US President Donald Trump said in a speech on Saturday evening about Gaza and Ukraine that the United States will not stop working until all detainees in Gaza are released, and he expected an agreement with Kiev on rare minerals and an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war to be imminent.

Trump told a gathering of conservatives in National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, that he did not like to talk about the Gaza issue because there were negotiations, but he stressed that America would not stop working until all the prisoners returned home.

For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Hamas would be "destroyed" if it did not release all remaining prisoners in Gaza, and he also condemned the killing of three members of an Israeli family who were being held in the Strip.

“Hamas’ treatment of captives, including their brutal murder of the Bibas family, further demonstrates their barbarity and is yet another reason why we say these terrorists must release all hostages immediately or they will be destroyed,” Rubio claimed via XN.

On Saturday evening, Trump's US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, whom Netanyahu had appointed to head the Israeli negotiating team, instead of Mossad chief Barnea and Shin Bet chief Bar, to discuss continuing negotiations on the second phase of the prisoner exchange deal. This was their second meeting in the past two days.

Neither President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio nor his Middle East envoy have commented on Israel’s reneging on its commitment to release 602 Palestinian prisoners who had boarded buses to be taken out of captivity and were then returned to captivity, despite this blatant violation of the agreement that the United States helped to draft.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced early Sunday that the release of Palestinian prisoners under the Gaza ceasefire agreement would be delayed until Hamas ends the "humiliating ceremony" it holds during the handover of Israeli hostages.

Netanyahu said in a statement that "it was decided to postpone the release of the terrorists that was planned for yesterday (Saturday) until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed, without humiliating ceremonies" and "until the next batch of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip is handed over."

Netanyahu also said, following a security meeting that began late Saturday night/Sunday, that the release of Palestinian prisoners had been delayed due to "repeated Hamas violations."

These statements came hours after the handover of the Israeli hostages on Saturday, while it was expected that Israel would release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners that it had agreed to release in exchange for its hostages.

"Once these consultations are over, a decision will be made on the next stages" of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

According to the first and seventh stage, the bodies of only 4 Israelis remain to be handed over within this stage, which includes a total of 33 prisoners, 25 of whom are alive and 8 dead.

The seventh batch of the Saturday deal was supposed to bring the total number of Palestinian prisoners released to 1,755, including dozens who had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 63 Israeli prisoners in Gaza (living and dead), and it detains thousands of Palestinians in its prisons and commits torture, starvation, and medical neglect against them, which has led to the deaths of many of them, according to Palestinian and Israeli media and human rights reports.

The Israeli occupation army continues its military aggression on the occupied West Bank, for the second month in a row, while the occupation forces continued their raids on towns and camps in the West Bank as part of their ongoing military operations, especially in the governorates of Tulkarm and Jenin.

As the military operation "Iron Wall" enters its 33rd day on Sunday in the city of Jenin and its camp, the Israeli occupation army intends to deploy tanks in the battles in the northern West Bank, for the first time since Operation "Defensive Shield" in 2002, according to what Israeli Channel 14 reported.

Channel 14 Israel quoted an unnamed informed Israeli security source as saying that the deployment of tanks in the northern West Bank aims to enhance military operations in the region, adding that the decision came "after pressure from the political leadership."

Regarding the date of the actual use of tanks, the security source explained that they "may enter the northern West Bank in the near future if necessary, as part of expanding the scope of military operations," without mentioning a specific time.

In Tulkarm, the Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression on the city of Tulkarm and its camp for the 28th consecutive day, and on the Nour Shams camp for the 15th day, amid military reinforcements, coinciding with raids on homes and turning them into military barracks.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces, in the late hours of last night, sent military reinforcements of heavy machinery and bulldozers to the city of Tulkarm from the direction of the "Nitzani Oz" military checkpoint west of the city, and headed towards Nablus Street opposite the northern entrance to Tulkarm camp.

She added that the occupation forces have intensified their military presence along Nablus Street, which connects the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, and around the buildings they are seizing, while imposing a tight siege on them.

The infantry soldiers were deployed in large numbers around Tulkarm camp and its inner neighborhoods, including the agency neighborhood towards the airport neighborhood. They raided the empty houses and destroyed their contents. They re-seized a number of them and turned them into military barracks and deployed snipers inside them, amidst the sounds of intense live ammunition being heard.

By the time the newspaper was sent to press, Israel had not released the seventh installment in the first phase of the deal, thus violating the terms of the agreement.

Although this violation is not the first, it is the most serious, as it approaches the start of the second phase negotiations with the end of the eighth batch next Thursday, when Hamas will hand over the remains of four Israeli detainees, after which the second phase will begin, which is supposed to end with the end of the war and the complete withdrawal from the Strip.

The beginning of the second stage means the disintegration of the fragile right-wing coalition, which is leaning on the straw of the promise that Netanyahu made to his partner Smotrich to return to war, and the refusal to enter the second stage, which is supposed to end the war with its end, which confuses the Israeli scene, especially with the escalation of protests by the families of the detainees, and their apprehension of Netanyahu’s response to the blackmail of his coalition partners, at the expense of the lives of their children, whose fate the “fox” does not care about.

The outcomes of the first phase determine the outcomes of the second phase. If Israel fails to fulfill its commitment to release the seventh batch of the first phase tonight (last night), this means that we are heading towards a scenario similar to the Camp David negotiations scenario in 2000, when Ehud Barak, who was Prime Minister, stipulated that Areas C and B be handed over to the Authority, as stipulated in the Oslo Accords, on reaching a comprehensive deal that would end the conflict, through negotiations that were hastily prepared at Camp David, and which ended with the invasion of the West Bank and Gaza and the assassination of Abu Ammar.

The coming hours will answer the burning questions.

Adnan Al-Husseini: Israel turned its back on international institutions, forgetting that it gained its legitimacy from these institutions.

Hatim Abdel Qader: Israeli violations against UNRWA are a blatant attempt to shed international responsibility for the refugee issue

Sami Mshasha: UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot to liquidate it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures

Ratiba al-Natsheh: The right-wing government has launched an open war on the fundamental and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue.

Ziad Al-Hamouri: There is an intensive campaign to try to end the refugee issue.. and "UNRWA" is the main symbol of Palestinian refugees

Fadel Tahboub: The Authority is required to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality

Three weeks after the Israeli occupation authorities’ decision to ban the work of the International Relief Agency (UNRWA) in areas under Israeli “sovereignty” came into effect, occupation police forces stormed a number of UNRWA schools in Jerusalem last Tuesday and ordered their closure. This measure affected 250 children in 3 schools in the city, and 350 students in the Qalandia Training Center.

“Israeli forces and Jerusalem Municipality staff stormed UNRWA’s Qalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on the X platform, describing the incident as a denial of the right of children and youth in East Jerusalem to education in UNRWA schools.

Lazzarini considered what happened to be a "violation of the fundamental right to education, as well as a violation of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations," stressing the need to preserve the right of children to access education, and to protect and respect United Nations facilities at all times and in all places.

Politicians, writers and analysts who spoke to “I” considered that the right-wing government in Israel has embarked on an open war on all the essential and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue, and that these Israeli violations against “UNRWA” are a blatant attempt to drop international responsibility for the refugee issue.

One analyst pointed out that UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot to liquidate it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures, while another called on the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality.

Dire consequences of the occupation's decision to close UNRWA

Engineer Adnan Al-Husseini, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and head of the Jerusalem Department, said that the Israeli occupation authorities are defying the world and ignoring all international laws and conventions.

He added: "At a time when Israel has turned its back on international institutions, it has forgotten that it gained its legitimacy from these institutions."

