The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to a general framework presented by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The movement said in a statement that it is "making great efforts to stop the barbaric war on the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was reaching an agreement with US envoy Steve Witkoff on a general framework that achieves a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the flow of aid, and a professional committee taking over the management of the Strip's affairs immediately after the agreement is announced."

She added that the agreement "includes the release of ten Israeli prisoners and a number of bodies, in exchange for the release of an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners, with the guarantee of mediators, and the movement is awaiting a final response on this framework."

The Wall Street Journal quoted current and former International Criminal Court officials as saying that Karim Khan, the court's chief prosecutor, "was preparing, before his annual leave, to request arrest warrants for Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir on charges of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank."

The newspaper also reported that officials and legal experts "questioned that the court would proceed with these efforts without the presence of the chief prosecutor."

According to the newspaper, these experts warned that the United States might resort to "paralyzing the International Criminal Court by effectively isolating it from the American financial system, which could expose it to an existential threat."

The Wall Street Journal also quoted officials close to the International Criminal Court as saying that the court's judges "have ordered strict secrecy regarding the filing of any new requests for arrest warrants against Israeli or Hamas officials."

Two weeks ago, the US administration imposed sanctions on Karim Khan, the plaintiff, a week after President Donald Trump signed a presidential decree on the matter.

The US Treasury Department said at the time that it "imposed sanctions on Khan pursuant to the terms of Trump's February 6 executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in the Gaza Strip."

Khan, a British citizen, initiated the proceedings that led the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Galant in late 2024.

ICC judges found "reasonable grounds" to suspect the two men of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

She explained that the war crimes attributed to Netanyahu and Galant include the use of starvation as a weapon of war, as well as crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies + Wall Street Journal

The European Union stressed the need not to politicize or militarize humanitarian aid, reiterating its call for the immediate, unhindered, and sustained resumption of aid delivery on a large scale, commensurate with the needs of the civilian population in Gaza.

This came in a statement issued by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaya Kallas.

She added: "The Israeli military operation in Gaza, the disproportionate use of force, and the killing of civilians cannot be tolerated, and the continued targeting of civilian infrastructure is unacceptable."

"A ceasefire must be restored, leading to the release of all hostages and a final end to hostilities through negotiations," Kallas continued.

The European Union also condemned the ongoing settler violence in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, noting that the campaigns of intimidation, physical and verbal assaults, and the destruction and burning of property and homes will lead to the displacement of entire Palestinian communities. It called on the occupying state to take decisive and immediate steps to address this issue and ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable.

He pointed out that incitement to violence and intimidation of residents and journalists in Jerusalem undermine the special status and character of Jerusalem and its Old City.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 22 of the 38 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are out of service.

The ministry said in a press statement on Wednesday that 47% of the essential medicines list has a zero balance, and 65% of the medical consumables list has a zero balance.

She pointed out that only 30 primary care centers are currently operating, out of 105 centers, noting that the bed occupancy rate exceeds 106%.

She added, "50 operating rooms are currently operating in catastrophic conditions, out of a total of 104," noting that 25 oxygen stations out of a total of 34 have been destroyed, leaving only nine partially operational.

She confirmed that 41% of kidney failure patients died during the war, while 477 patients waiting to travel abroad for treatment died.

She pointed out that 60 children died due to malnutrition.

The Prisoners Club reviewed the most prominent data on arrest operations, which include arrests in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, where the total number of arrests there amounted to more than (17) thousand cases.

He noted in a statement issued Wednesday that this figure does not include the thousands of arrests in Gaza, as the concept of arrests includes those who were arrested and kept in detention by the occupation, as well as those who were later released.

He pointed out that the number of women arrested since the beginning of the war of extermination has reached (537) (this statistic includes women who were arrested from the 1948 territories, and women arrested from Gaza who were arrested from the West Bank), and this data does not include the number of women arrested from Gaza, whose number is estimated in the dozens.

Regarding the cases of arrest among children, the Prisoners Club said that the number of arrests among them in the West Bank amounted to no less than (1360).

The ongoing arrests are accompanied by escalating crimes and violations, including: acts of abuse and severe beatings, threats against detainees and their families, in addition to widespread acts of vandalism and destruction of citizens' homes, the seizure of vehicles, money and gold jewelry, in addition to the widespread destruction of infrastructure, particularly in the Tulkarm and Jenin camps, the demolition of homes belonging to families of prisoners, the use of family members as hostages, and the use of detainees as human shields.

Since the beginning of the war of extermination, at least (70) prisoners whose identities were revealed and announced have been martyred in the occupation prisons, including (44) martyrs from Gaza detainees, in addition to dozens of Gaza detainees who were martyred in prisons and camps, and the occupation did not disclose their identities and the circumstances of their martyrdom, while they were subject to enforced disappearance.

Torture, starvation, and medical crimes, along with diseases and epidemics deliberately spread by the prison system among prisoners, as well as sexual assaults and rapes, led to the deaths of dozens of prisoners after the genocide, making this the bloodiest phase in the history of the prisoner movement.

It is noteworthy that (68) prisoners who were martyred and whose identities were announced since the beginning of the war of extermination have their bodies held, and they are among (79) martyred prisoners whose bodies the occupation continues to hold, and whose identities have been announced.

Until today, and since the beginning of the war of extermination, there is no clear estimate of the number of detainees from Gaza in the occupation’s prisons and camps. The only available data is what the occupation’s prison administration announces of those it classifies as “illegal combatants,” which is (1,846). Note that the institutions have not been able to monitor the number of arrests from Gaza in light of the crime of enforced disappearance imposed by the occupation on Gaza detainees since the beginning of the war, and their number is estimated in the thousands.

Total number of prisoners in occupation prisons until May 2025:

The number of prisoners and detainees in the occupation prisons is more than ten thousand and one hundred, including (45) female prisoners, and more than (400) children, while the number of administrative detainees is (3577), and the number of those classified by the occupation prison administration from the Gaza detainees (as illegal combatants), who were recognized by the occupation prison administration is (1846), noting that this data does not include all the detainees of Gaza, specifically those who are in the camps affiliated with the occupation army.

The number of administrative detainees constitutes the highest number of convicted prisoners and prisoners held in occupation prisons. This percentage of administrative detainees is the highest in history compared to other periods in which Palestine witnessed popular uprisings and uprisings.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has resulted in the death and injury of more than 50,000 Palestinian children since October 7, 2023.

"In just 72 hours last week, images from two horrific attacks in Gaza provided further evidence of the devastating cost of this brutal war on children," UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, said in a statement published by the UN agency on its website on Wednesday.

"On Friday, we saw videos of the burned and dismembered bodies of children from the al-Najjar family being pulled from the rubble of their home in Khan Yunis," in the southern Gaza Strip, he added.

"Of the 10 siblings under the age of 12, only one child with serious injuries was reported to have survived," the UN official continued, explaining that "early Monday morning, we saw images of a little girl trapped in a burning school in Gaza City. This attack, which occurred in the early hours of the morning, reportedly killed at least 31 people, including 18 children."

UNICEF said, "Since the ceasefire ended on March 18, 1,309 children have been killed and 3,738 others injured. In total, more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured since October 2023."

"How many more girls and boys must be killed? What level of horror must be broadcast live before the international community fully intervenes, uses its influence, and takes bold and decisive action to force an end to this merciless killing of children?" UNICEF's Regional Director asked.

He continued: "These children are lives that should never be reduced to numbers. They are now part of a long and horrific list of unimaginable horrors: grave violations against children, the blockade of aid, starvation, ongoing forced displacement, the destruction of hospitals, water networks, schools, and homes. In short, the destruction of life itself in the Gaza Strip."

UNICEF urged "all parties to the conflict to end the violence, protect civilians, including children, respect international humanitarian law and human rights law, allow immediate access to humanitarian aid, and release all hostages."

She stressed that "the children of Gaza need protection, food, water, and medicine, and they need a ceasefire."

"Most importantly, they need immediate collective action to stop this once and for all," she added, referring to the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip that has lasted for more than 600 days.

Over the course of nearly 20 months of genocide in Gaza, the occupation targeted dozens of shelters, including schools, universities, hospital grounds, and areas designated as safe by the Israeli military. This resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands of Palestinians, most of them children and women, according to official data.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Wednesday that the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 54,084 dead and 123,308 injuries since October 7, 2023.

According to the ministry, 28 dead (including 5 recovered) and 179 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals in the past 24 hours, noting that the statistics do not include hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip due to the difficulty of accessing them. 

It pointed out that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, and that ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them.

