its general conference in Chicago last August without including any Palestinian-American speakers.

The Guardian newspaper pointed out that Tlaib's refusal to support Harris comes at a time when a poll showed that 43% of American Muslims support Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who called for an end to the genocide in Gaza.

Democrats blamed Stein for Hillary Clinton's defeat to Republican Donald Trump in 2016, saying she was responsible for their losses in Michigan and Wisconsin. Some Democrats fear the same could happen this election.

An Egyptian source announced, on Saturday evening, the start of a meeting between the Fatah and Hamas movements in Cairo, to discuss the establishment of a committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip, in addition to continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Strip.

The Egyptian Cairo News Channel quoted a security source described as responsible and informed, confirming "the launch of meetings between the Fatah and Hamas movements in Cairo regarding the Gaza Strip through the Community Support Committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip."

He explained that "the meetings are a purely Palestinian affair and the Egyptian efforts aim to unify the Palestinian ranks and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people."

He pointed out that the Fatah and Hamas movements "showed more flexibility and positivity towards establishing the Community Support Committee to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip," and said that the committee is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority and includes independent figures and is issued by presidential decree from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and is responsible for managing the Gaza Strip.

The source stated that "Fatah and Hamas have a positive view of the Egyptian moves regarding the formation of the Community Support Committee despite the challenges facing the Palestinian cause," and stressed that "the Fatah and Hamas meeting in Cairo sought to achieve Palestinian unity and not separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip."

cease-fire

In a related context, the source revealed that "there are intensive Egyptian contacts to urge the Palestinian and Israeli sides to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip," and stressed that there is "international support for the Egyptian efforts with the Palestinian and Israeli sides with the aim of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and restoring calm there, despite the unwillingness of either side to respond to those efforts."

He pointed out that Hamas insists on not dividing the negotiations for fear of handing over the prisoners and then the Israeli side returning to fire.

On Thursday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed with CIA Director William Burns in the capital, Cairo, the latest developments in joint efforts to calm the situation in the Gaza Strip, in light of the ongoing Israeli war, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

The visit came days after a meeting hosted by Doha, attended by Burns, to discuss reviving the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, which have been stalled for about two months.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza, resulting in more than 144,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

Despite the ongoing mediation efforts of Qatar and Egypt for about a year, alongside Washington, and the presentation of one agreement proposal after another to end the war on Gaza and exchange prisoners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on setting new conditions that include the continuation of the war and the rejection of Hamas’s presence in the administration of the Strip.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced, on Saturday evening, that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the country since October 8, 2023, has risen to "2,968 dead and 13,319 wounded."

The ministry said in a statement that "the Israeli enemy's raids on Lebanon on Friday resulted in 71 dead and 169 wounded."

With these dead and wounded, according to the ministry, the number of victims has risen to "2,968 dead and 13,319 wounded since the beginning of the Israeli aggression."

The ministry stated that the Israeli army launched 109 airstrikes on various areas of Lebanon on Friday, most of them in the governorates of Nabatieh, the South, Baalbek-Hermel (east), and the southern suburbs of Beirut, bringing the total number of its attacks since the beginning of the aggression to "11,876 attacks."

Today, Saturday, many world cities and capitals witnessed mass demonstrations denouncing the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Thousands participated in demonstrations held in the Norwegian capital Aarhus, the Austrian capital Vienna, the Swedish city of Helsingborg, Odense and Aarhus in Denmark, Freiburg in Germany and the capital Berlin, Milan in Italy, Manchester in Britain and the capital London, and Cork in Ireland, in support of the Palestinian people, and to demand a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

The participants in the demonstrations raised Palestinian flags and banners denouncing the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our people.

Participants called for an end to double standards and the need to prosecute the occupation for its massacres against the Palestinian people, especially children, and denounced the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The Arab Parliament called on the international community and the British government to bear the historical responsibility and lift the injustice that befell the Palestinian people on the tragic anniversary of the infamous Balfour Declaration, in which the British Foreign Secretary gave “what he did not own to those who did not deserve it.”