Al-Husseini explained that the unjust Israeli decision to close the offices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories comes in the context of the aggressive war waged by the occupying state against the Arab Palestinian people, and the quest to pass suspicious plans to eliminate them and liquidate their just cause, at the forefront of which is the refugee issue.

Al-Husseini warned of the dire consequences of the decision of the occupying state, which he considered an insult and contempt for the international community, its institutions and decisions, and the disasters expected to occur as a result of obstructing and stopping the efforts and services provided by UNRWA, especially humanitarian aid, in light of what the Israeli machine of destruction leaves behind in its aggression on the occupied Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Al-Husseini called on the international community to assume its responsibilities, deal with the occupying state as a racist state outside the law, work to strip it of its international legitimacy, and provide full support to UNRWA, in order to ensure the continuation of its services.

A flagrant violation of international law

For his part, Hatem Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Authority for the Support of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, and member of the Revolutionary Council of the Fatah Movement, condemned the Israeli occupation’s targeting of UNRWA schools and institutions in the city of Jerusalem as part of the incitement campaign launched by Israeli officials against UNRWA.

Abdul Qader added: "These violations against the agency are a blatant attempt to drop international responsibility for the Palestinian refugee issue, which threatens to liquidate the right of return and compensation stipulated in international resolutions.

"These violations constitute a flagrant violation of international law and a direct threat to the rights of Palestinian refugees," Abdel Qader said.

Abdul Qader called on the United Nations and the international community to assume their responsibilities in protecting UNRWA and ensuring its continued provision of vital services to the Palestinian people.

Lack of a clear and effective action plan to confront the ban on UNRWA

Sami Mshasha, a follower of UNRWA affairs and its former official spokesman, believes that the absence of a clear and effective plan of action to confront the ban on UNRWA’s work in Jerusalem and its expulsion from it constitutes a direct threat to the fate of Palestinian refugees in the city.

Mshasha explained that this absence includes the lack of specific instructions for the families of students in UNRWA schools, and hundreds of students at the prestigious Qalandia Institute who received evacuation notices, in addition to the intimidation of students in schools and the absence of any plan to protect the agency’s employees, whose job security is now threatened.

Mshasha added: "There is also a lack of any vision about the fate of poor families classified as "cases of extreme hardship", as well as the follow-up of patients, especially the elderly and those with chronic diseases, stressing that these issues cannot be addressed through hollow statements and declarations about the steadfastness of "UNRWA."

Mish'sha' criticized the absence of any realistic plan by UNRWA and the United Nations to confront the campaign targeting the agency, pointing out that this shortcoming was clearly evident during the last war, when UNRWA evacuated its headquarters and left the displaced and its employees to their fate in northern Gaza.

He also referred to the intensive attack that targeted UNRWA for more than a year, with the aim of expelling it from Jerusalem and reducing its role in Gaza after the war, without the agency taking any serious steps to protect its workers or ensure their job security.

In a related context, Mshasha questioned the usefulness of the UN Commissioner-General’s attendance at the Munich Security Conference, considering that his presence at such events reflects a dangerous shift in the role of UNRWA, as if the Palestinian refugee is now viewed as a security threat.

He also criticized his attendance at the meetings of the "International Alliance for a Two-State Solution," noting that his statements there deviate from UNRWA's mandate and link the fate of refugees to a political solution that does not guarantee the right of return, but rather seeks to create a distorted Palestinian entity.

Statements by the UN Commissioner-General

Mshasha explained that the Commissioner-General stated during the Munich conference that “the long-term goal is to enable Palestinian institutions to assume the basic services provided by UNRWA,” wondering who gave him the right to speak on behalf of the refugees and the mandate to change the agency’s clear and explicit mandate.

He also condemned his statement during the Cairo meeting about "gradually ending UNRWA's mandate," stressing that these statements are in line with plans to end the agency and turn it into a political tool that serves projects to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

At the end of his speech, Mshasha stressed that UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot aimed at liquidating it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures, which makes it an indirect partner in implementing the policy of deportation and settlement.

He also pointed out the absence of a Palestinian national plan to confront this scheme, warning that the continuation of division and dispersion of positions will lead to the loss of Palestinian rights, most notably the right of return. He concluded his speech by calling for the development of a clear and specific plan of action that guarantees the protection of Palestinian refugees and the continuation of UNRWA's role in providing its services away from political calculations.

The only international witness to the refugee issue

In turn, political and community activist Ratiba Al-Natsheh said that UNRWA represents the only international witness to the issue of Palestinian refugees, and embodies dozens of international resolutions related to their rights.

She added: "It is no secret that the Palestinians' adherence to the refugee issue and their right to return to the lands from which they were displaced constituted an obsession for Israeli leaders, who considered it a national threat to the existence of their state, and even an implicit rejection by the Palestinians of the defeat of 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel."

She pointed out that the previous Israeli government, during Trump's first term, sought to issue a decision that would limit the right of return to the original refugees who were displaced from their cities and villages in 1948, without this right being passed on by inheritance to their children who were born outside Palestine.

She added: "This government also worked to dry up UNRWA's resources and restrict it with American assistance, through a committee appointed by the United Nations under American leadership, to investigate the records of employees and refugees registered as beneficiaries of the agency's services in the Palestinian territories, and to set new standards for neutrality and rejection of "terrorism."

Lifting UNRWA's diplomatic immunity

Al-Natsheh stressed that the current government led by Netanyahu, which called itself the “decisive government,” has launched an open war on all the essential and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue, fighting UNRWA, inciting against it, and drying up its resources.

Al-Natsheh considered that the majority vote in the Israeli Knesset to declare UNRWA an undesirable institution, lift its diplomatic immunity, and demand that it end its services before the end of January 2025, is a translation of the Israeli desire to end the refugee issue as one of the decisive factors to end the Palestinian issue and any international evidence of it. It also represents a clear challenge to international law and the United Nations institutions, which Israel has not respected any of its previous decisions.

“The decision of the Prime Minister of the occupation government, in the last cabinet meeting a few days ago, to implement the decision related to banning UNRWA “decisively and without hesitation or delay,” is further evidence that ending the refugee issue and declaring war on this international institution constitutes a top priority, no less important than imposing control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is also a clear indication that Israel has received a green light from the White House to move forward on the issues of resolving the conflict in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue at all levels,” she added.

Storming UNRWA educational institutions

Al-Natsheh pointed out that the educational institutions affiliated with UNRWA were stormed, their employees were interrogated, and orders were given to evacuate them, in implementation of the Prime Minister’s decision, starting with the education sector, as it is one of the arms of the war that the occupation municipality has been waging for many years in an attempt to completely control education in Jerusalem.

She added: This was followed by statements by the Israeli Minister of Health regarding ending cooperation in the health field with UNRWA and stopping its health services, which was translated in the field by removing the sign from the Indian Corner Clinic in the Old City, in preparation for ending its services or incorporating it into the Israeli health system.

She stressed that the threat to seize UNRWA properties in Jerusalem existed even before the Knesset voted to ban UNRWA. She said that the Israeli authorities informed UNRWA schools in the Shuafat camp of their intention to seize their buildings, and had previously taken their measurements. They also issued a decision to evacuate UNRWA headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, on the pretext that it was built on land belonging to the Israel Land Authority, and planned to build 1,440 settlement units on it, in addition to imposing heavy taxes on the organization in an attempt to dry up its financial resources.