It confirmed that the death toll and injuries since March 18, 2025 amounted to (3,924 dead , 11,267 injuries).

The statements of the head of the Democratic Party, General Yair Golan, reflected the reality and orientations of the entire Israeli political system, both the coalition and the opposition, and their positions and behavior in the war of extermination. In an interview with Kan Radio (Reshet B), Golan said, "Israel is on its way to becoming a pariah state among the nations, as South Africa was during the time of apartheid, if it does not return to functioning as a rational state that does not wage war against civilians, does not kill children as a hobby, and does not set itself goals of expelling the population."

Since serving as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Golan has made a habit of making veiled criticisms of the Israeli political leadership. I recall what he said in May 2016, in a Holocaust Remembrance Day speech, when he declared, "It is frightening to recognize in ourselves acts that took place in Germany 70, 80, or 90 years ago, and that there is evidence of such things happening in Israel in 2016." At the time, the right attacked him and the center-left celebrated him, and his political star rose. However, he immediately backed down, explaining that he "did not intend the comparison" and that "the Israeli army is a moral army that maintains the purity of its weapons."

Reactions to his recent statements have ranged from rejection to acceptance to criticism, both from within Israel, including within the Zionist left and center-left, and from movements that describe themselves as radical leftists opposed to the occupation's policies and crimes.

Among the critics, journalist friend Amira Hass wrote a post on her Facebook account directed at Golan and the left in general, saying: “On days when those who refuse military service or those who come out against the occupation or the war are celebrated, it is easy to raise slogans like ‘Where were you?’ as if to say: What did you suddenly remember?”

It's easy to blame any reservist who refuses to report now, but they were organizers in previous wars, enforced curfews on the camps, and contributed to the occupation. It's easy to ridicule those who, until recently, were committed Zionists and today participate in commemorating the Nakba.

The radical left must acknowledge a fundamental truth: no one arrives at the "right" position at the perfect time. Even the children of old communist or leftist families, the "lucky few," are not necessarily politically or morally pure. Absolute purity is an illusion.

What we are asking for, in fact, is not an apology, but continuity. That those who have begun to see the occupation for what it truly is not retreat, and that they not abandon their new position, however belated.

She concluded by saying, "We are living through a cruel paradox. We participated in the Balfour protests against the judicial coup, hoping that this movement would open a deeper awareness of the connection between internal oppression (against Jews) and the ongoing oppression against the Palestinians. We rejoiced at everyone who went from holding a "democracy for all" sign to accompanying shepherds in the Jordan Valley. But we were shocked by how quickly they returned to supporting the war."

This is our disappointment, but it is also our hope: that something will shake inside these people, that their anxiety and the shock of reality will lead them to a deeper and more radical rejection.

Our role now is to stop the war. Stop it by all means. Support all those who choose to refuse, publicly or silently. Expand political spaces for doubt, anger, and reflection. Protests that hold up images of murdered children are not a ritual performance. They are a shock aimed at the heart of a society living in denial.

Orly Noy, a left-wing journalist, editor of the Sicha Mekomit website, and chair of the board of directors of B'Tselem, said that the dynamics within the left-wing camp were predictable and familiar: overwhelming admiration, followed by a sarcastic "Have you remembered now?" complaint, followed by a rebuke to the same critics that change, even if it comes late, is worth welcoming.

This is a debate in which everyone seems to be "right," but it is not the real debate that statements of this kind should provoke.

She adds, "For a former deputy chief of staff and leader of the Zionist center-left to say that Israel kills children as a hobby—even if it isn't the most appropriate word to describe the ongoing systematic genocide—is not a trivial matter. But on the other hand, the sense of outrage at all the Palestinian blood that was and is being shed before these words were spoken, as well as those who say that dismissing the value of this transformation is an apolitical position, because politics, at its core, is opening the doors to change."

The fundamental question is: Is the change that has occurred in Golan, and in his peers among generals and central figures in the Zionist camp and the center-left, tactical or substantive?

Yair Golan clearly has influence in the Israeli military and among Ashkenazi Jews. But the question is: Does his transformation represent a profound political shift, one that demonstrates that the occupation itself is the root of all evils, practicing genocide, and that the fascist Israeli regime, based on apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and racial supremacy, and that the attempt to impose Jewish sovereignty over the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, home to millions of Palestinians, is the original crime?

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, has criticized the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, describing it as "sadistic."

"I am speechless about the sadistic delivery of aid to Gaza. If this is true, it is a US-Israeli crime: the use of humanitarian aid for humiliation, murder, and torture," the rapporteur said in a post on the X platform on Wednesday.

By deliberately starving people, paving the way for forced displacement, according to the United Nations, Israel has pushed 2.4 million people into starvation by closing the Gaza Strip's crossings to humanitarian aid, particularly food, since March 2.

This morning, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces began demolition operations in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the occupied territories.

Inside the occupied territories, Israeli authorities demolished a home belonging to the Al-Ghadifi family and other structures and residences in the town of Bir Hadaj in the Negev region on Wednesday morning, on the grounds of unlicensed construction.

Armed with police and special forces, bulldozers and military vehicles stormed Bir Hadaj and prevented residents from approaching the demolition site.

In occupied Jerusalem, occupation forces stormed the Ain al-Lawza neighborhood in Silwan and demolished a barracks belonging to Ishaq Odeh.

In the same context, occupation forces stormed the Al-Sal'a neighborhood in the town of Jabal al-Mukaber, southeast of Jerusalem, accompanied by a bulldozer, in preparation for a demolition operation.

In the West Bank, Israeli occupation forces, accompanied by demolition vehicles, demolished a 250-square-meter home in Hebron, owned by Jihad Shehadeh Al-Amour, which housed five people. The forces also demolished the walls surrounding the home and a water well.

The director of the Khallet al-Mai municipality, Muhammad al-Adra, said that the occupation forces carried out the demolition after delivering a notice to the owner yesterday, without giving him time to file an objection with the occupation court or legal and human rights authorities.

He said that the occupation has escalated its repressive measures, including the demolition of numerous homes and the destruction of property in all communities and villages in and around Masafer Yatta, as part of a campaign to pressure citizens and empty these areas of their residents, with the aim of annexing more land for the benefit of colonialism.

In Jenin, occupation forces stopped a pump from operating and assaulted a group of workers as they poured cement for the second floor of a house built seven years ago in the southern area of Ya'bad.

The occupation issued an order to prevent further work at the site.

Written by: Rasim Obeidat

Monday, May 26, 2025, marks the fifty-eighth anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem, the completion of the occupation of the eastern part of the city. The Flag March, or Flag Dance, was an annual tradition that the occupying state has been accustomed to. It began in 1968, a year after the June 1967 war, at the hands of Rabbi Yehuda Hizani. The first celebration was held at the “Merkez Harav,” meaning the rabbi’s center. This celebration was then officially inaugurated in 1974, on a broader and more comprehensive scale. It now receives financial support and backing from the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israeli Ministry of Education. Extremist settler and Talmudic organizations such as “Lahava,” known for its hatred and malice toward Arabs and Palestinians, students of the “Yeshvot” religious schools, and the “Yesha” settlement council participate in it. This march is organized by religious youth groups such as “Noani” and “Akiva,” and groups linked to the religious Zionist parties, “Jewish Power.” And "Religious Zionism (Ben Gvir and Smotrich)."

Until 2017, this march had a festive character, and was not allowed to enter the Old City of Jerusalem, nor pass through the Arab neighborhoods, especially the Muslim Quarter. However, after the widespread shifts that occurred in Israeli society towards the right and extremism, and the identification with the right-wing and extremist government, and the transition of extremist Zionist groups from the peripheries of the Zionist project to the heart of this project, which now control the joints of Israeli political decision-making, due to the disintegration of the major Israeli parties, and beyond that, they began to control the survival and fall of Israeli governments.

Since 2017, these marches have been a show of force. These marches are intended to assert sovereignty and control over Jerusalem, Israel's "eternal capital," and must assert this alleged sovereignty and control by entering the Old City and passing through its Arab neighborhoods. Rabbis, ministers, and members of the Knesset from the extreme right are now competing to lead and participate in them, which begin on the 28th of the Hebrew month of Shavuot, the anniversary of what is known as the unification of Jerusalem.