The Arab Parliament stressed in a statement issued today, Saturday, that the Balfour Declaration resulted in the violation of the inherent and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, the displacement of the owners of the land, and the deprivation of their legitimate rights.

He stressed that the only way to achieve security, stability and peace in the region is to end the Israeli occupation and recognize the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, calling on countries that have not yet recognized the Palestinian state to recognize it, and work to immediately end the occupation and provide civil protection for the defenseless Palestinian people and pressure the occupation to stop the war of genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and the systematic destruction of the lives of the Palestinian people.

He condemned the continued aggression of the occupation on the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing that what is happening is a war of genocide, a full-fledged war crime according to international law and international humanitarian law, and a flagrant violation of international charters and norms and the Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians during war, reiterating his support for the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate rights, including the right of return and establishing their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Arab Parliament called on the international community, the Security Council, and international and human rights organizations to assume their responsibilities by implementing the rules of international law and international legitimacy resolutions that support the rights of the Palestinians and their right to self-determination and the establishment of their state.

Donald Trump appealed to Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan on Friday, exploiting the ongoing war in the Middle East and his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric against former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an attempt to rally support from the Arab and Muslim voting bloc that traditionally votes for Democratic candidates.

“A lot of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans have friends and family living in the Middle East, and Kamala [Harris] is campaigning with warmongers like Liz Cheney,” Trump said at a rally in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. “They want to get the Arab American vote, they want to get the Muslim vote. So she chose Liz Cheney, whose father pretty much destroyed the Middle East. I don’t think that’s a good thing at all.”

On Friday, Trump visited members of the Lebanese community in Dearborn, Michigan, the largest Arab-majority city in the country.

Arab and Muslim voters face a tough choice in this election. Although Arab Americans tend to vote Democratic, Harris is 18 points below Joe Biden’s support level in 2020, while Trump has a narrow lead. That’s because many Arab and Muslim voters find it unconscionable to vote for Harris when the Biden administration, they say, is complicit in Israel’s bombing of Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Thus, Arab Americans find themselves in a unique and rare position in American politics these days, as election campaigns are intensifying and focused on the state of Michigan, where Arabs constitute a significant percentage of the population.

And in the hotly contested battleground of Michigan, which has a population of about 400,000 Arab Americans, that could make a crucial electoral difference.

At the rally with Arab and Muslim voters, Trump continued his attacks on Cheney, whom he called a “radical war hawk” on Thursday who should be “shot nine barrels.” Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, was vice president under President George W. Bush and helped oversee the U.S. invasion of Iraq after previously serving as CEO of Halliburton, an arms manufacturer that made billions of dollars from the war.

Trump has now called Liz Cheney a "war hawk" while claiming she would be a coward on the battlefield.

“If you gave Liz Cheney a gun and put her in a fight facing the other side with guns pointed at her, she wouldn’t have the courage, the strength or the stamina to look the enemy in the eye,” Trump said. “That’s why I broke up with her. All she wanted to do was go to war with everybody because, like Kamala, she’s a stupid person.”

“If Kamala wins, nothing but death and destruction awaits her because she is the candidate of endless wars. I am the candidate of peace,” Trump continued. “I am peace.”

And so the former president, who in his first month in office signed an executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, made an unlikely plea: “I need every Muslim American in Michigan to get out and vote.”

“Many Muslim and Arab Americans have friends and family living in the Middle East,” Trump said.

The Institute for Economics and Peace estimates that violence and conflict expansion cost the global economy $19 trillion in 2023, equivalent to 13.5% of global GDP, a total increase of $157 billion over the previous year 2022, while total spending on peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts amounted to $49.6 billion.

In its report, the Australian Institute monitored 56 conflicts around the world, the largest number since the end of World War II, and the deterioration of peaceful conditions in 97 countries, the largest number monitored by the Institute since it launched the Global Peace Index in 2008.

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an international research institution, covering 163 independent countries and territories, home to 99.7% of the world's population.