Al-Natsheh concluded by saying: “Despite the Israeli plans and the weak international and UN response so far to these violations and the blatant challenge to international law, the will of the Palestinian people, and more than 150,000 Jerusalemites who benefit from the agency’s educational and health services, still constitutes an obstacle to achieving the plan to end UNRWA’s services, and also provides a window of time for international action to save the refugee issue.”

The occupation is moving towards closing most of the agency's institutions

For his part, the Director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, Ziad Hamouri, said that the occupation authorities continue their escalation against the institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as part of a plan targeting the issue of Palestinian refugees.

He said: "What happened a few days ago in Jerusalem is that a delegation from the Israeli Ministry of Education visited the schools in an attempt to find out the numbers of male and female students, but some directors refused to cooperate with them, while others referred them to the agency's general administration."

He confirmed that one of the school principals decided, in order to ensure the safety of the students, to allow them to leave, without this being an official closure decision. As for the issue of schools in general, it has been postponed until the summer, and no steps will be taken before the end of the school year.

Al-Hamouri pointed out that the occupation is moving towards closing most of the agency’s institutions, as its forces stormed the agency’s clinic in Bab al-Zahra and changed its name as part of a policy aimed at obliterating the Palestinian identity in the city.

Attacks on refugee camps in the West Bank

In a related context, Al-Hamouri stressed that the attacks on refugee camps in the West Bank, such as Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarm, come within a comprehensive plan aimed at liquidating the refugee issue and undermining the existence of UNRWA.

He explained that the occupation has already displaced 90% of the residents of Tulkarm camp, and 70% of the residents of Jenin camp, without any solutions on the horizon to house them.

He stressed that there is an intensive campaign to try to end the refugee issue, and the agency is the main symbol of Palestinian refugees.

Therefore, these steps represent an attempt to eliminate this symbol, reflecting a systematic policy that has no limits.

Al-Hamouri added: "The current occupation government is pursuing racist and extremist policies targeting education, health, and vital facilities, in the absence of an effective Arab or Palestinian plan to confront these plans."

Al-Hamouri warned that these Israeli measures represent a real danger to the future of Palestinian refugees, calling for urgent action to stop the Israeli escalation and protect UNRWA institutions, which are a symbol of the Palestinian refugee issue.

Attack on UNRWA is targeting the United Nations

In turn, political analyst Fadel Tahboub said that the Israeli attacks on the institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) do not only target the Palestinians, but also represent an attack on the United Nations, considering that UNRWA is an international institution.

Tahboub pointed out that Israel is acting as if it is above the law, exploiting American support, which reflects an American-Israeli attempt to impose complete control over the West Bank.

He explained that UNRWA supervises about a third of school students in Jerusalem, and that ending its role would require the Palestinian National Authority or any Arab party to assume responsibility for managing these schools and bear their operating costs, including teachers’ salaries and students’ educational needs.

He added: "Leaving students without schools is unacceptable," stressing that the National Authority is required to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality.

Tahboub also pointed out that Israel is working to prevent funding for UNRWA and prevent its employees from performing their work, which is a clear challenge to the international position, as Israel seeks to systematically end the agency’s existence.

Tahboub concluded by stressing the need to assume national responsibility for managing the Agency’s schools and health institutions, to ensure the continuation of the basic services needed by the Palestinian people.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested, at dawn today, Sunday, seven citizens from Nablus Governorate.

Security and local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed several neighborhoods west of the city, searched a number of vehicles as they passed through Tunis Street, raided a house at the Zawata intersection to the west, searched it and tampered with its contents, and arrested the young man, Raed Sanobar.

The same sources added that the occupation forces stormed Hawash Street in the city, raided a house there and searched it, without any arrests being reported.

In the same context, the occupation forces arrested six citizens from the village of Deir al-Hatab, east of Nablus, namely: Rakez Kassab and his two sons Tamer and Nour, Muhannad Kassab and his son Mahab, and Baha Kassab.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday, "We have decided to suspend the release of Palestinian prisoners until we guarantee the release of the next kidnapped without provocative ceremonies."

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the agreement through several means, including provocative ceremonies and using the kidnapped soldiers for propaganda, according to its statement.

In turn, Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq strongly condemned the occupation's decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners, stressing that the occupation's claim that the prisoner handover ceremony is humiliating is a false claim and a flimsy pretext aimed at evading the agreement's obligations.

He said: "The prisoner handover ceremony does not include any insult to them, but rather reflects the noble humane treatment of them," noting that the real insult is what our prisoners are subjected to during the release process, from torture, beatings and deliberate humiliation until the last moments.

Al-Rashq called on mediators and the international community to pressure the occupation to implement the agreement and release the prisoners without delay.

In turn, the Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said last night that the Israeli occupation authorities had postponed the celebrations of the seventh batch of detainees until further notice.

The occupation authorities were scheduled to release the seventh batch of detainees yesterday, Saturday, as part of the ceasefire agreement.

The seventh batch includes 402 prisoners, including 50 detainees sentenced to life, 60 with long sentences, 47 prisoners who were re-arrested in the Shalit deal, and 445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip, who were arrested by the occupation forces during their aggression on the Strip after October 7, 2023.

Hundreds of citizens and relatives of the detainees had gathered since the morning hours of yesterday, in the very cold weather, in front of the Ramallah Cultural Palace and the Mahmoud Darwish Museum Square in the city of Ramallah, to receive the detainees.

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Araba, south of Jenin, on Saturday evening.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town, without any arrests being reported.

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces storm the towns and villages of Jenin Governorate on a daily basis, and launch a wide-scale arrest campaign since the beginning of their ongoing aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the 33rd consecutive day.

US President Donald Trump has criticised the handover of detainees in Gaza, describing it as "shameful", without giving specific details about the incident.

Trump noted that the six detainees who were handed over were "not in good shape," but added: "We have seen detainees in worse conditions."

Commenting on the general situation of the hostages in Gaza, Trump said: "What a terrible situation for the people being held there."

Palestinian media reported on Saturday that Israeli occupation forces lit up buildings surrounding Ofer prison, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, with the phrase "Our eyes are on you."

Earlier today, the head of the Higher Committee for Monitoring the Affairs of Palestinian Prisoners and Freed Prisoners, Amin Shoman, said that the Red Cross informed them that the Israeli occupation had postponed the release of the seventh batch of prisoners as part of the exchange deal until 8 pm Jerusalem time.

After the announcement of the postponement of the release, the families of the prisoners who were scheduled to be released left the Ramallah Cultural Palace, where they were supposed to be received.

Israel announced today, Saturday, the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal, including 445 from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023, 50 with life sentences, 60 with long sentences, and 47 prisoners from the "Wafa al-Ahrar" prisoners who were re-arrested.

The names of the Palestinian prisoners released today also include 3 journalists: Khader Abdel Aal, Baha El-Din Al-Ghoul, and Muhammad Qaoud Hamza Radwan.

The first phase of the three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which went into effect on January 19, included the release of prisoners who had been freed in 2011 under the Gilad Shalit deal, known as the “Wafa al-Ahrar deal,” before Israel re-arrested them after 2014.

Three years ago, no one could have imagined the possibility of a devastating war breaking out in Europe, recalling the history of its countries’ conflicts, which claimed millions of lives during two world wars and destroyed the infrastructure of most of its major cities. But the Ukrainian-Russian war reminded everyone that bloody wars and some people’s efforts to show strength or restore past glories are still possible.

Over three bloody years, hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians were killed in the fighting, many more were wounded, millions of Ukrainians were displaced and entire cities were reduced to rubble or torn apart by trenches, in a shocking reminder of World War I.