What distinguished Monday's march was that it came amidst major changes in the region, where "Israel" has been waging its war, which it calls existential, for more than 19 months on the Gaza Strip, with the aim of liquidating and uprooting the Palestinian people and ending their cause once and for all, through operations of expulsion, displacement and uprooting, and the final establishment of sovereignty and control over the city, and the Judaization of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the holiest place for the Jews, "the Temple Mount." Of course, this march came amidst a miserable and collapsing Arab-Islamic state, which seemed to have surrendered to the Israeli-American plan and project in the region.
What also distinguished this march, which transformed Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa into a musical stage and a display of power and political outbidding, was the large number of participating settlers, saturated with hatred, racism and extremism, as they performed Talmudic and Torah dances in Bab al-Amud Square, waving Israeli flags in large numbers, and chanting racist and extremist slogans, which reflect the essence of their Zionist project based on the expulsion and displacement of our Palestinian people, and the exclusion and elimination of all manifestations of their existence. Among the slogans that were raised and the chants that were launched were: “In 1967, Jerusalem is in our hands,” “In 2025, Gaza is in our hands,” “No victory without a Nakba,” “Mohammed is dead,” “Burn Shuafat,” “Erase Gaza from existence,” and “Let us build the temple, and the time has come to build the temple and ascend to it.”
In light of these noisy celebrations in Bab al-Amud Square, Sheikh Jarrah, al-Suwaneh, Silwan, in the heart of al-Aqsa Mosque, and at the Western Wall, where tens of thousands of settlers performed their Talmudic and biblical rituals and dances, including the “Hora” dance, with the participation of US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsty Noam and the participation of government ministers and Knesset members from various political factions, “Likud,” “Religious Zionism,” “Jewish Power,” and “Israel Our Homeland,” a religious and national Zionist consensus was reflected on the issue of sovereignty and control over the city of Jerusalem, considering it the “eternal capital of Israel” and not subject to division again, and an absolute rejection of the two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state. This Zionist consensus was manifested in participation in the celebrations and the show of force in Bab al-Amud Square, al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Western Wall, where among the participants were Ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Zvi Sukkot, and Ariel Vilner, and Knesset members who participated in They danced and raised flags, celebrated and danced, stormed the Old City and assaulted merchants, children, women, the elderly, journalists and media professionals, and made racist and provocative statements. They turned Al-Aqsa into a stage for singing, bidding and political parades. They held a government session in an underground fortress in the town of Silwan, which they call the City of David. They stormed the surrounding towns in Jerusalem, danced and sang in Sheikh Jarrah, Al-Suwaneh and Ras Al-Amud, and prevented the residents of Silwan from parking their cars in front of their homes. They went to the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Refugee Agency in Sheikh Jarrah and assaulted it, led by a member of the Knesset from the "Israel Beitenu" party, Julia Milinovsky, demanding to seize it, in a clear targeting of the United Nations Relief and Refugee Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The agency’s main headquarters was attacked by settlers led by Ben Gvir more than once, threatening the workers with their lives if they continued to work there. Later, in October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed a law in three readings, considering the Relief Agency an agency outside the law, and canceled the immunity and privileges enjoyed by its workers. It is not permissible to deal with it or communicate with it. They demanded that the agency pay financial compensation of 27 million shekels for using the headquarters in illegal ways, considering that the land of this headquarters is owned by the Jewish Agency, and the headquarters will be converted into a settlement outpost (1440) settlement units.
This march, with this momentum, this number of settlers, and these types of participants, and the slogans and chants that were raised and launched, clearly say that what awaits Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in the coming days is extremely dangerous. If the Arab and Islamic situation continues in its miserable, deplorable and shameful state, Al-Aqsa will go beyond temporal and spatial divisions, and even create sanctity and Jewish life in the place, as an Islamic-Jewish partnership initially on the path to establishing a synagogue in the eastern region instead of the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall, while awaiting the slaughter of one of the five red cows in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and then the establishment of the alleged Third Temple instead of the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
As for Jerusalem, it is moving towards Judaization and Israelization, and the planting of settlements and outposts in its Arab neighborhoods, in order to prevent its Palestinian villages and towns from remaining geographically and demographically connected, and to systematically dismantle its social and national unity, transforming it into scattered islands in a vast Israeli environment.
But in the end we say that there is a state of obstruction to the implementation of these projects and plans, led by the Palestinian steadfastness and perseverance on the land and adherence to it, and the insistence on thwarting these projects and plans, despite all the military, security and financial driving force behind them, and the repression, abuse, settlement, home demolitions, expulsion, displacement and ethnic cleansing. Jerusalem, which is being transformed into a military barracks on this day, and more than 3,000 policemen and border guards are being mobilized to provide protection for this march, and roads are being closed and the movement of Jerusalemites in the city is paralyzed and fixed and mobile police checkpoints are deployed at its gates and entrances, saying that this Arab city is occupied and divided and not united.
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What awaits Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in the coming days is extremely dangerous. If the Arab and Islamic situation continues in its miserable, deplorable and shameful state, Al-Aqsa will go beyond the divisions of time and space.
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While the ultra-racist and supremacist Jewish settler flag demonstration took place in Jerusalem the day before yesterday, which reinforces the occupation government's vision, and while more massacres are being committed in Gaza, behind the scenes, unannounced negotiations are taking place these days between the United States and Hamas, under Egyptian and Qatari sponsorship. These negotiations are based on a paper said to have been drafted by Palestinian researcher Bishara Bahbah, according to media sources, in coordination with US envoy Witkoff. These developments, which have been the subject of conflicting reports, come amid the ongoing Israeli holocaust in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing and destruction of West Bank refugee camps, and the faltering of the Palestinian political track, as well as the October 7th track, despite the right and legitimacy of resistance. This is due to miscalculations and a lack of understanding of the essence of the Zionist movement and its project, which will not accept any political path that achieves self-determination and freedom for our people. There is also the erosion of popular confidence in the policies of waiting and silence, as well as in both the official Arab and international reality.
But reading these movements requires a political awareness that goes beyond the media headlines. The issue is not simply an attempt to end the war or seek humanitarian arrangements. Rather, it relates to the essence of the Palestinian national liberation project, and even to the future of the Palestinian cause as a whole.
The ongoing negotiations are not a political recognition of Hamas or a change in the traditional American position. Rather, they are an attempt to employ Hamas, through the international Muslim Brotherhood movement, within functional arrangements to control the situation in Gaza after the war. This is in line with the previous experience during the so-called Arab Spring project to destroy the nation-state in order to implement the New Middle East project, which is being fully implemented today with new realities. On the other hand, a scenario resembling "administrative self-rule" is being proposed at the Palestinian level, through a long-term truce and local administration supported by external funding, without any commitment to a comprehensive political solution or to ending the occupation.
These arrangements seek to transform Gaza into a separate entity managed by security and economics, while the occupation continues its settlement and Judaization project in the West Bank and Jerusalem and establishes the reality of geographical isolation "Bantos" that may enjoy a form of expanded self-administration, while maintaining the occupation's security control over the land, resources, borders and airspace, as well as the division as a tool to continue undermining Palestinian unity.
The paper attributed to Bishara Bahbah, which is said to be currently being discussed in these negotiations, proposes lines consistent with this vision of a long-term truce, an indirect security role, and perhaps later local electoral arrangements. However, in my opinion, it essentially removes Gaza from the Palestinian national framework and reproduces the division under an international and Arab umbrella.
This is not a national initiative, but rather a recycled version of the "neutralization in exchange for funding" idea, integrating Hamas into a regional and international system that guarantees Israel's security. This is similar to what Washington and its allies in the West Bank are seeking through "political domestication" using money, normalization, and threats against the Palestinian Authority, which absorbs the anger of the Arab street without achieving the minimum national rights for our Palestinian people.
The United States, Israel, and some regional powers are working to impose new facts on the ground under the banner of "reconstruction." However, the real goal is to end the liberation character of the Palestinian national cause and transform it into a manageable humanitarian, security, and economic issue, far removed from any path leading to ending the settler occupation or achieving the national political rights of our Palestinian people.
These movements are taking place in the shadow of the marginalization of the Palestine Liberation Organization, whose role and legacy have been targeted since the beginning, the siege and decline of the role of the Palestinian National Authority, the disintegration of the Palestinian house due to the division and the crisis of our political system, the absence of a unified national strategy that relies on the capabilities of our people as a source of authority, the absence of a clear program in light of the policies of reactions, and engagement with the policies of official Arab positions that do not possess the will to confront Trump's vision, but rather have paid him the price for protecting and preserving it.
In the face of these risks, a comprehensive national action is necessary based on the following axes:
1. Rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization in action, not just words, on transparent democratic and representative foundations, including all political, civil and independent groups of our people, and restoring its role as a comprehensive national authority, the sole legitimate representative and an instrument for democratic national liberation. This requires, for this purpose, the revival of the Fatah movement and the restoration of its role as the pillar of the Palestinian national movement, alongside the rest of the national factions, forces and independents, based on the very idea of its existence.
2. Rejecting any solutions that perpetuate division or turn Gaza into a separate entity or the West Bank into isolated enclaves with the presence of settlements.
3. Developing a comprehensive resistance strategy—political, legal, and popular—that restores national rights and the standing of our liberation cause in the eyes of the world. This strategy builds on the growing international popular solidarity, which has become an embarrassment to Western governments and is contributing to Israel's isolation on the world stage, in addition to the internal structural crisis it is currently suffering from.
4. Reforming the role and position of the PLO and developing its structure as a broad national front based on the unity of the people, land, and cause, and confronting attempts to transform the Palestinian struggle into a regional negotiating card between capitals.
What is being proposed today through these announced negotiations in the absence of political negotiations on the entire Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which must lead to the end of the occupation of all occupied territories first, is not a solution, but rather a political trap to gradually liquidate the Palestinian issue, somewhat similar in meaning to the repercussions of the Oslo Accords, which Israel buried and brought us to where we are today. It is believed that this will take place under the guise of calm and “humanitarian” aid, the mechanisms of which are being revealed today.
If the national and democratic forces do not assume their responsibilities, not only at the Palestinian level, we may soon find ourselves facing a new Palestinian reality in which Gaza is separated from the West Bank, and the issue is reduced to managing life affairs that have nothing to do with democratic national liberation and dignity, nor with embodying the principle of the right to self-determination and defeating the colonial settlement project in Palestine, which is intended to expand in the region through Israel’s dominant role, regardless of the disagreements taking place between Netanyahu and Trump, who is seeking to achieve the “grand bargain,” especially after his recent tour to pay the price and the expected roles of the parties included in the visit.