The ranking, which is based on 23 indicators, grouped into three criteria (societal safety and security; extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and degree of militarization), shows that 65 countries recorded an improvement in the peace index, while 97 countries showed a deterioration.

The global economic impact of violence is defined as the money spent and the economic impact of containing, preventing and dealing with the consequences of violence.

Overall, the GPI fell by 0.56% in 2023. This is the twelfth time the average has fallen, for a total decrease of 4.5% since the index was launched. At the same time, the number of refugees and internally displaced people rose to 95 million, with 16 countries having at least 5% of the population either refugees or internally displaced people.

The Global Peace Index found that the overall impact of violence was 7.4% higher in 2023 than in 2008. Significant improvements were recorded between 2010 and 2012, after which the impact steadily increased. Since 2008, 89 countries have recorded a deterioration in the impact of violence on their economies, while 74 countries have seen an improvement.

Most affected regions

The report notes that there are significant regional differences in the economic impact of violence, with South Asia seeing the largest deterioration, while Russia and Eurasia saw the largest improvement. The deterioration in South Asia can be attributed to higher GDP losses and costs associated with conflict deaths in Pakistan.

Central America and the Caribbean was the second region to see an improvement in the economic impact of violence, driven by a significant $1 billion reduction in the economic impact of homicides in El Salvador.

The data confirms the link between peaceful societies, economic growth, stronger currencies and increased foreign investment. Iceland, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Singapore were the five most peaceful countries in 2023.

Yemen was the least peaceful country in 2023, followed by Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The index also found “growing inequality in peace,” with the gap between the most and least peaceful countries wider than ever.

Last year, Ukraine recorded the biggest deterioration in the index, falling 14 places to 157th globally.

The report said the conflict in Gaza also had a negative impact on world peace, with Israel and Palestine recording the first and fourth largest deteriorations in rankings, respectively. Ecuador, Gabon and Haiti were among the other countries that saw sharp declines.

According to the survey, “the largest increases in the economic impact of violence occurred in Palestine and Israel, where the total impact increased by 63% and 40%, respectively.” Ukraine, Afghanistan, and North Korea faced the highest economic costs of violence relative to their GDP in 2023, at 68.6%, 53.2%, and 41.6%, respectively.

Second highest death toll in 3 decades

Overall, last year saw 162,000 deaths due to conflicts and wars, the second highest toll in three decades.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza were responsible for nearly 75% of these deaths, with Ukraine alone responsible for more than half (83,000 deaths) and Gaza seeing at least 33,000 casualties by April 2024.

Countries around the world will spend $8.4 trillion on military equipment in 2023. Globally, the economic impact of military spending will increase by 1.4% in 2023, to $116.3 billion. There has been a significant increase in military spending over the past few years, with several European countries committing to spending more in the coming years, largely due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. According to the survey, spending on internal security accounted for 30% of the global economic impact of conflicts and wars, at around $5.4 trillion. This includes spending on police, the justice system and prison costs. Spending on private security fell by 0.2% to $1.3 trillion. 56 Active Conflicts in the World Researchers at the Institute for Economics and Peace point out that many of the factors that precede major conflicts are usually more pronounced than they have been since the end of World War II. There are currently 56 active conflicts, the highest number since the late 1940s, with fewer conflicts settled, either militarily or through peace agreements. Regionally, North America recorded the largest average deterioration of all regions, with a decline of almost 5%, driven primarily by increases in violent crime and fear of violence in both Canada and the United States. The Middle East and North Africa, home to four of the world’s 10 least peaceful countries, is the least peaceful region in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa, the second least peaceful region, also recorded a decline in peacefulness this year. Elsewhere, Central America and the Caribbean’s average score fell slightly by 0.17%, with seven of 12 countries declining and five improving. Notably, El Salvador and Nicaragua, respectively, recorded the largest improvements globally. South America also declined (by 3.6%), driven by deteriorations in the areas of safety and security and ongoing conflict. Western Europe remains the world’s most peaceful region overall, with seven countries in the top 10, including the top three. Europe’s strength stems from relatively low internal conflict and political instability and high social and economic development, supported by long-standing efforts to develop peaceful societies at home. However, the continent last year recorded the largest annual increase in military spending since the index was created. After Western Europe, the Asia-Pacific region is the second most peaceful, with an overall score deteriorating by 0.1%.