American position reversal

Today, on the third anniversary of this war, positions on it have been turned upside down. The United States has changed its alignment, Europe is outside the discussions, Ukraine is looking for bitter options, and the sponsors of mediation and its location have changed from Helsinki to Riyadh. US President Trump, who promised to end the war, has begun communicating with Moscow and sent his negotiators to meet with the Russians.

In theory, the talks should resolve the conflict this year. But in practice, there is no sign yet that this will happen. Ukraine is effectively out of the negotiations amid an unprecedented escalation of political and personal attacks with Washington. Europeans are angry and disappointed by the “preliminary concessions” that Russian President Vladimir Putin made before the negotiations even began, without offering anything in return. He has even reiterated his demands, which he has raised since the first day of his “special military operation”: disarming and subjugating Ukraine, “defeating the neo-Nazis” there, and preventing it from joining NATO.

Trump sticks to his vision

With Trump clinging to his vision of resolving the conflict without the “guarantees” that Ukraine is demanding, especially in the security field for its future, the result may lead to him discovering the complexities of this conflict, which may at least prevent the expectation of quick solutions, or ultimately lead to his withdrawal from the negotiations, whether he wants to resume support for Kiev, in response to Putin’s insistence on his demands, or he chooses “neutrality” that may serve Moscow, even if indirectly.

Some believe that Kiev, despite realizing the importance of American support, cannot bear the idea of defeat after all the sacrifices it has made. If Trump sticks to his vision of imposing a solution, it may find itself forced to continue fighting. The Europeans are also convinced that Moscow will not stop its attempts to subjugate not only Ukraine, but also to rebalance the continent as a whole, and that Putin will continue to try to seize or destroy as much of Ukraine as possible before any peace agreement, and they point to the Russian troop buildup in Belarus as evidence of his readiness to threaten other European countries.

Stagnation of fronts

In reality, however, the war in Ukraine had reached a clear stagnation, since before the change in the international scene, after the return of US President Donald Trump to power. Although the United States initially sided with its European allies against Russia, their behavior together did not suggest their readiness to quickly resolve the war in Ukraine’s favor. Instead, it became clear that prolonging the war was aimed at exhausting Russia for a long time, without allowing Ukraine to become a strong player on the European stage, in light of the approaches and reservations that the Europeans have always expressed about the role that Kiev could play. This was translated into gradualism, hesitation, and “trickle-down” in providing American and Western weapons or in allowing their use. As Russia continued to seize Ukrainian territory, albeit at a slow and costly pace in terms of human and economic costs that could no longer be tolerated, in contrast to Ukraine’s steadfastness, which was also costly, the two countries achieved parity only in directing their long-range strikes, and succeeded in transforming into two countries fully mobilized for war.

Changing nature of international conflict

But regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, the war in Ukraine has already changed the nature of conflict around the world, and the new US position on it poses more radical challenges, given its outlook on international conflicts and its priorities of achieving “America First” and achieving “peace through strength.”

Trump summarizes his justifications for his position on the war in Ukraine in several points. He says that Washington has provided more than $300 billion in aid to it. But the benefits it has achieved are disproportionate to this spending, and came at the expense of American taxpayers. With his slogan of cutting spending and streamlining the federal administration, and to compensate for this aid, he seeks to obtain an agreement to exploit precious metals in exchange for weapons and other aid that Kiev has received. It seemed that the negotiations initiated by his Treasury Secretary, and continued by his special envoy, Keith Kellogg, and the pressure he is exerting, may lead to its submission and the signing of an agreement soon that would satisfy Trump first and foremost.

US aid

But his numbers do not match the report of the US Department of Defense Inspector General, which revealed that the total financial aid allocated by Congress to Ukraine since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war three years ago has reached $183 billion, provided by several federal agencies, including the Pentagon, the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development. He explained that about three-quarters of the financial allocations, equivalent to $132 billion, were spent to meet military needs, with more than $45 billion of that allocated to the Pentagon to replace equipment sent to Kiev.

According to an investigation conducted by the Russian news agency Novosti, the value of non-military Western financial aid to Ukraine over the course of 3 years amounted to $238.5 billion, while the value of military aid amounted to $132.5 billion.

Europe out of protection

Trump says that the relationship with Europe and NATO has always been at America’s expense. While his country bears the responsibility of protecting the continent and the majority of the alliance’s military spending, Europe has been building a “welfare” state, abandoning its role in protecting itself. Today, with the change in American strategy and its focus on competing with China, he has called on the alliance countries to increase their military spending to 2, 3, and even 5 percent, because protecting Europe is no longer Washington’s priority, and it must protect itself from any Russian attack, as stated explicitly by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Germany recently.

With Hegseth announcing cuts to the Pentagon budget, which will include the US European Command, the African Command, and the Central Command in the Middle East, Europeans fear that the continent is facing a US withdrawal similar to the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Their warnings to take Trump’s threats seriously have escalated, after it seemed that the train of US-Russian negotiations would not stop at the stations they preferred. Some have come to believe that the United States may not remain an automatic ally of Europe, and will hardly be a partner unless it turns into an adversary.

Medical sources announced, on Saturday evening, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 48,329 dead, since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023.

The same sources added that the number of injuries has risen to 111,753 since the beginning of the aggression, while a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and rescue crews cannot reach them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "So far we have recovered 192 kidnapped people, including 147 alive and 45 dead."

"There are still 63 kidnapped people in Hamas's hands," he added.

Netanyahu noted that "the government is committed to continuing to work to return all the living kidnapped to their families and the dead to be buried with dignity."

The newspaper "Israel Hayom" quoted the Israeli Prison Service today, Saturday, as saying that "the political leadership has not yet issued instructions to release Palestinian detainees as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal."

The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said, "Israel has postponed the release of Palestinian detainees in the seventh batch of the exchange deal until the end of security consultations, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold this evening, Saturday, regarding negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza agreement."

This comes as the private newspaper "Israel Hayom" quoted the Israeli Prison Service as saying that the political leadership has not yet issued instructions to release Palestinian detainees in the current batch.

The staff exodus from Sen. John Fetterman's office, D-Pa., continued Thursday with the departure of two new staffers.

The departure of the veterans reflects deep disappointment in Fetterman's office, known for its close ties to the Israeli lobby organization AIPAC, over his rejection of the progressive policies of the Democratic Party, his shift to the right in his openness to working with US President Donald Trump and his embrace of positions in support of Israeli extremists.

The “major staffing shift” at the office, a veteran of Fetterman’s team told The Intercept, comes amid a tough hiring environment for Democratic staffers in Washington.

“I don’t find this surprising,” said a former staffer on Fetterman’s last campaign, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his livelihood. “I think the staffers probably feel frustrated that working for Fetterman means you’re working for Israel all the time.”

“This is a guy who came out to talk about being a champion for working people and he didn’t talk about it,” they said. “This is a guy who, since Trump won, has basically become a useful idiot for Republicans. He supports things that are completely antithetical to Democratic political values, which gives them cover to say, ‘Look, he’s bipartisan, we got Fetterman.’”

The latest departures from Fetterman’s office are two of six due to his pro-Israel hardline stance, especially after October 7, 2023. Three of Fetterman’s top communications staffers left his office last spring after he claimed he was not progressive amid criticism from left-leaning colleagues for his aggressive pro-Israel stances.

After that round of resignations, Fetterman hired a new communications director, Carrie Adams. Adams left the office last month. Fetterman posted a job opening for a new communications director on Wednesday.

Al-Quds learned that the latest employees to leave the office are Charlie Hills, communications director in Fetterman's office, whose last day was Friday (2/21/2025), and legislative director Trey Easton, whose departure date is not yet clear.