Reports published by the New York Times and Haaretz reveal undisclosed aspects of the new Israeli plan for distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, shedding light on broader objectives that go beyond the declared humanitarian dimension. Far from providing the aid as an American humanitarian initiative, the data indicates that it was in fact conceived in Israel and tailored to suit the circumstances of the war and Tel Aviv's interests, not the needs of the afflicted Palestinians in Gaza.
Through this plan, Israel seeks to control the flow of aid and use it as a political and strategic tool. By establishing "mysterious" private organizations to distribute aid—believed to be fronts for Israel, despite presenting themselves as an American initiative—Tel Aviv is working to ensure that the relief operation remains within the framework of its security vision. It is not content with merely facilitating the entry of aid; rather, it aspires to fully control its quality, destination, and timing. In doing so, it is transforming the American aid fund into a field arm complementary to its military operations, rather than opposing or separate from them.
The striking irony is that this move comes at a time when Israel is expanding its ground operations, pushing tens of thousands of soldiers deeper into Gaza. Typically, aid is linked to relief during periods of calm, not during escalation, revealing Israel's dual objectives: on the one hand, it creates a humanitarian spectacle while on the other, it continues its intensive military operations. This duality is not arbitrary; rather, it serves a clear strategy: maintaining pressure on the civilian population while offering a conditional and monitored "lifeline" that it controls.
By concentrating aid distribution in areas like Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced under bombardment, Israel is contributing to the establishment of a new geographic reality. It's as if it's telling civilians: There's no safety except in the south, and no food except for those who leave the north and center of the Strip. In doing so, aid is transformed from a means of relief into a tool of pressure used to force internal and external displacement, under the guise of "survival." In the absence of independent UN channels for aid distribution, this form of control opens the door to further violations disguised as "humanitarian necessity."
Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the situation is Israel's use of the state of war to justify policies that, under international law, could constitute "forced displacement." It claims that its fight against Hamas requires the evacuation of entire areas of their inhabitants, while forcing civilians to flee through bombing and starvation. In this context, aid appears to be a means of imposing a new demographic map on the Strip, under a fragile international cover and with the indirect blessing of Washington, which funds this operation under the guise of "relief."
At this stage, the Gaza war has transformed from a mere military confrontation into a comprehensive political project, addressing both geography and demographics. Israel is not content with dismantling Hamas's structure; it seeks to dismantle the demographic and political structure of the entire Strip. Through this new "humanitarian" plan, we see it implementing a vision that extends beyond the war: a fragmented Gaza, an exhausted society, its population forcibly dispersed, and its aid subject to military supervision. The war scene now is not just a battlefield scene; it is a project to reengineer Gaza politically, demographically, and perhaps geographically.
These developments present a scene reminiscent of the "Trojan Horse" myth, where humanitarian cover is used to infiltrate a politically and security-targeted area. Instead of aid being a means of alleviating suffering, it could become a tool for surveillance, perhaps espionage, or even a tool for reshaping the maps of influence within Gaza to align with Israeli and American interests.
In light of these facts, it is imperative for the international community, especially neutral humanitarian organizations, to demand a transparent investigation into the management of this aid, and for honest and trustworthy entities to oversee its delivery to needy Palestinians, free from any political calculations or hidden security agendas. Furthermore, the international community's questions should not be limited to whether aid is arriving, but rather to how it is arriving, to whom, and under what conditions. Because what is happening today may shape Gaza for decades to come, under the rubric of "aid in exchange for submission."
Ultimately, humanitarian aid remains a noble endeavor that should not be used as a bargaining chip or a means of infiltration. If it is proven that a "Trojan horse" has entered Gaza under the guise of aid, it would be a moral and legal setback for all those behind this deception, at the expense of the blood and suffering of innocents.

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

The aid appears to be a means of imposing a new demographic map on the Gaza Strip, under a fragile international cover and with the indirect blessing of Washington, which is funding this operation under the guise of "relief."

Hamada Faraana
The interests of the US President conflict with those of the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding stopping the aggression and war and achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The American president, like previous American presidents, provided the colony with everything it needed to remain militarily and security-wise superior to the Arab countries, especially after the painful blows that were directed at each of: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Syrian army. There is no longer any party capable of directing painful blows to the capabilities of the colony, except for Iran, which is conducting negotiations with the Americans to prevent a clash with the Israelis. Therefore, the American president is demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for several reasons:
First, because Netanyahu is seen as having failed to release prisoners without a prisoner exchange, and as having failed to end and eliminate the Palestinian resistance.
Secondly, he has an interest in reaching settlements for wars, clashes, or hot clashes, as he did in Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, the India-Pakistan talks, and his envoys with Hamas.
Third, the embarrassment caused by Netanyahu's immoral, inhumane, and illegal war, which has led to growing European and American protests against the colony and a growing and expanding solidarity movement with the Palestinians.
Hamas has an interest in a ceasefire to protect its remaining capabilities and leadership following the series of assassinations and attacks directed against it. It also has an interest in remaining a partner in the political arena through negotiations with the Americans and reaching an agreement with them.
Therefore, Washington, like Hamas, has a mutual interest in reaching a ceasefire agreement. It is a win-win for both sides, unlike Netanyahu and his coalition team's interest in not having a ceasefire, and their interest in continuing their war against the Palestinians. A ceasefire would raise their level of failure to the point of defeat in their battle against the Palestinians, and Netanyahu would move towards making concessions, however procedural they may seem, in favor of the Palestinians.
Hamas agreed to release ten Israeli prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for the bodies of Israeli dead. This embarrassed Netanyahu and his team before the Americans, the families of the Israeli prisoners, and those who sympathized with them.
The military battle on the ground and in the field has not been decided in favor of either side in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Israelis have failed, but they have not yet been defeated. The Palestinians have held out, but they have not yet won. This has been reflected in the form, content, and complexity of the negotiations, due to the conflicting interests and visions between the two parties to the conflict, and the gap between them remaining without reaching a realistic and objective settlement that meets the interests of both parties, as long as neither side has achieved victory over and defeated its enemy.