The Israeli occupation committed 7 massacres against Palestinian families in the last 24 hours, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

According to the ministry, these massacres left 55 dead and 192 injured.

She pointed out that the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 43,314 dead and 102,019 injuries since October 7, 2023.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that the United States and Israel "will undoubtedly receive a crushing response" for their actions against Iran, state media reported.

Khamenei said, “The enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response to what they do against Iran and the axis of resistance.”

Khamenei made the comments to students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by conservative students shortly after the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

The United States announced on Friday the deployment of new military capabilities to the region that will arrive “in the coming months” in a move that comes “in defense of Israel” and as a warning to Iran, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) on Friday. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Austin had ordered the deployment of several B-52 Stratofortress bombers, a squadron of fighters, tanker aircraft and naval destroyers to the Middle East. He said they would begin arriving in the region in the coming months, as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln begins its return home.

Austin’s latest order demonstrates “the United States’ ability to deploy around the world on short notice to address evolving national security threats,” Ryder said. Austin “continues to make clear that if Iran or its partners or proxies exploit this moment to target American citizens or American interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary action to defend our people,” he added.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, along with three Navy destroyers, is scheduled to leave the region by mid-month and return to its home port of San Diego, a US official told The Associated Press. The Lincoln and two of its destroyers are now in the Gulf of Oman, and the third destroyer with two other warships is in the Red Sea.

When the Lincoln leaves, there won’t be an aircraft carrier in the region for a while, the official said. To make up the gap, Austin has ordered other Navy destroyers to the region. The destroyers, which are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, will come from the Indo-Pacific or Europe, the official said.

The Israeli occupation army said, this Saturday morning, that it had bombed more than 120 targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours.

The occupation army claimed in its statement that these were targets of Hezbollah and Hamas.

He claimed that his forces assassinated Hezbollah's commander in Tyre, Moein Ezzedine, and the artillery commander in the same area.

The two leaders were accused of being behind 400 rocket attacks on Israel over the past month.

The wailing of tragedy that resounds from the horror of the moving pain in every house, neighborhood, and street in Gaza, Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun bleeds our hearts, explodes the pangs of pain in our depths, and shakes our souls that are tired from our feeling of our helplessness, our oppression, our lack of resourcefulness, and our insignificance among people.

In Gaza, Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, where the generals’ meat grinder has been turning for twenty-eight days, children and women are suffering their pain, hunger and grief between its teeth and the fangs of the savage crows.

Oh God! Scenes of children dying while sleeping in rooms that have become traps for airplanes, which punish and track families during their journey to Gaza, raining heavy bombs on buildings crowded with starving people, turning tender bodies into scattered limbs.

Oh God! Who will answer the mothers' wailing over their children and grandchildren?! Who will stop the boiling blood?! Who will feed the hungry mouths?! Who will heal the gaping wounds?! Who will stop the savage genocide?!

Oh God! The world’s silence tears our hearts apart, the politicians’ chatter deepens our pain, and the chatter of officials and analysts oppresses us. Their slogans and analyses have become a source of entertainment for our bleeding wounds and profiting from the blood of the victims who are being crushed between cold tactical losses and dazzling strategic victories.

The Gazans die if they hold a sit-in in their homes, or take refuge in their tents, and they die if they go to their schools, or take shelter in shelters, or hospitals to receive treatment, or even on the sidewalks of the streets soaked with blood, and with corpses being devoured by dogs!

Oh Allah..! We have no one but You to protect us, to answer the prayers of the oppressed, the hungry and the afflicted, and to stop this injustice and great destruction from our people who raise their hands in supplication to You, to save them from Hell, for they have nothing but Your mercy and Your generosity, glory be to You, You have no partner..