The former campaign staffer said the staffers’ resignations were a sign that people in Fetterman’s office were tired of him abandoning campaign promises to make the economy easier on the working class; to be an advocate for the poor, immigrants and LGBT people; and to push for criminal justice reform in the Senate, and instead being a staunch defender of Israel and its policies.

Fetterman campaigned as a progressive and positioned himself as the only logical choice for Pennsylvania voters to fight Trump's influence in the 2022 Senate race. But shortly after taking office, Fetterman shed the mantle of progressivism.

Fetterman’s recent positions are a far cry from his 2022 campaign, which included a focus on cutting taxes for workers and celebrating immigrants, but since the October 7, 2023, attack, Fetterman’s office has ignored most of the issues he campaigned on, instead devoting all of its focus to working to support Israel, according to people familiar with his office’s work.

Since Trump took office last month, Fetterman has become a staunch ally of Republicans, especially in their positions that are fully supportive of Israel.

This evening, Saturday, settlers burned down a house belonging to a family in the Bedouin community east of the village of Jaba’, north of Jerusalem. They also burned a vehicle owned by one of the community’s residents and fired heavy gunfire at the citizens.

Hassan Malihat, General Supervisor of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights and Targeted Villages, stated in a press statement that a terrorist group from the “price tag” gangs burned a house and a vehicle belonging to citizen Daoud Muhammad Musa Kaabneh, a resident of the community, and fired heavy bullets at the citizens, and attacked property.

On February 11, the occupation government announced its intention to appoint a settlement official under its supervision to organize the terrorist acts carried out by the Hilltop Youth gang in the occupied West Bank, “in order to protect them and not distract the occupation army forces with security developments that would cause them to lose focus.”

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of members of the "Hilltop Youth" gang and those who carry its ideology, according to previous Israeli reports. This gang, like all settlers, lives in a state of great comfort under a government that promotes settlement and supports targeting Palestinians and expelling them from their lands.

The "hilltop youth" are a group of very extremist Jewish youth who live in settlements, outposts, farms and isolated settlement units. Despite being called "youths", most of them are in their twenties and older, and a large number of them are often involved in attacks on Palestinians.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that Israel postponed the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal until the end of security consultations held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening regarding negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza agreement.

This comes as the private Hebrew newspaper "Israel Hayom" quoted the Israeli Prison Service as saying that the political leadership has not yet issued instructions to release Palestinian detainees in the current batch.

As part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal, Hamas handed over 6 living prisoners to the Israeli side earlier today, and before that, it released 4 bodies of other prisoners on Thursday.

In return, Israel is supposed to release 620 Palestinian prisoners, including 50 sentenced to life imprisonment, 97 to be deported abroad, and 23 children arrested by the Israeli army from Gaza after October 7, 2023.

Today, Saturday, a number of citizens suffered from suffocation, during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the town of Qusra, south of Nablus.

According to local sources, the occupation forces stormed Qusra amid heavy gunfire and tear gas bombs, which led to a number of citizens suffering from suffocation.

A freed prisoner from the town of Issawiya in occupied Jerusalem died this evening, Saturday.

Local sources reported that the freed prisoner, Nael Salama Obeid, was killed after falling from the roof of his house in the town of Issawiya, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.

Prisoner Obaid was released last week as part of the sixth batch of the ceasefire, noting that he had spent 21 years in the occupation prisons.

On Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades handed over the seventh and final batch of prisoners as part of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal.

The handover of the two prisoners, Tal Shoham and Avraham Mengistu, took place in Rafah. Mengistu had been captured 11 years ago, and Israel had previously refused to negotiate over him, while Tal Shoham had been captured in the October 7 operation.

The Qassam Brigades displayed destroyed Israeli weapons on the platform for handing over the prisoners in Rafah, after its fighters had seized these weapons in the Rafah battles during the ground war on Gaza.

The platform in Rafah carried the slogan "We are the flood...we are the great might", in addition to the verse "For red freedom there is a door that every blood-stained hand knocks on", which is the verse that Yahya Sinwar had appeared reciting in scenes broadcast by the Qassam Brigades of Sinwar in Rafah during the war.

The platform also carried a picture of the captive soldier Hadar Goldin, who was captured in the 2014 war, and the occupation announced his death, while Hamas refused to comment on his fate before conducting real negotiations to release him along with the three other captives it had in its possession at the time, namely: Abraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are being released in the seventh batch today, and Shaul Oron, whose body the occupation recovered after the ceasefire.

The Qassam Brigades handed over three other prisoners in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip: Ilya Maimon Yitzhak Cohen, Omar Shem Tov, and Omer Finkert. As for the sixth prisoner, Hisham al-Sayed, he was handed over in Gaza without any ceremony. Media outlets quoted a source in the Qassam Brigades as saying that the decision was made "as an honor to our people in the occupied interior," considering that Hisham al-Sayed is a Palestinian from 1948, and he is "among the exceptional cases of those who enlist in the occupation army, which is rejected by all Palestinians," according to the Qassam source.

On the handover platform, the Al-Qassam Brigades raised a banner that read, “The land knows its people... from the foreigners with dual citizenship.” The handover process was opened with the Palestinian national anthem.

In return, 151 prisoners serving life sentences and long sentences will be released today, as well as 445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested during the war, in addition to women and children arrested from Gaza during the war; who were decided to be released in exchange for the four bodies that were released last Thursday.

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said that 33 days have passed since the first phase without the occupation completing the implementation of all the terms of the agreement, stressing that the guarantee for completing the upcoming exchange operations is the occupation’s commitment to the remaining terms of the agreement and implementing the humanitarian protocol.

Al-Qanou added, in press statements coinciding with the handover of the two prisoners in Rafah, that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, "which requires mediators to pressure the occupation to implement the humanitarian protocol and provide our people with shelter and relief supplies."

Al-Qanou reiterated the resistance's readiness to complete a "broad and complete one-package" exchange process based on a final cessation of war, the withdrawal of the occupation, and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. He continued: "We informed the mediators that the next day in Gaza is a purely Palestinian affair."

It is noteworthy that this batch is the last of the living prisoners who were agreed to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, while the release of 4 detained bodies is expected in the coming days.

One of the released Israeli prisoners kissed the head of fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on Saturday.

The Palestinian Information Center reported that this came during the handover ceremony to the International Red Cross team in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, Hamas handed over 3 Israeli prisoners to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip.

Hamas handed over the Israeli hostages Elijah Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Finkert to the Red Cross in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza.

The Palestinian Information Center stated that the process of handing over the hostages to the Red Cross came after the arrival of the Shadow Unit convoy, the security forces of the Qassam Brigades, and the Red Cross crews to the handover point to receive the Israelis.

After Hamas announced the names of the hostages scheduled to be released at the end of the first flight of the Gaza agreement, Hisham al-Sayed's name emerged among the six names, and many wondered if there was an Arab name among the names.

A source in Al-Qassam revealed that "the Israeli prisoner Hisham Al-Sayed will be handed over in Gaza City without ceremony, out of respect for the Palestinians inside."

According to the i24 News website, Hamas detained Hisham Shaaban al-Sayed in April 2015, as he independently crossed the border with the Gaza Strip through the orchards of Kibbutz Erez.

Hisham Al-Sayed (36 years old), an Arab citizen born in the Negev, is reported by his family to suffer from schizophrenia.

At first, he was declared missing and his family did not know what happened to him, until surveillance cameras on the separation fence showed him sneaking into the Gaza Strip.

During 2022, Hamas announced the deterioration of Hisham al-Sayed's health, and published a video documenting his condition.