Amin Al-Hajj
In the early hours of yesterday morning, Israeli occupation forces carried out a coordinated raid targeting dozens of money exchange and jewelry shops in the West Bank, confiscating millions of shekels and various financial assets under the pretext of "combating the financing of terrorism."
This incident cannot be considered an exception in the current context. Rather, it is an extension of a series of repeated interventions, which have previously included the closure of medical and development institutions in the heart of Ramallah and elsewhere. The frequency of these operations brings to the fore a profound question about the limits of the role exercised by the Palestinian Authority, and places us before a philosophical dilemma that goes beyond the procedural framework to the question of the state and its legitimacy in light of the exposure of its sovereignty.
In modern political thought, taxes represent one of the foundations of the social contract between the state and the citizen. The citizen pays them not because the state forces him, but because in return the state provides him with protection, infrastructure, justice, and equal opportunities. Thus, the tax system becomes a political, financial, and economic tool for achieving society's goals and objectives. Taxes have been linked to the sovereign authority of the state since ancient times, and have evolved with the development of the state from an authoritarian entity to a contractual entity. The individual pays taxes as a sign of solidarity with the state, and in return, the state is responsible for protecting him and ensuring a decent living for him. Thus, taxes become a collective financing process for the state for the public good. However, this principle assumes the existence of a sovereign state that controls its borders and protects the property of its citizens.
The Palestinian Authority, since its inception, has acted as a state, building administrative and tax institutions. However, this occurred within a political and economic context restricted by interim agreements, most notably the Oslo Accords and the Paris Economic Agreement. These agreements deprived the Authority of the elements of sovereignty and kept it hostage to a "higher" will that controls the levers of the Palestinian economy, and possesses the "right" to intervene in markets, control crossings, and control the tax funds themselves, known as "clearance funds." However, these funds are subject to the whims of the occupier, and are withheld or delayed accordingly. In this sense, the Palestinian citizen does not pay taxes to a state that owns its decisions, but rather to a restricted administrative system.
In the Palestinian case, the Palestinian Authority collects taxes, but it is unable to protect taxpayers. It does not control the crossings, nor can it prevent the occupation from storming cities and confiscating funds, nor can it prevent the destruction of citizens' property, whatever the pretext. This means that the Palestinian is fulfilling his role as a citizen, but the Palestinian Authority is not fulfilling its role as a state!
Today's events reveal the security aspect of this problem. Companies that pay their taxes in full, or operate under official licenses from the relevant ministries, have found no one to deter the occupation from raiding them and confiscating their assets and funds. Meanwhile, the security services, whose budgets are largely based on local taxes, have stood helpless, even absent, from protecting those supposedly under their control.
Hence, the discussion of taxes becomes a discussion of sovereignty. Either there is a state that protects and serves its citizens, and the tax becomes part of a collective responsibility to build a shared future, or the tax becomes a burden that citizens forcefully pay to an institution that has no power to defend or protect them.
This is not a call for chaos or tax evasion, but it is legitimate to raise fundamental questions about the relationship between citizens and government, between taxation and protection, and between duties and rights.
What we need is not just reform, but a profound review: Are we building an actual state, or merely a functional civil administration under occupation? Can financial obligations continue to be imposed on citizens without providing a minimum level of protection and sovereignty?
When taxes transform from a tool of empowerment into a tool of submission, supposed sovereignty becomes a mere slogan, robbing citizens of their confidence in their institutions, and perhaps even in the very idea of the state. What happened today and before was not just a military operation and piracy, but a political, economic, and security warning that places us before a major and straightforward question: Do we still have a genuine national project worth funding, or has the time come to redefine the relationship between citizen and nation, between power and people, between money and dignity?

The conflict between Harvard University and the administration of US President Donald Trump reached a climax on Tuesday, in a battle that Trump launched on April 11. The White House decided to deprive the oldest university in the United States, founded 140 years before the founding of the United States, of its funding. This decision came after Harvard rejected the administration's demands to control the university's policies, staff, and curriculum, particularly the prosecution of students who participated in protests supporting the Palestinian cause.

President Donald Trump stated on May 25 that he wanted to know the "names and countries of origin" of international students enrolled at the university to determine "how many extremists and troublemakers should not be allowed to return to our country." He also said he was considering terminating the remaining federal grants and contracts with the university.

It's worth noting that the Trump administration has targeted several prestigious universities, including Harvard, ostensibly for their handling of student protests related to the Gaza war and their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DRI) initiatives.

The Trump administration announced last April that it had decided to bar Harvard University from receiving $2.2 billion in annual grants and a $60 million multi-year contract, citing its refusal to comply with administration demands regarding the institution's prosecution of students who protested Israel's war of extermination in Gaza.

Harvard University President Alan Garber stated that the university will not comply with a series of directives that align with the administration's political agenda for higher education and that jeopardize the institution's independence.

"The administration's decision exceeds the authority of the federal government," Garber said in a previous letter to students and alumni. "It violates Harvard's First Amendment rights and exceeds the legal limits of government power under Title VI of the Civil Liberties Act of 1964." He added, "No American government—regardless of party—should dictate to private universities what they can teach, who they can admit and hire, and what fields of study and research they can pursue."

In response, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the government's decision to freeze funding to the university. Garber argued at the time that by freezing the funds, the Trump administration had "jeopardized" research that included efforts to improve children's cancer survival, understand how cancer spreads through the body at the molecular level, predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and alleviate the pain of wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

For its part, the Department of Education detailed its expectations of Harvard University in obtaining federal funding in a letter to Garber on April 11. The list included reducing the powers of students and faculty members who do not comply with the changes recommended by the administration; hiring an external entity to audit the university for "viewpoint diversity" and submitting the report to the federal government; adopting merit-based hiring and admissions policies; reporting any foreign student who commits a conduct violation to the Department of Homeland Security; and discontinuing any diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The administration then claimed that, due to concerns about anti-Semitic harassment, the administration had also requested that the university hire someone from outside the university—with government approval—to overhaul the Divinity School, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, the Program in Religion and Public Life, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Carr Center for Human Rights, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic.

Garber said the government's demands were not so much about preventing anti-Semitism as about "government regulation of intellectual conditions at Harvard."

"These goals will not be achieved by claims of authority, separate from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and dictate how we operate," Garber added. "Addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is our responsibility as an academic community; we define it and we commit to it."

Last month, Columbia University caved to administration demands to reform its policies related to security and protests, as well as to review its Middle East Studies department and prosecute pro-Palestinian activists, after threatening to withhold $400 million in federal funding. Several other universities across the United States are currently facing federal investigations that could lead to similar demands for changes to academic, social, or cultural policies.

The Trump administration announced last March that it was reviewing Harvard University's $9 billion in federal funding. The grants support research at the university and its 11 affiliated hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Children's Hospital. Research at the university has directly led to the development of life-saving vaccines, treatments, policies, and programs for millions of people in the United States and around the world.

According to its website, "Harvard University is home to the world's most cutting-edge medical, scientific, and technological research." Without federal funding, this work would grind to a halt, and researchers would lack the resources to complete ongoing projects or fund new ones in the many fields Harvard supports, including cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, obesity and diabetes, infectious diseases, and transplantation.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had revoked Harvard University's accreditation under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, stripping the university of its authority to sponsor international student visas for the 2025-2026 academic year. The university almost immediately filed a lawsuit to challenge the move.

“This revocation continues a series of retaliatory government actions against Harvard University for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and submit to the unlawful control of our curriculum, faculty, and students by the federal government,” Garber said in his letter to Harvard students, staff, and faculty. “We condemn this unlawful and unjustified action.” Just hours after Harvard filed its lawsuit, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to bar Harvard from enrolling international students.

Abdullah Abu Rahma: Settlers are working according to a strategy supported by the occupation army to make life impossible for Palestinians.
Dr. Khalil Al-Tafakji: The attacks are being carried out with official support, with the aim of emptying the lands of their original inhabitants to facilitate their annexation and the expansion of settlements.
Abdul Hadi Hantash: The primary goal of settler attacks is to annex the West Bank, impose Israeli law on it, and expel Palestinians.
Dr. Amjad Bashkar: The coming period may witness catastrophic scenarios, including mass displacement from villages to cities, with the possibility of escalating violence.
Nizar Nazzal: Settler attacks are part of a deliberate political project aimed at annexing Palestinian lands and liquidating the Palestinian cause.
Samer Anabtawi: The coming period will witness a further escalation in settler attacks, with continued political and security support for them aimed at displacing Palestinians.


The West Bank is witnessing a dangerous escalation in Israeli settler attacks on villages, Bedouin communities, and agricultural lands. This is part of carefully considered settlement plans aimed at displacing Palestinians and imposing full Israeli sovereignty over the region. This is in accordance with the "decisive plan" proposed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to resolve the conflict and annex the West Bank.
In separate interviews with Al-Quds, officials, settlement experts, writers, analysts, and university professors confirmed that these settler attacks, carried out with direct support from the Israeli army and government, aim to make life impossible for Palestinians by confiscating land, demolishing homes, destroying crops, and establishing new settlement outposts.
They point out that these settlement attacks are being carried out with unlimited funding and legislation enacted in the Knesset to legalize settlement outposts, with the aim of changing the demographic reality and emptying the lands of their indigenous inhabitants, in a context also linked to the ongoing crime in the Gaza Strip.
They warn that these policies are part of a broader Israeli project to permanently annex the West Bank, exploiting the international community's silence and preoccupation with other issues.
They believe that in the absence of effective accountability or international sanctions, Palestinians face existential challenges, with expectations of escalating settler violence and mass displacement to major cities or outside the Palestinian territories.