Stop the war of extermination now..!

The latest polls ahead of the presidential election in three days, on November 5, show that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are very close in their chances of winning. But in Israel, the situation is different, according to Foreign Policy magazine, which specializes in American foreign policy, as “Israel is Trump’s country, and Trump’s number one supporter is its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.”

However, Trump's record, his volatile personality, and his public statements about Israel during the campaign do little to justify this enthusiasm for Trump among Israelis.

“This war, which Israel has been waging for more than a year, has made Israel more dependent on the United States than at any time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War,” the magazine notes. “Israel also needs the full support of the next American president, whoever he may be. Yet Netanyahu seems willing to ignore one candidate and place all his cards and bets on another whose political instincts often conflict with Israel’s interests.”

Netanyahu has traditionally felt more comfortable with Republicans than Democrats. In the 2012 election, Netanyahu publicly favored Sen. Mitt Romney over then-President Barack Obama. Romney was treated like a president during a visit in July of that year, and Netanyahu appeared (presumably without his prior knowledge) in an ad attacking Obama. Netanyahu declined to publicly state his preference in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections, “but this time, he was playing favorite again,” the magazine reported.

The magazine notes that it began with a reconciliation of sorts between Trump and Netanyahu. Trump took offense to the fact that Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on his election victory in 2020. For the next four years, the two men did not speak. In an interview with Time magazine last April, Trump blamed Netanyahu for the failures that enabled Hamas to launch an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, a sharp rebuke of an Israeli leader who refused to accept any responsibility for security failures.

Netanyahu broke the ice last July with a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, on July 26 (two weeks after the assassination attempt on Trump). Since then, Israeli media have reported that the two men have spoken by phone several times.

“Whatever the two men really think of each other, both find it politically useful to be seen as friends and allies,” the magazine says.

Israelis differ from their Western counterparts, who overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party, in their support for Trump. A recent poll by Israel’s Channel 12 showed that 66% said he was their preferred candidate, compared to just 17% for Harris (another 17% did not express an opinion). By comparison, a Gallup International poll in 43 countries (but not Israel) found that 54% of respondents preferred Harris, more than double the level of support for Trump. Even in Serbia and Hungary, the two countries that support Trump the most, only 49% and 59% of those surveyed, respectively, favored him.

Ordinary Israelis may prefer Trump in part because Harris is unknown. Israelis have also shown little or no appreciation for the enormous assistance President Biden has provided since Israel launched its war on Gaza.

Trump’s popularity in Israel largely stems from his first term as president (January 2017-January 2021), when he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and a handful of Arab states. He also presented the “Deal of the Century” plan, which gives Israel 30 percent of the occupied West Bank and makes the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state nearly impossible.

According to the magazine, “Israelis tend to see positive gestures as evidence of Trump’s love for Israel. But the record doesn’t quite bear that out. Trump has made only one visit to Israel during his term as president. Biden, by contrast, has traveled to Israel twice, including in the early days of the war in Gaza, in a strong, personal show of support days after the October 7, 2023 attack.”

In the first few months of the war between Israel and Hamas, the magazine says, “Trump spoke of the need to ‘end the war and end it quickly,’ and in a September 10 debate with Harris, he said, ‘I’m going to get it done quickly’ about the war. More recently, he has moved slightly toward supporting the war effort, telling Netanyahu in a phone call, ‘Do what you have to do.’ But Trump has never spoken of the ‘total victory,’ which Netanyahu says is Israel’s goal.”

Trump advisers have been quoted as saying that it is entirely possible that Trump will follow Biden’s approach of pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal. And since Trump appears keen to crown his Abraham Accords achievement with an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may find himself under pressure from the Trump administration to meet Saudi demands for progress toward a Palestinian state.

On Iran, Trump has been tough in public, but not as tough as Netanyahu would like. Trump has spoken of intensifying his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, but by that he means tougher economic sanctions, not war. “He’s generally very averse to war,” one adviser recently told the Financial Times.