His family did not try to exert public pressure over the past years to release him. Over the past ten years, all efforts to conclude a deal to release him in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the occupation’s prisons failed, and his name was included under the title of forgotten prisoners in the Gaza Strip.

Press reports said that Mr. Sayed is an Arab of 1948 who lives in Israel and volunteered in the Israeli army in 2008.

The United Nations expressed its concern over the continued Israeli aggression on the cities of the West Bank, especially in the north, for the second month in a row.

The official spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, said during a press conference tonight that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continues to monitor the situation in the occupied West Bank.

He stressed that the UN office "remains concerned about the ongoing operations carried out by Israeli forces in the northern part of the West Bank, that Israel is carrying out its longest attacks since the early 2000s."

He pointed out that "the attacks of Israeli settlers who are usurping Palestinian lands are still ongoing."

The UN spokesman revealed that an average of 5 "violent attacks by settlers" were documented daily in the West Bank during the last week.

He pointed out that these attacks "caused damage to Palestinian property, and the settlers cut off agricultural water pipes, which negatively affected the livelihoods of dozens of Palestinian farmers."

"The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has documented the displacement of some 2,300 Palestinians, including 1,100 children, across the West Bank since last year, due to settler attacks and restrictions imposed by Israel," Dujarric added.

We have heard a lot about the subject of displacement recently, between a plan or a deal or other, the media talked about it and politicians dealt with it with a lot of analysis and detail until it became the subject of people’s talk because of its impact on their Palestinian existence and entity in Gaza or even in the West Bank, and here several questions arise about the seriousness of these proposals, especially in light of the association of the name of the American President Trump with it, so I asked artificial intelligence about this plan or deal, and here I present to you the opinion of artificial intelligence on it as it answered:

AI analysis of the feasibility of migration

A. Political and international obstacles

1. Absolute Palestinian rejection: The Palestinians, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, reject any attempt to uproot them from their land, and they realize that displacement does not represent a solution but rather the liquidation of their national cause.

2. The Arab position: Egypt has repeatedly rejected the idea of resettling Palestinians in Sinai, as have Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries, in the belief that the Palestinian Arab people have the right to establish their independent state on their land in accordance with historical rights and international legitimacy resolutions.

3. International Community: Although some major powers are biased towards Israel, carrying out a mass displacement of Palestinians would be considered ethnic cleansing, which could lead to widespread condemnation, possible sanctions, and diplomatic tensions.

B. Logistical and demographic obstacles

- Gaza has a population of more than 2.3 million people, making their displacement a nearly logistically impossible task.

- No country has expressed its willingness to receive this huge number of refugees, and the previous experience of Palestinian refugees confirms that any new displacement will not be acceptable or sustainable.

- The Gaza Strip has been under siege for years, which means that any attempt to forcibly displace the population would require massive transfers, which is unrealistic under the current circumstances.

C. Security and strategic implications

Any attempt to impose displacement by force will lead to an unprecedented military escalation, and perhaps ignite a regional conflict that extends to other countries.

This move will strengthen the resistance groups, which could lead to more attacks against Israel and American interests in the region.

Historically, forced displacement has not led to lasting stability, but has created humanitarian crises and protracted conflicts.

AI's opinion on this plan

Based on an analysis of political, historical, and legal data, AI can conclude that the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza, whether supported by the Trump administration or any other party, is not a realistic option. Political, international, and logistical obstacles make the implementation of this plan nearly impossible, even if it is raised in some political circles.

Looking to the Future: What's Next?

Rather than focusing on forced displacement scenarios, AI believes that sustainable solutions should focus on:

1. Improving the economic conditions in Gaza, because displacement is often the result of economic and social pressures.

2. Supporting a just political solution that guarantees the rights of the Palestinians, instead of perpetuating conflicts and attempts to impose solutions by force.

3. Pressure to end the blockade, which will enable the people of Gaza to develop their economy and remain in their homeland instead of thinking about forced or voluntary migration.

Finally

In politics, unrealistic or immoral ideas may be put forward, but their implementation depends on their ability to overcome political, humanitarian, and logistical obstacles. The plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, whether attributed to Trump or anyone else, faces challenges that make it unworkable on the ground. If the real goal is to achieve peace and stability, the solution does not lie in displacing the population, but in ensuring their legitimate rights within a just and sustainable framework.

This morning, Saturday, the Israeli occupation forces targeted a house with an Energa shell in the town of Yasid, north of Nablus.

Security sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town, surrounded a house, targeted it with an Energa shell, raided several other houses, and conducted field investigations with citizens.

The Israeli occupation army continues its aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the 33rd consecutive day, leaving 27 dead, and dozens of injuries and arrests.

The occupation sent military reinforcements accompanied by bulldozers to the city of Jenin and the entrances to its camp, as well as water tanks and fortified military rooms used for internal military communications.

The occupation bulldozers left behind widespread destruction inside the camp’s neighborhoods, and in the citizens’ homes and properties, which greatly changed its features and geography, while infantry squads were deployed in several areas inside it near the Shireen Abu Akleh roundabout, Talat al-Ghabz, and the new camp.

According to the WAFA news agency, the Israeli occupation caused the displacement of about 3,000 families from Jenin camp, and destroyed their homes and properties.

The occupation continues to seize a number of citizens' homes and turn them into military barracks since the beginning of the aggression, especially in the buildings near and overlooking Jenin camp, while citizens, homes and buildings near them face difficulties in entering, exiting and moving due to the constant presence of snipers, which puts their lives at risk.

Yesterday, the occupation forces arrested a citizen from inside his vehicle while he was on Arrana Street east of Jenin, and stormed the towns of Ya'bad, Araba, and Bir al-Basha in the south, without reporting any arrests.

The ongoing aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp has left 27 dead the latest of whom was the child Rimas Al-Amouri (13 years old), who was martyred yesterday after the Israeli occupation soldiers opened direct fire on her while she was in front of her house in the Al-Jabariyat neighborhood, around the Jenin camp. She was hit by a bullet in the back that exited from the abdomen, and was transferred to the hospital before the doctors announced her death, in addition to dozens of injuries and arrests.

Adnan Al-Husseini: Israel turned its back on international institutions, forgetting that it gained its legitimacy from these institutions.

Hatim Abdel Qader: Israeli violations against UNRWA are a blatant attempt to shed international responsibility for the refugee issue

Sami Mshasha: UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot to liquidate it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures

Ratiba al-Natsheh: The right-wing government has launched an open war on the fundamental and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue.

Ziad Al-Hamouri: There is an intensive campaign to try to end the refugee issue.. and "UNRWA" is the main symbol of Palestinian refugees

Fadel Tahboub: The Authority is required to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality

Three weeks after the Israeli occupation authorities’ decision to ban the work of the International Relief Agency (UNRWA) in areas under Israeli “sovereignty” came into effect, occupation police forces stormed a number of UNRWA schools in Jerusalem last Tuesday and ordered their closure. This measure affected 250 children in 3 schools in the city, and 350 students in the Qalandia Training Center.

“Israeli forces and Jerusalem Municipality staff stormed UNRWA’s Qalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on the X platform, describing the incident as a denial of the right of children and youth in East Jerusalem to education in UNRWA schools.

Lazzarini considered what happened to be a "violation of the fundamental right to education, as well as a violation of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations," stressing the need to preserve the right of children to access education, and to protect and respect United Nations facilities at all times and in all places.

Politicians, writers and analysts who spoke to “I” considered that the right-wing government in Israel has embarked on an open war on all the essential and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue, and that these Israeli violations against “UNRWA” are a blatant attempt to drop international responsibility for the refugee issue.