Well-studied settlement plans

Abdullah Abu Rahma, director of the Popular Action Department at the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, says there has been a dangerous escalation in the frequency of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian lands in the West Bank. He asserts that these attacks are part of deliberate settlement plans agreed upon within the Israeli government coalition over the past two years.
Abu Rahma asserts that these attacks, which target villages, Bedouin communities, and agricultural lands, aim to displace Palestinians and impose full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, with unlimited financial, legal, and security support from the Israeli government and military.
Abu Rahma points out that statistics collected by the commission reveal a significant increase in attacks by settlers, the most recent of which were in the areas of Burqin, Kafr ad-Dik, and the Maghayer ad-Deir Bedouin community east of Ramallah, among approximately 30 Bedouin communities that were displaced after October 7, 2023.
Abu Rahma denies that these attacks are a response to resistance operations, as Israel claims, explaining that the attacks are occurring at the same pace in areas of the southern West Bank that have not witnessed resistance operations, confirming the existence of a systematic plan to expand settlements and seize control of land.


A full partnership between the army and the settlers
Abu Rahma asserts that these operations are carried out with direct support from the occupation army, which provides protection to the settlers and sometimes participates in the attacks. Furthermore, there is no accountability or legal prosecution of the attacking settlers.
Abu Rahma explains that the settlers, with the support of the Israeli occupation army, are working according to a strategy aimed at making life impossible for Palestinians by confiscating land, demolishing homes, bulldozing and burning crops, and establishing new settlement outposts around and even within villages.
Abu Rahma points out that these outposts, such as those recently established on the outskirts of Bruqin and between Ein Arik and Beitunia, are aimed at encroaching on the mountain range in the western West Bank, not just the eastern areas as was the case previously.
Abu Rahma asserts that settlers exploit any piece of land, even if it is a ruin declared "state land," to establish settlement outposts, preventing Palestinians from accessing their private lands nearby by imposing forbidden borders and building roads to secure these outposts.
Abu Rahma warns that these attacks are part of a comprehensive plan aimed at imposing Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territories, supported by laws being rapidly passed in the Israeli Knesset, along with unlimited funding for settlement blocs and the legalization of illegal outposts.
Abu Rahma points out that these policies are part of a tactical context linked to the ongoing crimes in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is carrying out genocidal operations, while strategically focusing on controlling the West Bank.
Abu Rahma attributes the international community's silence to its preoccupation with internal issues, such as trade tensions and the war in Ukraine, in addition to its focus on the tragic events in Gaza.

The next situation will be more difficult.

Abu Rahma asserts that Israel is exploiting this preoccupation to intensify its violations without accountability, noting that the condemnations and denunciations from countries such as Britain, France, Canada, and the European Union do not rise to the level of practical steps, such as imposing effective sanctions or full recognition of a Palestinian state.
Abu Rahma believes the coming situation will be even more difficult, as Palestinians, a defenseless civilian population, face enormous challenges amid a fragile internal situation.
Abu Rahma points out that Palestinians who attempt to defend themselves face arrest, injury, or fines, further complicating the confrontation.
However, Abu Rahma affirms that popular resistance will continue, expressing optimism that popular efforts and pressure on the international community will contribute to thwarting these plans.
Abu Rahma asserts that Palestinians will confront these challenges with determination, considering the current situation an existential battle between "to be or not to be." He asserts that Palestinians "will be" and will confront these plans with all their strength, both popularly and officially, through engagement with the international community.

A clear Israeli program of ethnic cleansing

For his part, settlement affairs expert Dr. Khalil al-Tafakji says there has been a dangerous escalation in Israeli settler attacks on villages and Bedouin communities in the West Bank, describing them as part of a clear Israeli program of ethnic cleansing.
Al-Tafkaji explains that these attacks are carried out with direct official support from the Israeli government and army, with the aim of emptying Palestinian lands of their indigenous inhabitants to facilitate annexation and settlement expansion.
Al-Tafkji points out that the settlers are used as an implementation tool for the Israeli government's policies, as they enjoy significant material, moral, and military support.
Al-Tafkaji asserts that these attacks are not new, but rather the result of the presence of ideological settlers who believe that the Palestinian territories are "occupied" by Palestinians and that they are working to "liberate" them, pointing to the events in villages such as Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik as examples of this systematic program.
Al-Tafkaji explains that the "Hebrew shepherd" phenomenon is one of the main tools in this battle, as settlers are leading the displacement of Bedouins and Palestinian communities, particularly in the Jordan Valley, with the goal of emptying the areas of their inhabitants, turning them into "empty lands" that facilitate the annexation process.

Planning and engineering teams for settlement expansion

Al-Tafakji asserts that these operations are being carried out in accordance with carefully considered Israeli plans, as planning and engineering teams have been allocated to expand the settlements, including the establishment of industrial zones such as the industrial zone near the Beit Sira checkpoint west of Ramallah, another industrial zone on the lands of Aboud, Al-Lubban Al-Gharbiya, and Rantis, as well as the expansion of an industrial zone in the Ariel settlement.
Al-Tafkaji asserts that current circumstances, including Arab silence and official European and American participation in marginalizing the Palestinian cause, provide a favorable environment for the implementation of these plans.
Al-Tafakji points out that talk of settling more than one million Israeli settlers in the West Bank is not new, but rather part of previous plans that are now being systematically implemented.
Al-Tafkaji warns of possible scenarios, which include either the displacement of Palestinians to major cities within the West Bank or outside it, with the aim of emptying rural and Bedouin areas of their inhabitants.
Al-Tafkaji asserts that the current battle falls on the shoulders of the Palestinians themselves in confronting this internationally supported settlement project.
According to Tafakji, this escalation is part of a long-term Israeli policy aimed at changing the demographic reality in the West Bank, raising concerns about a worsening humanitarian and political situation in the region.

Generous budgets for settlement organizations

For his part, Abdul Hadi Hantash, an expert on land and settlement affairs, emphasized the organized and supported nature of Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank, denying that their actions are random or capricious.
Hantash points out that the occupation government has begun allocating generous budgets to these terrorist settler organizations, which encourages them to increase their terrorist activities against Palestinians.
Hantash explains that the settlers are members of terrorist organizations that train in various forms of violence, considering it part of their ideology and daily life.
Hantash points out that there is close cooperation between settlers in the northern and southern West Bank, where many settlement outposts are established through coordination and joint contracts.
Hantash asserts that the Israeli occupation government is closely linked to the programs of these terrorist organizations, providing them with financial support and security protection, in addition to direct coordination between the political and security levels and the Yesha Council of Settlements.

The Hill Youth follow in the footsteps of Irgun and Stern

Hantash likens these operations to those carried out by Zionist terrorist organizations such as the Irgun and Stern Gang in 1947 and 1948, explaining that the only difference lies in the change in the names of these organizations, which are now known by names such as the "Hilltop Youth" and "Price Tag."
Hantash points out that the primary goal of these operations and attacks carried out by settlers is to seize as much Palestinian land as possible, as a prelude to annexing the West Bank and imposing Israeli law there, while expelling Palestinian residents from their areas.
Regarding the international community's inaction, Hantash explains that Israel has successfully marketed its narrative as a "state besieged by enemies," which gives it the right to defend itself. It has also exploited the "Semitic suffering" narrative to silence any international criticism, as world leaders fear possible accusations of anti-Semitism.
Hantash asserts that this propaganda has given Israel significant leverage, enabling it to control international reactions, allowing its violations to continue without accountability.
Hantash warns of an escalation in these terrorist operations aimed at changing the demographic landscape in the West Bank, emphasizing that the absence of a decisive international response exacerbates the situation and strengthens Israel's ability to implement its settlement and displacement plans.