This illustrates (to some extent) Trump’s broader worldview, which does not align well with Israeli interests. Trump is suspicious of allies, especially those who do not pay their defense budget commitments, and are dependent on the United States.

“In the past, Israel might have been Trump’s most valued ally,” the magazine says. “Yes, it received billions of dollars in American aid, and it didn’t cost it much, but at least Israel didn’t require American troops to defend it. And its strong and effective military often served American interests.”

Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and its tit-for-tat strikes with Iran have changed that dynamic. The United States spent at least $22.7 billion on direct military aid to Israel and related U.S. operations in the region through Sept. 30, according to a study by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Since then, the cost has soared, with Washington providing more aid amid tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran. Beyond the money, the United States has at various times sent additional aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and troops to the region. Last October, Washington sent a THAAD ballistic missile defense system to Israel and 100 personnel to operate it to plug gaps in Israel’s air defenses. The United States has also been supplying Israel with vast quantities of weapons that it cannot obtain from any other country or produce domestically. In the interest of multilateralism, Biden has twice organized a coalition of Western and Arab powers to aid Israel when Iran launched missile attacks.

“The fighting will eventually end,” the magazine says, “but Israel’s dependence on the United States is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Israeli planners assume that it will have to significantly increase defense spending in the coming years, costs that will be difficult to cover, especially if the economic slowdown continues” as it is now.

Trump’s defenders will argue that Israel is a special case, the magazine predicts. Unlike other allies, Israel has a domestic electoral base in the United States among evangelical Christians and many Jews. In the Republican Party, support for Israel is a prerequisite.

The magazine notes that Trump will not have to face voters again if he wins next week and can do whatever he chooses. He and Netanyahu may have reconciled now because they need each other politically, but Trump is not the forgiving type and does not take challenges lightly. If the two clash over Iran, Palestinian policy or the terms of Saudi normalization, the friendship could easily collapse.

Trump’s foreign policy team is likely to include a large number of “America First” supporters who may love Israel but are loath to involve the United States in the Middle East’s endless wars, even when Israel is involved. Those among his advisers who advocate a more activist U.S. foreign policy are focused on China. Like the Biden administration, they see Iran as secondary and do not want to devote resources to the threat it poses.

Netanyahu is supposed to be more calculating and realistic than the average Israeli, whose support for Trump is genuine. The Israeli prime minister may conclude that he cannot afford to alienate Trump and that if Harris wins, she will act like Biden and continue to support Israel despite any ill will.

Regardless of who wins on Tuesday (5/11), the next four years of relations between Israel and the United States are likely to be more turbulent than those of Biden’s presidency. Biden has been a true friend of Israel and was willing to go to great lengths to help it in a crisis at great political cost. The next occupant of the White House—whether Trump or Harris—is unlikely to do the same.

Armed settlers attacked olive pickers west of Salfit this Saturday morning.

Farmer Youssef Al-Deek said that the settlers of the pastoral colonial outpost established on the citizens’ lands in Kafr Al-Deek attacked the olive pickers in the “Khalat Al-Haramiya” area west of the town, shouting, cursing and threatening them, and tried to force them to leave their lands and prevent them from picking the olives.

Al-Deek pointed out that during the past week, the settlers stole 30 bags of olives and agricultural equipment, in addition to grazing their livestock among the trees and provoking the farmers, in an attempt to prevent citizens from reaching their lands and taking care of them.

It is noteworthy that agricultural lands in the Salfit Governorate are exposed to daily attacks by settlers and occupation forces, which escalated during the olive season in an attempt to force citizens to leave them in favor of the settlements.

During the annual olive harvest season, Palestinian lands are subjected to repeated attacks by settlers and the occupation army, and farmers constantly face obstacles and arbitrary practices that prevent them from accessing their lands, which leads to huge material losses and increases their daily suffering under the burden of the occupation.

It is expected that farmers will not be able to reach 80,000 dunums of land planted with olives, due to the terror of the settlers under the protection of the occupation army, which will lead to the loss of about 15% of this year’s season’s crop.