One analyst pointed out that UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot to liquidate it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures, while another called on the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality.

Dire consequences of the occupation's decision to close UNRWA

Engineer Adnan Al-Husseini, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and head of the Jerusalem Department, said that the Israeli occupation authorities are defying the world and ignoring all international laws and conventions.

He added: "At a time when Israel has turned its back on international institutions, it has forgotten that it gained its legitimacy from these institutions."

Al-Husseini explained that the unjust Israeli decision to close the offices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories comes in the context of the aggressive war waged by the occupying state against the Arab Palestinian people, and the quest to pass suspicious plans to eliminate them and liquidate their just cause, at the forefront of which is the refugee issue.

Al-Husseini warned of the dire consequences of the decision of the occupying state, which he considered an insult and contempt for the international community, its institutions and decisions, and the disasters expected to occur as a result of obstructing and stopping the efforts and services provided by UNRWA, especially humanitarian aid, in light of what the Israeli machine of destruction leaves behind in its aggression on the occupied Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Al-Husseini called on the international community to assume its responsibilities, deal with the occupying state as a racist state outside the law, work to strip it of its international legitimacy, and provide full support to UNRWA, in order to ensure the continuation of its services.

A flagrant violation of international law

For his part, Hatem Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Authority for the Support of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, and member of the Revolutionary Council of the Fatah Movement, condemned the Israeli occupation’s targeting of UNRWA schools and institutions in the city of Jerusalem as part of the incitement campaign launched by Israeli officials against UNRWA.

Abdul Qader added: "These violations against the agency are a blatant attempt to drop international responsibility for the Palestinian refugee issue, which threatens to liquidate the right of return and compensation stipulated in international resolutions.

"These violations constitute a flagrant violation of international law and a direct threat to the rights of Palestinian refugees," Abdel Qader said.

Abdul Qader called on the United Nations and the international community to assume their responsibilities in protecting UNRWA and ensuring its continued provision of vital services to the Palestinian people.

Lack of a clear and effective action plan to confront the ban on UNRWA

Sami Mshasha, a follower of UNRWA affairs and its former official spokesman, believes that the absence of a clear and effective plan of action to confront the ban on UNRWA’s work in Jerusalem and its expulsion from it constitutes a direct threat to the fate of Palestinian refugees in the city.

Mshasha explained that this absence includes the lack of specific instructions for the families of students in UNRWA schools, and hundreds of students at the prestigious Qalandia Institute who received evacuation notices, in addition to the intimidation of students in schools and the absence of any plan to protect the agency’s employees, whose job security is now threatened.

Mshasha added: "There is also a lack of any vision about the fate of poor families classified as "cases of extreme hardship", as well as the follow-up of patients, especially the elderly and those with chronic diseases, stressing that these issues cannot be addressed through hollow statements and declarations about the steadfastness of "UNRWA."

Mish'sha' criticized the absence of any realistic plan by UNRWA and the United Nations to confront the campaign targeting the agency, pointing out that this shortcoming was clearly evident during the last war, when UNRWA evacuated its headquarters and left the displaced and its employees to their fate in northern Gaza.

He also referred to the intensive attack that targeted UNRWA for more than a year, with the aim of expelling it from Jerusalem and reducing its role in Gaza after the war, without the agency taking any serious steps to protect its workers or ensure their job security.

In a related context, Mshasha questioned the usefulness of the UN Commissioner-General’s attendance at the Munich Security Conference, considering that his presence at such events reflects a dangerous shift in the role of UNRWA, as if the Palestinian refugee is now viewed as a security threat.

He also criticized his attendance at the meetings of the "International Alliance for a Two-State Solution," noting that his statements there deviate from UNRWA's mandate and link the fate of refugees to a political solution that does not guarantee the right of return, but rather seeks to create a distorted Palestinian entity.

Statements by the UN Commissioner-General

Mshasha explained that the Commissioner-General stated during the Munich conference that “the long-term goal is to enable Palestinian institutions to assume the basic services provided by UNRWA,” wondering who gave him the right to speak on behalf of the refugees and the mandate to change the agency’s clear and explicit mandate.

He also condemned his statement during the Cairo meeting about "gradually ending UNRWA's mandate," stressing that these statements are in line with plans to end the agency and turn it into a political tool that serves projects to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

At the end of his speech, Mshasha stressed that UNRWA does not have any real plan to confront the plot aimed at liquidating it, but rather has begun to adapt to international pressures, which makes it an indirect partner in implementing the policy of deportation and settlement.

He also pointed out the absence of a Palestinian national plan to confront this scheme, warning that the continuation of division and dispersion of positions will lead to the loss of Palestinian rights, most notably the right of return. He concluded his speech by calling for the development of a clear and specific plan of action that guarantees the protection of Palestinian refugees and the continuation of UNRWA's role in providing its services away from political calculations.

The only international witness to the refugee issue

In turn, political and community activist Ratiba Al-Natsheh said that UNRWA represents the only international witness to the issue of Palestinian refugees, and embodies dozens of international resolutions related to their rights.

She added: "It is no secret that the Palestinians' adherence to the refugee issue and their right to return to the lands from which they were displaced constituted an obsession for Israeli leaders, who considered it a national threat to the existence of their state, and even an implicit rejection by the Palestinians of the defeat of 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel."

She pointed out that the previous Israeli government, during Trump's first term, sought to issue a decision that would limit the right of return to the original refugees who were displaced from their cities and villages in 1948, without this right being passed on by inheritance to their children who were born outside Palestine.

She added: "This government also worked to dry up UNRWA's resources and restrict it with American assistance, through a committee appointed by the United Nations under American leadership, to investigate the records of employees and refugees registered as beneficiaries of the agency's services in the Palestinian territories, and to set new standards for neutrality and rejection of "terrorism."

Lifting UNRWA's diplomatic immunity

Al-Natsheh stressed that the current government led by Netanyahu, which called itself the “decisive government,” has launched an open war on all the essential and fateful issues of the Palestinian people, including the refugee issue, fighting UNRWA, inciting against it, and drying up its resources.

Al-Natsheh considered that the majority vote in the Israeli Knesset to declare UNRWA an undesirable institution, lift its diplomatic immunity, and demand that it end its services before the end of January 2025, is a translation of the Israeli desire to end the refugee issue as one of the decisive factors to end the Palestinian issue and any international evidence of it. It also represents a clear challenge to international law and the United Nations institutions, which Israel has not respected any of its previous decisions.

“The decision of the Prime Minister of the occupation government, in the last cabinet meeting a few days ago, to implement the decision related to banning UNRWA “decisively and without hesitation or delay,” is further evidence that ending the refugee issue and declaring war on this international institution constitutes a top priority, no less important than imposing control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is also a clear indication that Israel has received a green light from the White House to move forward on the issues of resolving the conflict in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue at all levels,” she added.

Storming UNRWA educational institutions

Al-Natsheh pointed out that the educational institutions affiliated with UNRWA were stormed, their employees were interrogated, and orders were given to evacuate them, in implementation of the Prime Minister’s decision, starting with the education sector, as it is one of the arms of the war that the occupation municipality has been waging for many years in an attempt to completely control education in Jerusalem.

She added: This was followed by statements by the Israeli Minister of Health regarding ending cooperation in the health field with UNRWA and stopping its health services, which was translated in the field by removing the sign from the Indian Corner Clinic in the Old City, in preparation for ending its services or incorporating it into the Israeli health system.

She stressed that the threat to seize UNRWA properties in Jerusalem existed even before the Knesset voted to ban UNRWA. She said that the Israeli authorities informed UNRWA schools in the Shuafat camp of their intention to seize their buildings, and had previously taken their measurements. They also issued a decision to evacuate UNRWA headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, on the pretext that it was built on land belonging to the Israel Land Authority, and planned to build 1,440 settlement units on it, in addition to imposing heavy taxes on the organization in an attempt to dry up its financial resources.

Al-Natsheh concluded by saying: “Despite the Israeli plans and the weak international and UN response so far to these violations and the blatant challenge to international law, the will of the Palestinian people, and more than 150,000 Jerusalemites who benefit from the agency’s educational and health services, still constitutes an obstacle to achieving the plan to end UNRWA’s services, and also provides a window of time for international action to save the refugee issue.”

The occupation is moving towards closing most of the agency's institutions

For his part, the Director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, Ziad Hamouri, said that the occupation authorities continue their escalation against the institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as part of a plan targeting the issue of Palestinian refugees.

He said: "What happened a few days ago in Jerusalem is that a delegation from the Israeli Ministry of Education visited the schools in an attempt to find out the numbers of male and female students, but some directors refused to cooperate with them, while others referred them to the agency's general administration."

He confirmed that one of the school principals decided, in order to ensure the safety of the students, to allow them to leave, without this being an official closure decision. As for the issue of schools in general, it has been postponed until the summer, and no steps will be taken before the end of the school year.

Al-Hamouri pointed out that the occupation is moving towards closing most of the agency’s institutions, as its forces stormed the agency’s clinic in Bab al-Zahra and changed its name as part of a policy aimed at obliterating the Palestinian identity in the city.

Attacks on refugee camps in the West Bank

In a related context, Al-Hamouri stressed that the attacks on refugee camps in the West Bank, such as Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarm, come within a comprehensive plan aimed at liquidating the refugee issue and undermining the existence of UNRWA.

He explained that the occupation has already displaced 90% of the residents of Tulkarm camp, and 70% of the residents of Jenin camp, without any solutions on the horizon to house them.

He stressed that there is an intensive campaign to try to end the refugee issue, and the agency is the main symbol of Palestinian refugees. Therefore, these steps represent an attempt to eliminate this symbol, which reflects a systematic policy that has no limits.

Al-Hamouri added: "The current occupation government is pursuing racist and extremist policies targeting education, health, and vital facilities, in the absence of an effective Arab or Palestinian plan to confront these plans."

Al-Hamouri warned that these Israeli measures represent a real danger to the future of Palestinian refugees, calling for urgent action to stop the Israeli escalation and protect UNRWA institutions, which are a symbol of the Palestinian refugee issue.

Attack on UNRWA is targeting the United Nations

In turn, political analyst Fadel Tahboub said that the Israeli attacks on the institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) do not only target the Palestinians, but also represent an attack on the United Nations, considering that UNRWA is an international institution.

Tahboub pointed out that Israel is acting as if it is above the law, exploiting American support, which reflects an American-Israeli attempt to impose complete control over the West Bank.

He explained that UNRWA supervises about a third of school students in Jerusalem, and that ending its role would require the Palestinian National Authority or any Arab party to assume responsibility for managing these schools and bear their operating costs, including teachers’ salaries and students’ educational needs.

He added: "Leaving students without schools is unacceptable," stressing that the National Authority is required to assume its responsibilities to ensure the continuation of the educational process and not allow the occupation to impose a new reality.

Tahboub also pointed out that Israel is working to prevent funding for UNRWA and prevent its employees from performing their work, which is a clear challenge to the international position, as Israel seeks to systematically end the agency’s existence.

Tahboub concluded by stressing the need to assume national responsibility for managing the Agency’s schools and health institutions, to ensure the continuation of the basic services needed by the Palestinian people.

Among the fabricated narratives of the alleged bombing of the Beit Yam buses parked in their dormitories, the story of the message written on the bomb stands out, bearing the phrase “in revenge for what Tulkarm camp is being subjected to.” It is a message that makes you open your mouth, bulge your eyes, and pull your hair, due to its extreme naivety and the speed and lightness of its summoning, to justify the plans that will come after it, which it is time for them to leave their files and come out of their drawers, as the time has come to activate them.

Is it reasonable that the perpetrators of this alleged operation would write their message on a bomb that they knew would explode after a while? Unless its authors are the ones who want to invest in the message, not the bomb, to incite and inflame, and to win the title of hero in discovering it before it explodes, in terms of raising the level of adrenaline in the blood for revenge, and rushing to mobilize and incite, and operating the engines to push more forces to the stricken camp, whose residents have been displaced and whose homes have been razed to the ground.

The alleged operation questions expose the fabricated and confused answers, which came as a smoke bomb, to cover up the accusations that Netanyahu was exposed to in killing the Israeli family held captive in Gaza in one of the raids.

The actions that followed the operation, especially Netanyahu and Katz’s “visit” to the camp for the first time, and the threats issued from inside one of the houses whose residents were forced to leave, are nothing but evidence that the operation bears the identity of its fabricators.

Today, Saturday, preparations began in the Gaza Strip to hand over 6 Israeli prisoners in the seventh batch of exchange operations within the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The Al-Qassam Brigades handed over the prisoners Avra Mengistu and Tal Shoham to the International Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and later handed over 4 other prisoners in the Nuseirat camp (center).

Shortly after the Red Cross signed their receipt, Mengistu and Shoham, who were soldiers, were transferred to vehicles belonging to the international organization after they climbed onto a platform erected in Al-Mashrou’ Square, east of Rafah city.

Several formations of the Qassam Brigades, including the Shadow Unit responsible for prisoners, are participating in the handover ceremonies in Rafah and Nuseirat.

A large number of Al-Qassam Brigades fighters were deployed in Rafah (southern Gaza Strip) and in the Nuseirat camp (central Gaza Strip) in preparation for handing over the six prisoners to the International Red Cross. The ceremony is also taking place in the presence of the people.

It is expected that 3 prisoners will be handed over in Rafah and 3 others in Nuseirat.

In return, 602 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released from the occupation prisons today, including 50 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 with long sentences, in addition to 47 prisoners released in the Wafa al-Ahrar deal who were re-arrested by the occupation.

445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023 will also be released.

Several formations of the Qassam Brigades are participating in the handover ceremony, including the shadow unit responsible for the prisoners.

Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, announced yesterday evening that the prisoners who will be released are: Ilya Cohen, Omer Shev Tov, Omer Finkert, Tal Shoham, Avra Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had received a list of the names of the six prisoners and had notified their families.

On the delivery platforms in Rafah and Nuseirat, the Qassam Brigades displayed weapons that the resistance fighters had seized during the battles with the Israeli occupation forces, and pictures of the resistance leaders who were martyred in the last war on the Palestinian Strip were also raised.

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US President Donald Trump said Friday he supports any decision Israel makes on whether to continue with the second phase of the Gaza hostage deal or resume the war.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position, and he said: "He's actually not confused; I mean, you know where he stands, he would love to go and go in, and he's very angry, and he should be. If he's not angry, there's something wrong with him, frankly."

"He's very angry; he's a very angry man about what happened, especially what happened yesterday with those children," Trump added, referring to the return of the slain child hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas. "It's very barbaric. You wouldn't think that would happen in modern times, but it did."

Asked whether Israel needed to choose between seeking more hostages in a second phase or resuming the war, and whether he was okay with either option, Trump replied: “I do. I really do. You know, when you see what’s going on over there… you just wonder what the state of the hostages they have. They got a really bad group that came in, it looked like a concentration camp in Germany.” He added: “Sometimes you have to make a decision… It’s a tough decision.”

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