An organized and intensive program to displace Palestinians

For his part, political science professor Dr. Amjad Bashkar warns of a dangerous escalation in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages in the West Bank, as part of an organized and intensive program aimed at displacing Palestinians and expanding settlements at an accelerated pace.
Bashkar asserts that these attacks, which are organized and officially supported, are part of a clear Israeli plan to change the demographic reality in the region.
Bashkar explains that religious Zionism urges its supporters to launch attacks targeting Palestinian villages adjacent to cities, with the aim of forcing residents to flee to larger cities or outside the Palestinian territories.
Bashkar points out that this policy is being implemented with direct support from the Israeli government, led by the extreme right. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar justifies these attacks by claiming that Palestinians are the ones attacking settlers, calling for an escalation of these operations.
Bashkar asserts that the Israeli right, preparing for the October 2026 elections, is betting on escalating attacks against Palestinians to win voter support, relying on an extremist ideology that views the loss of Palestinian lives as "a means to ascend to heaven."
Bashkar points out that this policy is based on the Bezalel Smotrich plan, which was developed in 2017, and which focuses on settlement expansion as a strategic priority.

International community complicity

Bashkar warns against the international community's complicity, which has been limited to timid statements without taking any real action to deter the occupation or implement international law. He points out that this silence only strengthens Israel's ability to implement its plans without accountability.
Bashkar predicts that the coming period will witness catastrophic scenarios, including a mass exodus of Palestinians from villages to major cities, with the potential for an escalation of settler violence, such as the burning of homes and property, as has happened previously, but on a larger and more horrific scale.
Bashkar points out that the ultimate goal of this policy is to displace Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan, and from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and other countries, a goal promoted by Israeli leaders, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the most junior government official.
Bashkar asserts that these policies aim to empty the Palestinian territories of their indigenous population, warning that the situation could deteriorate to unprecedented levels of violence and displacement in the absence of a decisive international response.


Settler attacks are not random.

Nizar Nazzal, a researcher specializing in Israeli affairs and conflict issues, asserts that the increasing attacks carried out by settlers in the West Bank are not random, but rather part of a deliberate political project aimed at annexing Palestinian territories and eliminating the Palestinian cause once and for all.
Nazzal explains that these attacks, which are noticeably escalating, are being carried out under the supervision and support of Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is considered the de facto ruler of the West Bank, in cooperation with settler militias spread across the West Bank.
Nazzal points out that these militias operate according to a systematic plan aimed at changing the demographic reality in Area C, which constitutes 63% of the West Bank.
Nazzal explains that the number of settlers in these areas is approximately 600,000, while the number of Palestinians does not exceed 160,000 to 200,000, meaning that settlers have become the demographic majority in these areas.
Nazzal asserts that this demographic change is part of an Israeli strategy aimed at imposing full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Killing the two-state solution and dismantling the political process

Nazzal explains that Area C, according to the Oslo Accords, is under full Israeli administrative and security control, while Area B is administratively under the Palestinian Authority and security under Israel, and Area A is administratively and security-wise under the Palestinian Authority. However, the reality today reveals a radical change, as Area B is effectively under Israeli security control, and Area A is subject to increasing Israeli security interventions, reflecting Israel's efforts to impose its full control over all areas of the West Bank.
Nazzal asserts that Israel prepared the legal groundwork for its project to impose control over the West Bank nearly two years ago by repealing the unilateral disengagement law of 2005.
Nazzal points out that these attacks are part of a broader political project aimed at completely annexing the West Bank, supported by prominent figures in the Israeli government such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who play an active role in strengthening settler influence within the state.
Nazzal explains that the project's main objectives include killing the two-state solution, dismantling the Palestinian political process, and ending the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent political entity.

Declaration of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank

Nazzal warns of a possible scenario in which Israel waits for the passage of certain legislation in the Knesset to present it to the US administration, as a prelude to declaring Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
Nazzal points to plans to build more than 45,000 housing units in the northern West Bank, particularly in Jenin, with the aim of attracting more settlers.
Nazzal explains that the current number of settlers is approximately 900,000, distributed across 256 settlements, with plans to bring in more than 1.2 million additional settlers. This will result in a population of approximately 2 million settlers compared to 3.2 million Palestinians, reinforcing the imposition of a fait accompli that paves the way for the annexation of Area C and the application of Israeli law to the West Bank in general.
Nazzal asserts that this project has the support of the United States, which puts the Palestinian cause at risk of liquidation.
Nazzal points out that Israel is now moving from managing the conflict to resolving it once and for all without transforming it into a political settlement. He warns that these moves threaten to dismantle the Palestinian National Authority and end any hope of establishing a Palestinian state.
Nazzal asserts that the international community's suspicious silence and disregard for Israeli militia violations are exacerbating the situation, posing unprecedented existential challenges to Palestinians.

Displacement of Palestinians and seizure of their lands

For his part, writer and political analyst Samer Anabtawi warns of an expected and organized escalation in Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank, describing them as part of a clear Zionist plan aimed at ending Palestinian life in many areas.
Anbatawi explains that these attacks, which have increased significantly in frequency, aim to displace Palestinians and seize their lands for settlement expansion.
Anbatawi points out that settlers operate within organized groups, supported by the Israeli military, targeting villages that witness or are located near any resistance activity, with the aim of forcing their residents to pay the "price" for resistance through attacks and the destruction of crops.
Anbatawi asserts that these operations aim to force Palestinians to migrate to major cities or outside the Palestinian territories, facilitating the control of land and the replacement of the indigenous population with settlers.

The settler army receives funding, arms and training.

Anbatawi explains that the "settler army" has long received funding, weapons, training, and ideological support, in coordination with Israeli political and security officials.
Anbatawi points out that this support aims to transform the Palestinian issue into a conflict between "citizens" and settlers, as part of a strategy that makes life impossible for Palestinians by targeting villages, Bedouins, and agricultural crops.
Anbatawi warns that the settler attacks are part of the Zionist project of destruction, which seeks to annihilate the Gaza Strip and seize lands in the West Bank.
Anbatawi expects that the coming period will witness a further escalation of these operations, with continued political and security support for the settlers, with the goal of displacing Palestinians and imposing complete control over the land.

300 French writers called for sanctions against the occupying state of Israel and an end to its aggression for committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

In an article published, writers including two Nobel Prize laureates, Annie Ernaux and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, denounced the "genocide" against the people of Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.

The authors said in their article: "It was necessary to describe crimes against civilians wherever they occurred as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today, what is happening in Gaza must be called genocide."

They stressed the need to impose sanctions on Israel, while reiterating the demand for an immediate ceasefire that guarantees justice and security for Palestinians, and an immediate end to this "genocide."

The list of signatories included several Goncourt Prize-winning writers, including Hervé Le Tellier, Jérôme Ferrari, Laurent Gaudet, Brigitte Giro, Leïla Slimani, Leilidy Salvér, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Nicolas Mathieu, and Eric Voillard.

Today, Wednesday, settlers stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.

Local sources reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in groups, conducted provocative tours of its courtyards, and performed Talmudic rituals under the protection of occupation forces.

They added that the occupation police have transformed the Old City of occupied Jerusalem into a military barracks, deploying hundreds of police officers at close quarters, particularly at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. They have also tightened their military measures at the gates of the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers.

Israeli occupation forces arrested two citizens on Wednesday, while settlers burned vehicles and spray-painted racist slogans in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

In Ramallah, settlers infiltrated the village of Rammun at dawn, burning several vehicles and spray-painting racist slogans on residents' homes.

Yesterday, settlers attacked the homes of citizens in Qaryut, south of Nablus, and burned and destroyed seven vehicles. They also burned agricultural crops in the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.

During April, settlers carried out 231 acts of vandalism and theft of citizens' property, affecting vast areas of land. Settler attacks also resulted in the uprooting of 1,168 olive trees, distributed across the governorates of Ramallah (530 trees), Nablus (300 trees), and Salfit (298 trees).

Meanwhile, the occupation army arrested the young man Qais Muhammad Najeh Abu Qara’ (23) years old, and the two children: Abdul Rahman Iyad Hanoun (15) years old, and Muhammad Awad Ladadwa (15) years old, after storming their homes and tampering with their contents in the village of Al-Mazra’a Al-Gharbiya.

In Tulkarm, the occupation forces arrested Hazem Fathi Qarawi (38 years old), a resident of Nour Shams camp and one of the displaced persons to Anabta, noting that he is a former detainee.

In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli special forces assaulted young man Mohammed al-Khatib at his home in the Shuafat refugee camp, in front of his family and children, leaving him with injuries and bruises.

The Ministry of Health announced this morning, Wednesday, the death of the young man, Jassem Ibrahim Al-Saddah (20 years old), by the occupation forces’ bullets in the town of Jit, Qalqilya district.

Family sources told local sources that occupation forces stormed the village at dawn and raided a number of homes, including the home of the martyr Al-Saddah's family.

She added that the occupation soldiers broke down the door of  Al-Sadah's house and opened fire on him inside, hitting him with several bullets and leaving him bleeding on the ground.

Family sources indicated that the occupation forces detained the body of the martyr Al-Saddah before later handing it over to Palestinian Red Crescent crews at the entrance to the village, who transferred it to Darwish Nazzal Governmental Hospital in Qalqilya.

These sources indicated that the victim Al-Saddah was his parents' youngest son, and that he worked as a vendor at a small stall in the village.

The Israeli military has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip for more than 19 months, amid escalating massacres of defenseless civilians and the systematic use of starvation as a tool of war, resulting in thousands of casualties among women and children.

On the 72nd day of the resumption of the aggression, the Gaza Strip witnessed new bloody raids at dawn on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of at least 14 Palestinians in Jabalia and Deir al-Balah. This followed another bloody day in which approximately 30 people were killed as a result of continuous shelling of various areas.

According to medical sources, Israeli forces committed two new massacres in the northern and central Gaza Strip, killing 15 people since midnight.

In the Saftawi neighborhood in northern Gaza, eight members of the family of journalist Osama al-Arabid were killed. The journalist was carried injured from the rubble of his home, while several other members of his family were killed in the bombing.

In Deir al-Balah, five members of the Aqeelan family, including women and children, were killed when their home was targeted in a violent airstrike.

On the humanitarian front, the first attempts to distribute aid under the US-backed Israeli plan failed. The operation in Rafah descended into chaos and panic, accompanied by gunfire, resulting in deaths and injuries, and sparking a wave of criticism from UN organizations regarding the circumstances of the operation.

As the famine worsened and living conditions collapsed, the humanitarian and security situation in Rafah exploded. The attempt to distribute aid devolved into a scene of killing, chaos, and arrests, amid growing calls from the international community, particularly European parties, to halt the war and allow the safe and orderly entry of humanitarian aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Tuesday that there was a "temporary loss of control" during aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, after crowds of Palestinians rushed toward a newly established relief center as part of a US plan, according to Agence France-Presse.

Netanyahu said in a speech: "We developed a plan with our American friends for controlled distribution sites, where an American company will distribute food to Palestinian families... There was a temporary loss of control. We have regained control."

These statements came after the spread of videos and photos showing thousands of Palestinians scrambling for aid, scenes described by the UN Secretary-General's spokesperson as "painful."

Despite acknowledging the chaos, a senior Israeli military official confirmed to AFP that "the distribution of aid today by American agencies was successful," indicating that the operation was continuing despite the events that marred it.

The Israeli Walla news website reported on Tuesday, citing a US official, that the United States is concerned about a possible Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, while US President Donald Trump warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against obstructing nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

The website quoted an unnamed White House official as saying, "Trump made it clear to Netanyahu that he wants to reach a diplomatic solution with Iran and doesn't want anything to stand in his way."

The official added, "Trump and other officials have expressed concern that Netanyahu might order a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or take steps that would undermine diplomatic efforts."

The official continued, "Trump assured Netanyahu that the second option is still on the table, but he prefers first to see if a diplomatic solution can be reached."

He also confirmed that "Trump warned Netanyahu last week against taking steps that could harm the nuclear negotiations with Iran."

Axios, citing two unnamed Israeli sources, revealed that Tel Aviv is preparing to launch a swift strike on Iran's nuclear facilities if negotiations between the United States and Iran collapse.

The two sources said that Israeli intelligence had shifted its belief that a nuclear agreement was imminent to the belief that the talks were on the verge of collapse.

One of the sources indicated that the Israeli military believes the "window of opportunity" for a successful strike may soon close, so if negotiations fail, Israel will have to act quickly. The source declined to disclose why the military believes the strike's effectiveness would subsequently diminish.

The two sources confirmed a previous CNN report that the Israeli military was conducting training and preparations for a potential strike on Iran.

Israeli occupation forces claimed to have seized approximately 7 million shekels during extensive raids Tuesday morning in the West Bank.

According to the occupation's statement, 30 suspects were arrested during the operation, and various currencies and gold bullion, as well as electronic equipment and weapons, were seized.

The occupation authorities stated that the detainees and the seized items were transferred for investigation.

The occupation authorities estimated that "the value of the money seized since the beginning of the war has reached approximately 30 million shekels."

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the Israeli government's approval of the secret establishment of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as reported in Israeli media this evening, constitutes a dangerous escalation and a challenge to international legitimacy and international law. It is an Israeli attempt to continue dragging the region into a cycle of violence and instability.

Abu Rudeineh added that all settlement activity is illegal, stressing that this condemned and rejected decision explicitly violates all international legitimacy resolutions and international law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which deemed all settlement activity in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, illegal and illegitimate under international law.

He continued, "The extreme right-wing government must stop destabilizing the West Bank and the entire region by insisting on continuing its criminal aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and its settlement expansion and aggression in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."

Abu Rudeineh said: "We call on the US administration to intervene seriously and immediately to stop this Israeli tampering with the fate of the entire region before it's too late, and to compel it to abide by international law and cease its war on all Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, accused Israel of making "baseless allegations" of links between the agency and the Palestinian movement Hamas.

Lazzarini wrote on the social media platform X that these allegations "put the lives of UNRWA staff at grave risk and damaged the agency's reputation."

He said that despite requests to do so, the Israeli government "has not provided any sufficient evidence to support these extremely serious allegations against the agency and its staff."

Lazzarini called on Israel to halt its "baseless misinformation campaign against the agency" and resume cooperation with UNRWA, which has been suspended since last January.

In mid-2024, a UN spokesperson said the organization considered it highly likely that UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the UN terminated its cooperation with nine employees due to these allegations.

Israel has long accused the relief agency of being infiltrated by Hamas.

According to an Israeli government spokesperson, hostages were hidden in UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government also released a video purporting to show an UNRWA social worker carrying the body of an Israeli to a vehicle on October 7, 2023, for transport to the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government says details of approximately 100 UNRWA employees alleged to be members of Hamas have been passed to the United Nations.

The Israeli parliament imposed a ban on UNRWA operations in Israeli territory, which took effect at the end of last January.

Another law prohibits the Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA.

Independent experts investigated the Israeli allegations against 12 UNRWA employees on behalf of the relief agency. They said that while there are "robust" mechanisms in place to ensure neutrality, there is also room for improvement.

The 800th flight of the US airlift to supply Tel Aviv with weapons and ammunition since the start of the war on Gaza arrived in Israel on Tuesday, according to media reports citing the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Thus, Israel has received more than 90,000 tons of military equipment since the beginning of the war via 800 airlifts and approximately 140 sea shipments, according to Defense Ministry data.

This equipment includes ammunition, armored vehicles, personal protective equipment, medical equipment, and more.

The Times of Israel quoted the Defense Ministry as saying, "These shipments are a key component in ensuring the continuity of the IDF's operations, both to achieve its wartime objectives and to bolster readiness and stockpiles."

The United States is Israel's largest political and military supporter in its war of extermination against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Among the most prominent American bombs used by Israel in the war were the heavy Mark 84 bombs, weighing two thousand pounds (907 kilograms), which Palestinian and Western reports revealed that the Israeli army dropped on densely populated areas and civilian facilities, including hospitals.

Clashes erupted with Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday evening in the town of Birzeit, north of Ramallah.

According to local sources, an Israeli army force stormed Birzeit, sparking clashes. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Israeli forces also raided the Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah, without any reported arrests or raids.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stressed that aid reaching the Gaza Strip is severely insufficient, calling for the opening of more crossings.

During a press conference held Tuesday at the United Nations Office in Geneva, he indicated that UN activities in Gaza are ongoing and that there are staff working there.

He explained that the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip allows the entry of very small amounts of humanitarian aid.

The UN spokesman warned that recent reports from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Aid Fund could distract from urgent humanitarian priorities in Gaza.

He cited these priorities as ensuring sustainable access to aid, providing safe conditions, and expediting approvals for emergency supplies.

"We were not always able to access the aid that entered due to the unsafe routes designated by the Israeli authorities," Lerk said.

He stated that the aid currently entering Gaza is "very insufficient."

He continued, "We need to open more crossings. We need all kinds of aid, not just the aid that Israel selectively allows in."

Almost daily since May 21, Hebrew media outlets have been claiming that aid has entered the Gaza Strip, amid denials from the government office.

The Gaza Strip needs 500 trucks of urgent relief, medical, and food aid daily, as well as a minimum of 50 trucks of life-saving fuel amid the worsening famine, according to a previous statement from the government office.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving approximately 177,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, more than 11,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced.