As soon as it calms down a little, it erupts again, like a volcano that has no security, its sparks flying everywhere, determining outcomes and fates, and granting itself the right to seize the property of others, without batting an eyelid.

Gaza, like Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada, are all within a stone’s throw of the dreams of the real estate developer who seeks to profit from the incitement, by redrawing borders and transferring peoples, as if they were illegal immigrants in the “Empire of Big Brother.”

The gluttonous man's stomach, as vast as it is, cannot digest all that whets its appetite for swallowing, in a world where maps and squares flow over each other, just as his saliva flows and his tongue licks a hamburger meal.

The "no urgency speech" did not hold up for long in the face of the real estate developer's lust for possession, after sweeping away the residents and removing the rubble from the crime of the century, in a move aimed at removing evidence from the crime scene and turning the page on the genocide instead of compensating the victim for what happened to her, making amends for her harm and rebuilding her homes.

Bypassing all international resolutions, throughout the years of conflict, the money man returned to reduce the issue to a real estate deal that would bring him imaginary profits, through demographic displacement of the huge human mass, without it having the right to return.

They are the impudence and madness that possess the one who returns to his first path, in an updated version that is hostile to reason and logic, and pushes the threatened peoples to their difficult existential choices to confront him, with the vulgarity of his language, and from zero distance, no matter the cost... for homelands are like the thorns of the thorn bush without them.

US President Donald Trump said that if Hamas does not release "all the hostages" it is holding in Gaza by noon on Saturday, the ceasefire agreement with Israel must be cancelled.

Trump's public message comes after Hamas announced earlier Monday that it would suspend the release of three Israeli hostages scheduled for release on Saturday due to "Israeli violations."

Trump said this was his personal opinion and "Israel can override it," but his comments could "force" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with his wishes.

Trump made it clear that he expected all 76 remaining hostages held by Hamas to be released.

Hamas said earlier on Monday that its announcement of a delay in the release of the hostages was a "warning message to Israel" in order for mediators to pressure it to implement the deal in full.

An Israeli official said Hamas' announcement could be a response to Trump's plan to "take over Gaza" and a sign that the group doubts that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold serious negotiations on the second phase of the deal.

“If they are not released by 12 o’clock on Saturday, I say call it off [the ceasefire] and all bets are off… all hell is going to break loose,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump stressed that Hamas is looking for reasons not to release more hostages because the hostages are "severely wounded physically and mentally...whatever you see is probably best."

"Not a trickle. Not three and two. All of them," he said, adding that he believed many of the hostages were dead.

Axios quoted Israeli officials as saying that at least nine of the remaining 17 hostages expected to be released in the first phase are alive, and that of the 59 remaining for the second phase, 24 may be alive, according to Israeli officials.

The US President also threatened, on Monday, to stop aid to Jordan and Egypt if they did not accept refugees, referring to the residents of Gaza.

Trump announced on Monday that he will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday to discuss the issue of receiving Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

"Tomorrow I will meet with the King of Jordan, and I believe he will take the deal, and he will take the Palestinians," Trump said while signing a number of executive orders at the White House.

Trump had proposed that the United States take control of Gaza from Israel, creating a "Middle East Riviera" after transferring the Palestinians to other places, including Egypt and Jordan.

The proposal sparked official rejection in Egypt, which stressed what it described as its constants regarding the Palestinian issue.

Trump spoke again on Monday about the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, saying: "They will all leave when there is a better place to go."

Asked about the possibility of using military aid to pressure Egypt and Jordan, Trump said: "Maybe. Why not. If they don't agree, I might withhold that money."

Earlier on Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati, during a meeting with his US counterpart Mark Rubio in Washington, affirmed Egypt's "firm" position on the Palestinian issue.

The Egyptian Minister stressed the necessity of achieving the "legitimate" aspirations of the Palestinian people, most notably the establishment of an independent state on all of its national territory.

This morning, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces launched an arrest campaign in the West Bank.

In Tubas, the occupation forces arrested the young man Hamza Ali Gharib, after raiding his family's home in the town of Tamoun.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested the young man Muhammad Shadi al-Rimawi after storming his home in the city of al-Bireh, and the young man Muhammad Jalal Ramana after storming his home in the Saht Marhaba neighborhood in the city of al-Bireh, while they arrested the two young men: Yusef Ihab al-Zubaidi and Masoud Zuhair Sumada’a, after storming their homes in the Jalazone camp.

In Salfit, the occupation forces raided a number of citizens’ homes, ransacked their contents, and arrested the two young men, Islam Saleh Yassin and Adi Raed Abu Saif, from the town of Bidya.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced on Monday evening that he had instructed the Israeli army to prepare at the highest level for any possible scenario in Gaza, following the Qassam Brigades’ announcement of halting the prisoner exchange process.

"This is a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement. I have instructed the IDF to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza and to protect the communities," Katz said, adding, "We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7."

For his part, the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, called for launching a large-scale air and ground attack and halting all aid to the Gaza Strip, following the announcement of the halt of the prisoner exchange process.

"The only response to Hamas' statement must be a massive air and ground attack and a halt to all forms of aid to Gaza," Ben-Gvir said.

On Monday evening, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced the postponement of the handover of the Israeli prisoners who were scheduled to be released next Saturday, due to repeated Israeli violations.

He pointed out that "this postponement will continue until the occupation commits to compensating for the past weeks retroactively, and we affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation commits to them."

Israel has so far refrained from negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, which was supposed to begin last Monday.

According to the agreement, the Israeli army must begin withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphi corridor on the 42nd day of the agreement’s entry into force, which falls on the beginning of next March, and this must continue for eight days, and the second phase of the agreement must be moved to, which means stopping the war on Gaza.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces burned an agricultural barn during their raid on the village of Al-Jadeeda, east of Jenin.

Local sources said that the occupation forces stormed the village and took up positions around agricultural barns in the area between Al-Jadidah and Tubas, and fired live bullets at the citizens.

She added that the occupation forces set fire to one of the agricultural barns before withdrawing.

The occupation army has been launching a campaign of raids and incursions into the villages and towns of Jenin Governorate since the start of the unprecedented aggression on the governorate, which has been ongoing for 21 days.

A citizen was shot by the Israeli occupation forces, Monday evening, while he was near the racist separation and expansion wall west of the town of Zeita, north of Tulkarm.

According to local sources, ambulance crews dealt with a citizen (24 years old) from the town of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya, after he was shot in the feet, while he was west of the town of Zeita, and he was transferred to the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in the city.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank have displaced 40,000 Palestinians so far from the Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Far'a camps, noting that the forced displacement of Palestinians in the northern West Bank is escalating at an "alarming" rate.

The agency added, in a statement, that Israeli forces began carrying out large-scale operations in the occupied West Bank in mid-2023, and since then, thousands of families have been forcibly displaced.

UNRWA stressed that repeated and destructive Israeli security operations have rendered refugee camps “uninhabitable,” and reiterated its call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure at all times, noting that “collective punishment is absolutely unacceptable.”

A citizen was killed and two others were injured by Israeli occupation forces' bullets, Monday evening, in the Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that an unidentified dead arrived at the Gaza European Hospital, after being transported by truck drivers working at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Two wounded people also arrived at the same hospital after being targeted by occupation snipers in the Al-Awda area in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to medical sources, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 48,208, the majority of whom are children and women, and the number of injuries has risen to 111,655 since the start of the occupation's aggression on October 7, 2023.

US President Donald Trump said Palestinians in Gaza would not have the right to return under his plan for US "ownership" of the war-torn territory, contradicting statements by other administration officials who have sought to argue that Trump is calling for only a temporary transfer of its residents.

The details of Trump’s plan are not clear at all, and they grow more vague with each new statement he makes on the matter. “We’re going to build safe communities, a little bit further away from where they are, where all this danger is,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, which is scheduled to air Monday, without explaining what that means.

The latest comments build on Trump's statements less than a week before he first laid out his plan for US control of Gaza and turning it into a "Middle Eastern Riviera."

Trump is also pressuring Arab countries to shelter Palestinians, especially US allies Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from Gaza who reject Trump's statements outright.

On Sunday, February 9, King Abdullah II began a working visit to the United States. In Washington, the Jordanian monarch will meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, February 11.

The Jordanian king is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff, and members of committees in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The King will meet in Boston with representatives of American companies and higher education institutions, and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey on Monday.

On Sunday, the King of Jordan met with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

A well-informed source told Al-Quds newspaper in Washington on Monday: “The moment of truth will come tomorrow, Tuesday, when Trump meets with the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II, who considers the issue of a million Palestinians flowing into his country an existential threat.”

“It is quite clear that the Jordanian king is teetering on the brink of falling into the valley because of these statements. Trump has cut off aid to Jordan, which is aid that it lives on, and this is truly astonishing,” the source added, especially since Jordan “has consistently proven itself to be a true and reliable ally, as we saw on April 13 when it shot down Iranian missiles before they reached Israel, and again on October 1, 2024,” according to the source.

President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, issued a decision-law to cancel the articles contained in the laws and regulations related to the system of paying financial allocations to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded, in the Prisoners’ Law and the regulations issued by the Council of Ministers and the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as to transfer the computerized cash assistance program, its database, and its financial, local, and international allocations from the Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Institution for Economic Empowerment.

Under these amendments:

1) All families that benefited from previous laws, legislation and systems are subject to the same standards applied without discrimination to all families benefiting from social protection and care programmes, in accordance with the standards of comprehensiveness and justice, the conditions of which apply to all families in need of assistance in Palestinian society.

2) Under this amendment, the powers of all protection and social care programs in Palestine have been transferred to the Palestinian Economic Empowerment Foundation, which will assume the responsibilities of providing protection and social care programs to all Palestinian families in need of assistance and beneficiaries without discrimination.

The Palestinian Economic Empowerment Foundation has an independent legal personality managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the President. It operates in accordance with its law, tasks, and transparent work mechanisms and is subject to administrative and financial oversight standards, including oversight by international institutions, to ensure transparency of procedures and fair distribution.

Accordingly, the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment will seek to mobilize all possible funds, grants and allocations for the various categories of our people, especially in light of the significant increase in the number of families in need of social care, support and empowerment after the war on Gaza and the West Bank, in a way that contributes to strengthening the steadfastness of our people, similar to the various social care systems adopted by different countries of the world that have strong and institutionalized social care systems.

This came within the framework of strengthening the status of the State of Palestine and its legal position in the United Nations and various international institutions, by obtaining more international recognition and full membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations, and within the framework of working to protect the supreme national interests, and to face the new burdens of helping our people in the Gaza Strip, especially children who have lost their breadwinners, and families who have lost their means, and with the aim of restoring international aid programs that were suspended in the past years, which we need to implement development and economic recovery programs, and to support reconstruction programs, and with the aim of lifting the financial siege, and stopping the illegal deductions made by the Israeli occupation authorities from Palestinian taxpayers’ money, which have reached billions of shekels.

The military spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Obeida, announced on Monday the postponement of the handover of the occupation prisoners who were scheduled to be released next Saturday, after the occupation army violated the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Abu Obeida said in a tweet on his Telegram account, "The resistance leadership has monitored the enemy's violations and failure to abide by the terms of the agreement over the past three weeks, including delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, and targeting them with shelling and gunfire.

In various areas of the Strip, and the failure to bring in relief supplies in all their forms according to what was agreed upon, while the resistance implemented all of its obligations.

He continued: "Accordingly, the handover of the Zionist prisoners who were scheduled to be released next Saturday, corresponding to 02-15-2025, will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to compensating for the past weeks, retroactively."

Abu Obeida stressed the resistance's commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation adheres to them.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to present US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the security cabinet for approval.

This came in his speech during the meeting of the parliamentary bloc of the "Religious Zionism" party, which he headed, according to the private Hebrew Channel 7.

Smotrich reiterated his opposition to the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, saying: "My responsibility is to the State of Israel, its future and its security, and this requires me to oppose abandoning millions of citizens around the world who will pay the heavy and terrible price for continuing the deal," he said.

"I have been subjected to severe criticism for my position, including painful and harsh statements from the families of detainees and others, but I am steadfast in my opposition (to the agreement)," he continued.

Referring to possible steps to free the remaining prisoners in Gaza, Smotrich said: “We must completely stop the transfer of humanitarian aid to Hamas, and Gaza must be occupied permanently to prevent another massacre,” he said, referring to the October 7, 2023 attack.

He called for taking measures to encourage the emigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in coordination with the US administration.

Netanyahu addressed the meeting, saying: “US President (Donald) Trump’s plan (regarding the displacement of Palestinians) must be presented to the political-security cabinet for approval as soon as possible, in order to prepare for immediate action upon completion of the first stage of the deal.”

He claimed that "this is the only realistic way to force Hamas to surrender, raise the white flag and flee for its life, in exchange for the release of all the kidnapped (detainees), to the last one."

On February 4, Trump revealed in a press conference with Netanyahu at the White House that his country intended to seize Gaza after displacing its entire Palestinian population to other countries.

Trump did not rule out the possibility of deploying American forces to support the reconstruction of Gaza, expecting the United States to have "long-term ownership" in the Palestinian sector, while Netanyahu welcomed Trump's plan, considering it "the first new idea in years."

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

**A holiday for the Palestinians in the West Bank

Smotrich touched on the Israeli aggression on the occupied West Bank, saying: "The residents of Judea and Samaria (the Hebrew name for the West Bank) must know that if they continue with terrorism, their fate will be like that of Gaza."

Boasting about the genocide Israel has committed in the Strip, he continued threateningly: “Tulkarm and Jenin (in the northern West Bank) will look like Jabalia and Shuja’iyya (in the Gaza Strip). Nablus and Ramallah (in the West Bank) will look like Rafah and Khan Yunis (in the southern Gaza Strip), and they will also turn into ruins unfit for habitation, and their residents will be forced to emigrate and seek a new life in other countries.”

He added: "We will work to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, and in doing so we will have finally buried the danger of establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel and strengthened Israel's security belt."

Since January 21, the military operation launched by the Israeli army has continued, starting with an aggression against the city of Jenin, its camp, and surrounding towns, which led to the killing of 25 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Then the Israeli army expanded its aggression to the city of Tulkarm on the 27th of the same month, where 5 Palestinians were killed, while on the 2nd of February it began another operation in the town of Tamoun and the Far’a camp in the Tubas governorate, before withdrawing from Tamoun after 7 days and continuing its operation in the Far’a camp.

For the second day in a row, the Israeli occupation army continues its military operation in the Nour Shams camp (north), which resulted in the killing of 3 Palestinians and the injury of others on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Nour Shams camp, east of Tulkarm city, is witnessing a worsening humanitarian crisis, after the occupation forces forced its residents to flee their homes, amid a military escalation that resulted in the deaths of martyrs and wounded, in addition to the widespread destruction of infrastructure and property.

According to local sources, dozens of families were seen today leaving the camp after being forced by the occupation forces, at gunpoint, to leave their homes under the threat of random gunfire, while explosions were heard from time to time.

A number of citizens, during their displacement from the camp, spoke about the extent of the suffering at the moment they were forced to leave their homes and were detained for hours in the rain and on the dust and mud of the streets, and what preceded that of their exposure to abuse, insults and body searches, especially young men and men, and their detention for long hours before being allowed to leave.

While another number described the camp’s condition as very difficult and miserable, with demolished houses and shops, bulldozed streets, and occupation soldiers raiding houses in a barbaric manner, breaking their contents from the inside, assaulting young men, and expelling the elderly without allowing them to take their basic needs, especially clothes, and seizing their mobile phones.

The head of the Popular Committee for Services in Nour Shams Camp, Nihad Al-Shawish, described the conditions inside the camp to WAFA as extremely difficult, as the occupation forces have reached large parts of the camp’s neighborhoods and are raiding homes, blowing up their doors with their residents inside, and forcing them to leave by threatening them.

He explained that there is a large displacement movement among the camp's residents, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, concentrated in the neighborhoods of Al-Maslakh, Al-Manshiya, Jabal Al-Salihin and Jabal Al-Nasr, which have become almost empty of their residents, pointing out that the occupation forces are directing each group of displaced families to go to a specific area distributed between the city, the suburb of Dhnaba and the town of Anabta.

Al-Shawish pointed out that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society is making efforts to help the elderly and sick leave the camp and transfer them to safe places.

He added that this operation coincided with the occupation bulldozers destroying and testing the infrastructure, which led to the interruption of electricity, water and internet networks, and also affected citizens' homes, shops and vehicles, especially in the neighborhoods of Al-Manshiya Schools and Jabal Al-Salihin, and is now extending to its internal neighborhoods.

In addition, the Emergency Committee in Nour Shams Camp announced today, Monday, that half of the camp’s residents have been displaced, the infrastructure has been destroyed, and that the occupation has completely destroyed 200 homes and partially destroyed 120 homes, and the numbers are still expected to increase.

Citizens from inside the camp, especially the elderly and some families in the targeted neighborhoods, continue to appeal to the concerned authorities to intervene to save the lives of those whose homes were partially demolished while they were inside, as happened with the Al-Qasir family in Jabal Al-Salihin.

The occupation forces stormed the camp at dawn yesterday, Sunday, during their ongoing aggression on the city and camp of Tulkarm for the 15th consecutive day, using military vehicles and bulldozers that destroyed the infrastructure and property, and imposed a tight cordon on it, while firing live bullets, which led to the martyrdom of three citizens, including two women, one of whom was eight months pregnant.

“What US President Donald Trump proposed during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on February 4 is illegal, immoral and irresponsible,” Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said at a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on February 5. “This is worse than ethnic cleansing. It is forced displacement… and it is an international crime.”

Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention classifies unlawful deportation or transfer as a serious violation of human rights, which is considered a war crime under the US War Crimes Act. Article 49 of the Geneva Convention states that individual or mass forcible transfers or deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of any other state, whether occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive. The International Court of Justice ruled on July 19, 2024 that Gaza is occupied territory and that the occupation violates international law.

Furthermore, intentional forcible transfer or deportation “as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack” is a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute. Israel, in collusion with the United States, has been committing a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian people in Gaza since October 7, 2023. “Forcible transfer or deportation of population” is defined as the displacement of persons by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present.

It is noteworthy that on January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice found that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza on a reasonable basis and ordered the prevention of genocidal acts. Albanese noted that “forced displacement and dispossession in the context of genocide would reinforce complicity in the crimes committed by Israel over the past fifteen months and before.”

According to Albanese, the Trump plan will raise the level of American aiding and abetting in Israel's genocide to a new level.

“The United States will take over Gaza, and we will do our job, too,” Trump declared at the press conference with Netanyahu. “We will own it… We will get rid of the destroyed buildings, we will level them, and we will create economic development that will provide unlimited jobs and housing for the people of the area… Do something different, you just can’t go back. If you go back, it will end up the same way it has for 100 years.”

Albanese responded to Trump's suggestion that "no one has the right to determine how to rebuild Gaza, except the Palestinians."

Legal Right of Return for Palestinians

“I don’t think people should go back to Gaza,” Trump said. “Why would they want to go back? It was a hell of a place,” neglecting to mention that it was Israel’s genocidal campaign that made Gaza “hell.” Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians and displaced 85 percent of the population, using American bombs. Yet when the ceasefire began, Palestinians began to return, because it is their homeland. Palestinian refugees have a legal right to return to their lands.

“Anyone who has watched the videos on social media showing the joy of Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza despite the total destruction there—and setting up tents on top of the rubble of their destroyed homes—will understand the Palestinian attachment to their homeland,” wrote Palestinian-American Michelle Mashbak on Truthout. “It would be naive for anyone, including President Trump, to think that Palestinians would voluntarily leave their homeland and settle elsewhere.”

In 1947 and 1948, Israel carried out the Nakba (or “catastrophe”), a violent campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced 750,000 Palestinians from their land in order to create Israel. Mass atrocities and dozens of massacres committed by Zionist terrorist movements such as the Haganah, Irgun and others killed approximately 15,000 Palestinians. The Nakba resulted in the forced displacement of 85 percent of the Palestinian population. “We should not call them Palestinian refugees,” Albanese said at this point. “We should call them Nakba survivors, homeless.”

The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 194 in 1948, which recognized the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The resolution states that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible under principles of international law or equity.”

About two-thirds of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees whose families were forced to leave their homes or fled in fear during and after the creation of Israel in 1948. But for 76 years, Israel has categorically denied them their right to return, despite Resolution 194.

Albanese said that Israel "will not kill the right of return because the right of return exists under international law that predates the establishment of the State of Israel."

Israel is deliberately repeating the Nakba of 76 years ago. “We are now continuing the Nakba of Gaza,” declared Israeli Security Cabinet member and Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter on November 12, 2023. “The Nakba of Gaza 2023. This is how it will end.”

Palestinians' right to self-determination

The Palestinian people have a legitimate right to self-determination. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza violates international law, which prohibits the acquisition of territory by the threat or use of force and enshrines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. The court wrote: “The continued abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying power, through annexation and the assertion of permanent control over the occupied Palestinian territories and the continued thwarting of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates the fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal.”

On February 4, Trump issued an executive order permanently cutting funding to UNRWA, the agency that has provided food, education and health care to Palestinian refugees since 1949. UNRWA is the only organization in Gaza capable of meeting the urgent needs of Palestinians who have suffered under Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war. Cutting funding to UNRWA would certainly exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Albanese noted that only the General Assembly can decide on UNRWA’s future.

Netanyahu has long been attacking UNRWA. In 2018, he said that “UNRWA is an organization that perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem and the narrative of the right of return, as it were, in order to destroy the State of Israel” and that it should “pass out of the world.” The process of defunding UNRWA by the United States and other countries began during the Biden administration.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, Trump announced his intention to send an additional $1 billion in weapons to Israel, including $700 million for 1,000-pound bombs and $300 million for armored bulldozers. Trump also lifted the Biden administration’s hold on the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

Palestinians appeal to the international community

A number of countries oppose the Trump plan, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Russia, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Brazil and Turkey.

Instead of welcoming Netanyahu to the White House, Trump should have sent him to The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. Yet Trump, who has faced a Palestinian complaint at the ICC, has a history of trying to undermine the ICC. During his first term, Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and another senior ICC official investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by U.S. military forces, the CIA, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

On February 6, Trump signed an executive order imposing economic and travel sanctions on ICC employees who participate in investigations of U.S. citizens and allies, including Israel.

In its decision finding Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal, the ICJ ordered states to "refrain from diplomatic relations with Israel, and from economic or commercial transactions or investments that might entrench Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories or help maintain the illegal situation created by Israel there."

Albanese said she was “shocked by the defiance of international law, not just by Israel, but by most of the international community,” including Denmark, a country known for its generous provision of public goods to its citizens as a social democracy. At her press conference, she urged the Danish government to disclose all its ties with Israel, including diplomatic, political, military and strategic research. She said it should “suspend anything that the International Court of Justice has found to be detrimental to Palestinian rights.”

Medical sources announced today, Monday, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 48,208, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023.

The sources added that the number of injuries has risen to 111,655 since the beginning of the aggression, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble.

It pointed out that 19 dead arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including 14 martyrs whose bodies were recovered, two martyrs who succumbed to their injuries, three new martyrs, and 15 injuries as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.

The sources explained that a number of victims are under the rubble and on the roads, and the ambulance and civil defense crews are still unable to reach them.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces continue to raid citizens' homes in Al-Far'a camp, forcing more families to flee, in addition to destroying the contents of the homes.

According to local sources, since this morning, the occupation forces have been storming citizens' homes and forcibly displacing several families, with the aim of turning their homes into military barracks.

The sources added that the occupation forces have been forcibly removing the doors of homes since the morning hours, and blowing up the entrances to some of them, noting that a number of the owners of these homes had been forcibly displaced two days ago. Meanwhile, the forces are destroying and smashing the contents of the homes from the inside.

She pointed out that the occupation forces are still sending additional military reinforcements from the Hamra checkpoint towards the camp.

She stressed that the humanitarian situation in the camp is getting worse with the water cut-off continuing for the ninth consecutive day, and the running out of drinking water in homes, in addition to a severe shortage of food, patients' medicines, and baby milk.

She added that the aid allowed into the camp is very small and is not even enough for a small number of residents, noting that the occupation forces are preventing the entry of aid despite its availability in sufficient quantities.

The Munich Security Conference organisers said in their report ahead of the summit on Friday that US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “seize territory” means that the United States is no longer “an anchor of stability, but a threat to be guarded against,” according to the British newspaper “The Guardian”.

The report takes as its theme the shift from a US-led post-Cold War unipolar era to a multipolar world dominated by no single ideological point of view, as the backdrop to this year's Munich conference.

Since his inauguration, the US president has proposed acquiring US territories in Greenland and Panama, and suggested that Canada be the 51st US state. Signals from Washington increasingly suggest that the US no longer wants to be the guardian of the liberal international order, but it is unclear which other countries would be willing and able to provide much-needed global public goods.

The report’s authors point out that the United States’ withdrawal from its global leadership role has implications that go beyond issues of war and peace: “Without global leadership of the kind the United States has provided over the past several decades, it is difficult to imagine the international community providing global public goods such as freedom of navigation or addressing even some of the many grave threats facing humanity.”

The authors also say that the president’s efforts to assert a new form of American primacy will be undermined by the trend toward “multipolarity.” Their report includes survey data showing that this trend toward multipolarity is likely to be welcomed as a force for good in countries such as Brazil, India, South Africa, and China.

The Munich conference, which opens on Friday, is seen as the most important forum for discussions among decision-makers in international security policy. It will include the first meetings between Trump’s delegation, led by US Vice President J.D. Vance, and European political and military figures since Trump’s inauguration in January.

Ukrainian file

Vance will be accompanied by US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. They are likely to be asked by the Europeans about future US leadership and their proposed terms for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg has denied reports that he plans to unveil a completed peace plan at the conference.

European leaders are expected to press Vance to do more to weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin before any negotiations, and will ask whether the US – either through Nato or independently – is prepared to provide much-needed support to a European-led stabilisation force inside Ukraine after a ceasefire, according to the Guardian.

The conference coincides with Trump's threat to impose unspecified "reciprocal tariffs" on the European Union.

There are estimates in the Israeli political arena that other security agencies will join the position of the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, who is demanding the formation of an official commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7, while the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuses to form it and refused Bar’s participation in the discussion of forming such a commission during the government meeting yesterday, in which it was decided to postpone the discussion of the issue for three months.

The Israeli public radio "Kan" reported today, Monday, that Bar believes that forming an official investigation committee like this is necessary, in light of the "prevailing conspiracy theories in Israel" about October 7, and quoted him as saying that not forming such an investigation committee "creates fertile ground for false allegations" about the events of October 7.

The Ynet website quoted sources who estimate that Israeli security agencies have joined Bar's position, saying that he believes that the only way to restore public confidence in the Shin Bet is by forming an official commission of inquiry only, and not a government commission of inquiry that will not enjoy the public's confidence.

A senior source considered that "Barr sees his position as someone who applies the principles of the 'Shabak Law', foremost among which is 'preserving democracy'."

Therefore, public confidence requires that conspiracy theories be refuted once and for all, which were associated with the Shin Bet's performance on the eve of the attack on Israel" on October 7.

In a document published by Kan, Bar demands the formation of an official commission of inquiry to investigate him as well regarding his role in decision-making, in order to remove “the cloud over the Shin Bet that he acted based on subjective considerations.”

Bar said that in parallel, the Shin Bet is conducting internal investigations and drawing conclusions, but this is not a substitute for an official commission of inquiry.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, reports have been circulating, including reports from political circles, which Ynet described as “conspiracy theories,” and the Shin Bet said were “fake news,” stating that Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman) officials knew in advance about Hamas’s preparations for the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on October 7, 2023, but did not talk about it out of negligence and in order not to expose important and necessary sources in Hamas.

In this context, Likud MK Gali Gottlieb claimed that the husband of a prominent activist in the anti-government protest movement demanding the return of Israeli prisoners held in the Gaza Strip, Shikma Brasler, who serves in one of the security services, was in contact with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Mossad chief David Barnea denied Gottlieb's statements, which were based on posts on social networks, and called on the police to investigate them.

Netanyahu said during the government meeting yesterday, to justify his refusal to form an official commission of inquiry, that "it cannot be said that the war is over," while the government's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, asked during the meeting why Bar's position was not circulated to the ministers.

Netanyahu responded by saying, "He is an employee. What does he have to do with this issue? This is a contradiction. By what authority does he express a position without being asked to do so, and without being connected to it in the first place?"

"We presented a position to the court in The Hague, according to which we intend to establish an official commission of inquiry, and we cannot back down from that," Baharav-Miara replied. Netanyahu asked her, "Who approved that?" Baharav-Miara replied, "You, sir."

Prisoners' institutions said that the Israeli occupation army arrested 580 citizens in the West Bank during the month of January, most of them in the city of Jenin and its camp.

The report issued on Monday indicated that during the past month, about 580 arrests were recorded from the West Bank, most of which were in Jenin and its camp, which has been witnessing aggression for 21 days.

He explained that among the detainees were 17 women and 60 children, and the escalating field investigations included hundreds of citizens.

The report also showed that 4 detainees were martyred during last January, and the martyrs are: (Martyr Muhammad Sharif Al-Asali from Gaza, martyred on 5/17/2024 and announced his martyrdom on 1/29/2025, Martyr Ibrahim Adnan Ashour from Gaza, martyred on 6/23/2024 and announced his martyrdom on 1/29/2025, Martyr Mutaz Mahmoud Abu Zneid from Hebron, martyred on 1/13/2025, and Martyr Muhammad Yassin Jabr from Bethlehem, martyred on 1/18/2025 and announced his martyrdom on 1/19/2025).

The report pointed out that until the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on January 19, the number of arrests in the West Bank reached 14,500, including 455 women and 1,115 children.

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his plan for the United States to take control of Gaza and deport Palestinians from it, saying he is "committed to buying and owning Gaza" and ensuring that Hamas does not return there.

This came in a new statement by Trump on Sunday evening, aboard Air Force One, as he was en route to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl, the most prominent sporting event in the American Football League.

"I am committed to buying and owning Gaza," Trump said. "As far as rebuilding it, we may give it to other countries in the Middle East to build parts of it, and other individuals may do so under our supervision."

Trump reiterated that the Gaza Strip is a "destroyed site" to which Palestinians cannot return, adding that "what is left will be demolished," while taking care of the Palestinians and ensuring that they live "in peace and harmony and that they will not be killed," after Gaza became "the most dangerous place in the world to live."

Asked if Washington would be willing to allow some Palestinian refugees into the United States, he ruled out the possibility, adding that he was open to considering individual requests.

Statements "reflect a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region"

For its part, Hamas condemned Trump's recent statements, which the movement described as "absurd" and "reflecting a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region."

In a statement published on its Telegram account, the movement stressed that Gaza "is not a property that can be bought and sold, and is an integral part of our occupied Palestinian land."

The statement added that dealing with the Palestinian issue with the mentality of a "real estate dealer" is nothing but a "recipe for failure," stressing that the Palestinians will work to thwart all displacement and deportation plans.

Hamas concluded its statement by saying that the people of Gaza will not leave Gaza unless they return to their cities and villages "occupied in 1948."

In the same context, the head of the political bureau of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said during a celebration of the 46th anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in Tehran, that the plans of the West, the United States and US President Donald Trump regarding the Gaza Strip "are doomed to failure, and we will bring them down as we brought down the projects that preceded them."

The Kremlin also said on Monday that it was awaiting more details about the US president's plan to buy the Gaza Strip.

Asked whether the Trump plan was acceptable to Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a virtual conference: “It is worth waiting for some details if we are talking about a coherent plan of action. We are talking about almost 1.2 million Palestinians living there, and this is probably the main dilemma.”

"These are the people who were promised by the relevant Security Council resolutions on a two-state solution to the Middle East problem, and so on. There are a lot of questions like that. We don't know the details yet, so we have to be patient," Peskov added.

Qatar has sent warning messages to Israel that the performance of its government and the provocative statements of its president, Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding the second phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, pose a threat to the first phase of the agreement as well.

Today, Monday, the newspaper "Haaretz" quoted an Israeli source familiar with the details of the Qatari messages as saying that "the Qataris conveyed angry messages, and reminded time and time again that the agreement between Israel and Hamas is with them as well, and that they guarantee the agreement, and that Israel's performance poses a danger to the continued release of the kidnapped in the first stage."

According to the newspaper, Hamas’s delay of several hours last Friday in transferring the names of the three prisoners who were released on Saturday is an indication of the danger of not completing the first phase, which is posed by Israel’s performance and Netanyahu’s statements. It is not unlikely that if negotiations on the second phase are accelerated, the delay in transferring the names of the Israeli prisoners who will be released the following day will be repeated next Friday, and perhaps their release will be delayed as well, which means blowing up the first phase and not completing it.

A low-level Israeli delegation arrived in Doha yesterday, headed by the deputy head of the Shin Bet, who the newspaper described as being favored by Netanyahu. Although this delegation was supposed to begin the second phase of negotiations, with a week’s delay, it discussed technical arrangements related to the first phase, and is not authorized to discuss anything related to the second phase. The Israeli political-security cabinet is scheduled to discuss the second phase during a meeting it will hold tomorrow.

Netanyahu's statements to right-wing American and Israeli media outlets about the displacement of Gaza residents, following the displacement plan announced by US President Donald Trump last Tuesday, along with the failure to send an Israeli delegation to Doha last Monday to begin negotiations on the second phase, have angered Qatar.

Following Netanyahu's statements about the displacement of the population of the Gaza Strip to Saudi Arabia, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement yesterday, stating that "the State of Qatar condemns in the strongest terms the provocative statements of the Israeli Prime Minister regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state in the lands of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and considers them a flagrant violation of international law and a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter."

The statement added that "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the State of Qatar's categorical rejection of calls for the forced displacement of the brotherly Palestinian people, and warns that such calls would hinder the chances of peace and renew confrontations in the region, and stresses that a just and sustainable peace will not be achieved except by enabling the Palestinians to impose their sovereignty over their lands."

Qatar has sent similar messages to the United States. US envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to visit the Middle East, including Qatar, next week.

Today, Sunday, the Israeli occupation forces demolished 5 homes and a cave and notified others in occupied Jerusalem and Hebron.

In Hebron, the occupation authorities demolished five homes and a cave in Khallet al-Daba’, which belongs to the village council in At-Tuwana in Masafer Yatta.

According to local sources, the occupation forces stormed Khallet al-Dabaa in Masafer Yatta with their heavy machinery, and demolished five homes and a cave owned by the Dababsa family, which housed approximately 40 people, most of whom were children and women, all of whom were left in the open, in very cold weather.

The occupation forces also destroyed the main and secondary electricity and water networks in Khallet Al-Dabaa, and swept away the trees and crops surrounding the homes.

In occupied Jerusalem, the occupation forces notified the demolition of homes and facilities in Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the village of Issawiya.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces posted demolition orders on land belonging to the Burqan family in the Ein Al-Lawza neighborhood in Silwan, while raiding facilities in the town of Issawiya and notifying them of demolition.

US President Donald Trump said he is serious about wanting Canada to become the 51st US state, in an interview aired Sunday ahead of the Super Bowl.

Asked by Fox News' Bret Baier if the idea of annexing Canada was "a real thing," as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently suggested, Trump said: "Yes, it is."

"I think Canada would be much better off if it became the 51st state because we're losing $200 billion a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen. Why are we paying $200 billion a year, as a kind of subsidy to Canada?" he continued.

The United States does not provide subsidies to Canada, he added. The United States buys products from the resource-rich country, including commodities such as oil. While the trade gap in goods has widened in recent years to $72 billion in 2023, the deficit largely reflects U.S. imports of Canadian energy.

Trudeau said Friday during a closed-door session with business and labor leaders that Trump's talk of making Canada the 51st state of the United States is "real" and linked to his desire to access the country's natural resources.

Today, Monday, settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.

Local sources reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, under the protection of occupation soldiers, who tightened inspection and scrutiny procedures at the gates of Al-Aqsa.

Arab countries are paying the price for their hesitation and lack of a decisive stance towards the Israeli war on Gaza, whether at the political, strategic or even popular levels. While the war continued without deterrence, most Arab capitals were content with verbal condemnations and limited diplomatic moves that had no tangible impact on the course of events. This negative stance did not pass without consequences, but rather negatively affected the status of these countries regionally and internationally, making them more vulnerable to pressure and political blackmail by major powers.

One of the direct results of this non-position is the erosion of Arab influence on the Palestinian issue, as Israel, with clear Western support, has become the only party imposing its conditions on the ground. The Arab countries that were supposed to play an active role in pressuring Israel or even providing real support to the Palestinians have found themselves watching the map of the conflict being reshaped according to Israeli interests. This is not limited to the continuation of the war, but also includes the policies of displacement, settlement, and changing the geographic and political reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

On the international level, this hesitation has given Israel and its allies more room to maneuver, as there has been no real pressure that could push Tel Aviv to reconsider its strategy. Arab countries that have economic and political leverage, such as oil and trade relations, have not invested these tools as required, making the Arab position appear to have no real weight in the equation. This weakness may open the door to more foreign intervention in the region, as the United States and other major powers seek to impose agendas that suit their interests, without any consideration for the Arab position.

Internally, the lack of a clear position has led to rising popular anger in many Arab countries. The Arab street, which has always been sensitive to the Palestinian issue, has felt deeply disappointed by the performance of Arab governments. This gap between peoples and regimes may have future repercussions, especially if the Israeli aggression continues for a longer period, or if political settlements are imposed that are not popularly accepted.

With Donald Trump back in the White House, the Arab predicament could worsen. Trump, known for his unwavering support for Israel and his approach based on political blackmail, could exploit the weakness of the Arab position to impose harsher conditions, whether regarding normalization or offering economic and security concessions. Arab countries that do not act today may find themselves facing much more difficult choices tomorrow, where they will no longer be able to refuse or maneuver.

It seems that the Arab states are already paying the price for their reluctance to take a decisive stance on the war on Gaza. As the conflict continues, the cost of this inaction may increase, not only for the Palestinians, but for the entire region, which may find itself facing a new political reality that serves only Israel and its allies.

Despite the bleakness of the situation, there is still room to change course, but it requires bold decisions. Arab countries can use their economic and diplomatic leverage, whether by pressuring the United States and Israel through trade and oil relations, or by forming new alliances within international organizations. Reviewing normalization agreements and linking them to a halt to Israeli aggression may be a necessary step to restore balance to the scene. Supporting the Palestinian popular resistance politically and financially is also an important option to strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinians and raise the cost of the occupation.

Ultimately, Arab countries find themselves at a critical moment. Either they move seriously to change the course of events before solutions are imposed on them that do not serve their interests, or they remain on the sidelines until they find themselves in a bigger mess, where they no longer have the ability to refuse or negotiate.

In the report published by the editor-in-chief of Haaretz newspaper, Aluf Benn, in which he calls for not underestimating the Israeli Defense Minister’s order to his army to prepare a plan for a voluntary exit of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to the suspicious plan of US President Trump, a real message fraught with dangers and the plan may seem very serious, as the editor considered that this is the first time that Israel has announced an actual plan to expel Arabs from areas it controls, considering that transfer is the policy of the Israeli government from now on.

Ben said that the danger of this Israeli step stems from the fact that it will task the army with encouraging the voluntary emigration of Gazans, through starvation for example, or by resuming the fighting, in order to eliminate Hamas, which is the goal set by Netanyahu who returned from the United States. Then Israeli circles believe that the screams of Gazans will escalate, and the countries of the world will agree to open their doors to the refugees of Khan Yunis and Jabalia.

The editor points out that extremism is controlling the leaders of the Israeli army, after bringing in Yisrael Katz to the position of minister, as he considered his order to the Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to reprimand the head of the Intelligence Division, Shlomi Bandar, because he warned of the consequences of the Trump plan, as an official announcement from the army leadership that support for the transfer will be a condition for promotion, and this is what the army is currently working on, as did the extremist minister Itamar Ben Gvir in the police force.

At a time when the Egyptian and Jordanian warnings are increasing about the dangerous consequences of Trump’s plan for the region, as reported in Haaretz, and the possibility of Iran positioning itself in Jordan after losing the Lebanese and Syrian fronts, losing security in Sinai, and endangering the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, the chief editor of Haaretz goes on to describe Netanyahu’s policy, in an unambiguous way, as a narrow right-wing government that includes a clear direction to implement the legacy of the extremist Rabbi Kahane, most notably: the Nationality Law, the steps of annexation and plundering the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, filling the Likud list with Kahanists, the alliance with Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and the policy of expulsion and destruction in Gaza, and then in the West Bank.

These data indicate the great dangers and challenges facing the Palestinian cause, as Trump's statements have made the Israelis salivate and released from the bottle the hidden desires of many of them, to encourage the expulsion of the Palestinians, and not to believe in a shared life with them on the same land and raise the slogan: "We are here and they are there", in reference to the necessity of expelling the Palestinians. The editor Ben admits that one of the leaders of the Zionist left told him that Kahane is in everyone's heart, referring thereby to the fascist rabbi whom the editor of Haaretz describes as a thug and marginal who was expelled by the Knesset, and his heir in promoting the idea of transfer, Rehavam Ze'evi, who was convicted as a rapist and criminal, but their ideas have not disappeared, as after a generation and a half, here are the statements of Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Netanyahu himself confirming that the approach of the Zionist mentality, represented by Kahane, is the prevailing one in the Israeli street today.

Netanyahu's enthusiasm for eliminating Hamas and not resuming the second phase negotiations until this goal is achieved, Trump's statements and plans, Katz's instructions, the postponement of the vote on a bill submitted by resigned Minister Ben Gvir stipulating the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, until next week until a decision is made in the cabinet session, and a number of ministers' demands that Netanyahu impose sovereignty over the West Bank, are all serious indicators that should not be underestimated, and they must be addressed with a unified and insightful Palestinian and Arab vision and responsibility, in order to confront the Kahanist ideology that has penetrated like a cancer in the minds of Israelis.

A young man was killed this morning, Sunday, by Israeli occupation bullets in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

According to local sources, the young man, Muhammad Raed Al-Harazim, was killed by an Israeli sniper on Al-Mansoura Street, east of the neighborhood.

His body arrived at the Baptist Hospital in the city.

Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad: Trump’s withdrawal from the displacement plan is not an abandonment of it, but rather a temporary calm and a tactical, not strategic, retreat.

Akram Atallah: Trump will not back down from displacement unless counter-pressures are intensified, both Arab and international, to become stronger than Israeli pressure

Dr. Bilal Al-Shobaki: Trump’s statements about the displacement from Gaza are an attempt at political blackmail and exploitation rather than an implementable plan

Dr. Qusay Hamed: A well-thought-out tactic to calm Arab and international reactions while continuing to keep the idea of displacement an option open for discussion

Nabhan Khreisha: Trump will rethink new mechanisms and appropriate alliances to implement his plan, but he will realize that his project is not an inevitable fate

Dr. Aql Salah: Trump has not backed down completely, but may return with his plan to pressure the Palestinians and Arabs to accept solutions that are in line with his policy

Amid international protests, US President Donald Trump appeared to have temporarily, if only formally, backtracked on his previous statements regarding the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, amid warnings that this was a tactical rather than strategic retreat, especially since Trump returned to confirm that he was “in no hurry” to implement this plan.

In separate interviews with “I,” writers, political analysts, specialists, and university professors believe that Trump’s retreat does not reflect an abandonment of the idea, but rather is merely a temporary calming step, in light of the US administration’s awareness that mass displacement represents a flagrant violation of international law, and may endanger its regional and international interests.

Writers, analysts, university professors and specialists confirm that the American-Israeli plan for displacement is not new, but rather reflects the essence of Zionist policies. The implementation of this project may be done gradually by drying up the means of life in Gaza and creating an environment that repels the population, which may push the Palestinians to “voluntarily” emigrate under the pressure of harsh conditions. However, the continuation of international and Arab pressure may force Trump to re-evaluate his position, especially if its political cost becomes higher than the potential benefits.

On the other hand, writers, analysts, specialists and university professors believe that Trump, who adopts a method of bargaining and political blackmail, may use the issue of displacement as a pressure card in the context of his negotiations with regional parties, as he can offer to stop the implementation of the plan in exchange for political or economic concessions.

A state of retreat, confusion and hesitation

Writer and political analyst Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad believes that US President Donald Trump’s statement that he is “in no hurry” to implement the plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip reflects a state of retreat, confusion, and hesitation, and perhaps a temporary abandonment of the idea. The proposal that Trump launched with “crudeness, ignorance, and stupidity” faced a wave of strong reactions at the international and regional levels, which prompted him to reconsider his plan, or at least slow down its implementation.

Awad asserts that one of the main reasons behind Trump’s retreat from implementing his plan at the present time is that the mass displacement of Palestinians represents a flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law, and it also contradicts traditional American policies that have relied - even if only formally - on managing the conflict rather than igniting it with mass displacement projects. Adopting such an idea means that the United States is completely turning its back on everything that has been agreed upon internationally regarding the Palestinian issue, which could harm its global standing and its relations with allied countries.

Awad believes that the mass displacement of Palestinians is not only a humanitarian disaster, but also harms Israel itself, its allies in the region, and threatens the path of settlement and normalization that Israel has sought to establish with Arab countries over the past three decades. If the plan is implemented, Israeli-Arab relations will be exposed to serious tremors, and may end completely, because the regimes that signed normalization agreements will find themselves facing their angry peoples, and will not be able to justify the continuation of their relationship with Israel in light of the displacement of the Palestinians and the liquidation of their cause.

Awad points out that the displacement plan puts moderate Arab regimes in a major dilemma, because it is impossible for them to agree to displacement and help liquidate the Palestinian cause. If the matter turns into displacement instead of a state, what justifications remain for normalization? This means that the Arab regimes will pay a heavy price that they do not want to pay, which may lead to a complete collapse of the settlement process that was reached over the past decades.

Awad describes Trump as a real estate man and a broker by nature, who does not think about history, national identities, rights, and international laws. Rather, he simply follows his interests wherever he finds them. Therefore, his statements do not mean that he has completely abandoned the idea, but rather he may be looking for a better opportunity to implement it in the future. As a businessman, he is accustomed to bargaining, exchanging, and negotiating, and he knows that there is a great political cost to implementing his plan at this time. Therefore, his retreat may be just a tactical maneuver until the appropriate conditions are prepared.

He stresses that the mass displacement of Palestinians is not an American idea, but rather the essence of the Zionist project itself. Since its founding, Zionist thought has been based on “more land, fewer Arabs,” and “a land without a people for a people without a land.” This doctrine has not left the mindset of Israeli leaders, but is rather raised every few years, then postponed if it encounters difficulties. But the idea does not die, but rather the right opportunity is awaited to implement it.

Awad points out that Trump’s retreat from the displacement project is not an abandonment of it, but rather a temporary calm, with the aim of avoiding violent reactions and rearranging the political cards. The Israelis do not stop thinking about displacement, but they postpone implementation until the right opportunity arises, and Trump, who reflects Israeli desires more than he is an independent decision-maker, may return to this plan again, if he sees that circumstances permit it in the future.

Long term project requiring preliminary procedures

Writer and political analyst Akram Atallah points out what US President Donald Trump means by not rushing to implement the plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, as he realizes that such a project cannot be implemented overnight, but rather is a long-term project that requires preliminary measures such as voluntary migration and drying up the means of living in the Strip, which leads to creating an environment of pressure that ultimately pushes Palestinians to leave it.

Atallah points out that the implementation of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents does not depend on Arab or international reactions, as Trump does not pay any attention to them. He made this clear when he spoke about Egypt and Jordan, indicating that they may object at first, but they will accept in the end without this objection having any significant effect.

Atallah confirms that Trump's position on this project is linked to several factors, including his personal interests linked to his companies, in addition to the Israeli desire that plays a pivotal role in strengthening this trend.

He points out that the project has the support of a major country represented by Israel and its lobbies, which makes it a realistic matter for Trump, and even if the displacement does not succeed, he may exploit the idea for bargaining and political tactics, such as demanding that Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for stopping the deportation, which makes it an existing project until now.

Atallah stresses that Trump is not the owner of the idea, but rather a mere translation of the Israeli desire and program. He was provided with documents, projects, and visual materials that support him in adopting this proposal, which made him repeat exactly what Israel wants. Therefore, Trump’s withdrawal from the idea will not happen unless Israel abandons it first, as he is merely a front for implementing this plan.

The only scenario that might push Trump to back down, according to Atallah, is to intensify the counter-pressures to become greater and stronger than the Israeli pressures, whether at the Arab or international level. If these pressures reach a level that cannot be ignored, then Trump could back down from the project, but he will not do so automatically, but rather under pressure that exceeds the Israeli influence on him.

The retreat is an attempt to save Trump's retreat line.

Professor of Political Science at Hebron University, Dr. Bilal Al-Shoubaki, confirms that US President Donald Trump’s statements regarding his lack of urgency in implementing the proposal to displace the people of Gaza and occupy the Strip may be the result of the widespread and angry reactions to his proposal, which were not limited to Palestinians and Arabs, but also included Western political levels.

Al-Shoubaki points out that such statements may have come at the behest of some of his advisors who realized that the idea of displacing the people of Gaza and occupying the Strip had sparked sharp criticism, making its implementation currently unrealistic.

Al-Shoubaki points out that transforming this proposal into an implementable plan requires the presence of partner parties beyond the United States and Israel, which is not currently available.

It is believed that Trump's withdrawal of the statement, even if only superficially, may be an attempt to preserve a path back in case Trump or any party supporting him fails to implement this idea in the future.

According to Al-Shobaki, Trump and his advisors’ reading of the situation in Gaza, along with international interactions, led them to conclude that the idea is not feasible in the foreseeable future.

However, Al-Shoubaki did not rule out the possibility of re-raising the idea of displacement or occupation of Gaza in the future if the appropriate conditions are available, suggesting that these statements will be used politically, rather than as a current practical step, such that they will be used as a political blackmail and investment card to pressure the Palestinians and reduce the ceiling of their negotiating demands.

Al-Shoubaki explains that such strategies are not new, but rather represent a classic American-Israeli approach to dealing with Palestinian and Arab rights and aspirations. At a time when the traditional Palestinian demand was to end the occupation and achieve an independent state on the 1967 borders, the negotiating ceiling may be manipulated to become merely ensuring that the Palestinians remain on their lands, instead of talking about ending the occupation or lifting the siege.

Al-Shoubaki believes that these statements may also be used in the context of US-Israeli relations with some Arab countries, especially in the normalization process. Instead of pushing towards establishing a Palestinian state, the new proposal may be to keep the Palestinians within their current borders without real sovereign rights, which contributes to broader normalization with some Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

Israel and its allies will not give up the idea of displacement

As for the possibility of Israel abandoning the idea of displacement, Al-Shoubaki stresses that Israel and its allies have not and will not abandon this idea, but the current circumstances do not allow for its direct implementation. However, Al-Shoubaki believes that the decisive factor here is the lack of a political and diplomatic environment capable of supporting such a plan.

Al-Shoubaki stresses that instead of merely condemning these American and Israeli statements, there should be a Palestinian counter-proposal based on strategies to stabilize the Palestinians on their lands and strengthen their political and social presence, to prevent the passage of any plan aimed at weakening the Palestinian presence or forcibly displacing them.

Seeking to reshape international awareness of the idea of displacement

Professor of Political Science at Al-Quds Open University, Dr. Qusay Hamed, believes that US President Donald Trump seeks to reshape international awareness of the idea of displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, so that it becomes one of the options proposed within future solutions to the tragedy in the Strip, and thus legitimize it.

Hamed points out that Trump's main goal is to wrap the idea of displacement in a "humanitarian aspect" and present it as an "optimal" solution to address the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

Hamed believes that this aims to divert attention from the war crimes and Israeli aggression in Gaza that caused this humanitarian catastrophe to legitimizing the idea of displacement as one of the possible solutions, as the principle of the proposed displacement is based on consolidating Israel’s occupation of the Strip and even annexing it as part of it.

Hamed warns that the most dangerous thing that could happen is for Trump to succeed in making the international community, including Arab countries and the Palestinians themselves, deal with displacement as if it were a realistic and possible solution, and to transform the idea of displacement from an unfeasible scenario into a proposal that is discussed at the humanitarian and international levels.

Regarding whether Trump’s proposal is a real proposal or just a political tactic, Hamed explains that Trump is aware of the difficulty of implementing the idea of displacement on the ground, especially the Arab countries’ rejection of it, but he seeks through statements like these to transform this tactical proposal into a reality and make the idea of displacement more acceptable as a humanitarian solution to the worsening humanitarian situation in the Strip.

The most dangerous aspect of Trump’s proposal, as Hamed sees it, is the attempt to impose greater pressure on Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, to prepare the ground for implementing this idea.

Hamed believes that Trump will keep the issue of displacement as a tool of pressure on Hamas and the Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and will delay the reconstruction of Gaza, keeping it an uninhabitable place as part of a strategy of political blackmail.

Hamed believes that the timing of Trump’s proposal aims to link the progress of the next stages of the deal with bargaining with Hamas to make concessions such as agreeing to remove its leaders from Gaza and dismantling its military wing, in order to back down from this proposal, and on the other hand, bargaining with Saudi Arabia to abandon linking normalization with Israel to the establishment of a Palestinian state, in exchange for abandoning the idea of displacement.

Regarding Trump’s lack of urgency in implementing the displacement idea, Hamed believes that this is not a retreat from the idea, but rather a deliberate tactic to calm Arab and international reactions, while continuing to keep the idea in the discussion.

According to Hamed, Trump’s advisory team, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are well aware that previous Israeli policies that sought to displace Palestinians in Gaza have largely failed to achieve this goal, and therefore Trump’s successive statements on displacement are intended to keep the debate alive around this idea without abandoning it.

Hamed believes that the idea of displacement comes in the context of the United States and Israel's attempts to reshape international awareness towards accepting this scenario as part of the international community's efforts to alleviate the human suffering in the Gaza Strip.

Savage capitalism in its worst forms

Journalist Nabhan Khreisha believes that US President Donald Trump's statements about postponing the implementation of his plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are not only due to Arab and international opposition, and even within the United States, but there are other reasons that prompted him to declare that he is in no hurry.

This announcement, according to Khreisha, does not mean that Trump has abandoned the idea, but he simply does not place it at the top of his priorities at the present time, as he was busy in the first hours of his term with other files, such as strengthening the American economy by imposing customs duties on imports from China, Canada and Mexico, in addition to implementing his strict policies against immigration.

According to Khreisha, Trump revealed his readiness to send American forces to Gaza to implement his plan, which includes displacing the Palestinians and establishing the “Middle East Riviera” project, which reflects savage capitalism in its ugliest forms, and brings to mind the direct military colonialism that prevailed before World War II, but after the war, it turned into soft colonialism based on economic dominance and the exploitation of other countries’ natural resources, which is what Trump is trying to implement in Gaza through huge real estate and investment projects.

Despite Trump’s announcement of postponing the displacement project, Khreisha believes that this retreat is tactical and not strategic, as he will rethink new mechanisms and appropriate alliances to implement it in the long term.

Reshaping Political Alignments in the Middle East

Khreisha believes that Trump is working to reshape the political alignments in the Middle East to serve his personal and economic interests, citing his relationship with the Saudi company “Dar Global”, with which he invested in a project to build luxury villas in the Omani capital, Muscat, at a cost of $200 million.

Khreisha explains that one of the reasons Trump announced that he would not rush to implement the project is his awareness of the difficulty of sending American forces to Gaza, and the impossibility of harnessing the political, military and financial capabilities of the United States to serve his own projects. Therefore, he needs a “barter” deal with Netanyahu, which stipulates that Israel resume the war on Gaza, with the aim of destroying any hope of rebuilding the sector, and tightening the siege on the entry of humanitarian aid, which may push the Palestinians to forced migration.

In return, Trump would guarantee Israel military, political and financial support, and perhaps recognition of its sovereignty over the West Bank or parts of it, which would enable it to increase the pace of killing and destruction in the West Bank, with the aim of pushing the Palestinians there to emigrate as well. If this scenario comes true, Trump would find an open path to making business deals with Israeli companies to implement his projects in Gaza, including tourist resorts, entertainment facilities, and oil and gas exploration in its lands and coasts.

He points out that psychologists' assessments of Trump's personality confirm that he is an unpredictable person, as he has never admitted defeat, even in the most difficult moments of his bankruptcy in the nineties, or during his many investment mistakes. He sees himself as always victorious, and suffers from complex narcissistic disorders that make him refuse to admit failure.

But despite all these calculations, Khreisha asserts that Trump will sooner or later realize that his project is not an inevitable fate, and that the Palestinians are not an extra people to humanity, nor are they Red Indians. The Palestinian people, in Gaza and all other places where they are found, will remain steadfast and will not allow the plans aimed at uprooting them from their land to pass.

Trump seeks to impose solutions that are in line with his political interests

Writer and political researcher Dr. Aql Salah believes that US President Donald Trump’s retraction of his statements regarding the displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip is due to the regional and international reactions he was met with, in addition to the internal opposition in the United States.

According to Salah, Trump's statements about displacement contradict international legitimacy and humanitarian laws, which put American democracy under severe pressure, prompting Trump to adopt a more calming stance after realizing the extent of the shock caused by his statements at all levels.

Salah points out that Trump was seeking, through his statements, to test the reactions of the concerned parties, with the aim of drawing up a future policy that is in line with his political interests.

Salah believes that Trump's withdrawal from the idea of deportation now was nothing more than an attempt to ease the situation and reduce the effects of his failed statements, which were subject to severe criticism.

However, Salah stresses that Trump's retreat does not mean that he has completely abandoned his plan for displacement, but rather that he may return with his plan to pressure the Palestinians and Arabs to agree to solutions that are in line with his policy, such as normalization with Israel and the solutions he is proposing regarding the Palestinian issue.

Salah reviews some previous details related to the context of Trump's policy, pointing out that Trump is the only American president who dared to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, and he is also the one who announced the "Deal of the Century" in its early stages.

In this context, Salah believes that the plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza represents a continuation of the “Deal of the Century,” which includes two parts: the first relates to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while the second is a tactic to achieve expansionist Israeli goals.

Salah asserts that the American plan seeks to impose a "fait accompli solution" based on establishing Palestinian self-rule within a limited state, expanding settlements in the West Bank, and comprehensive normalization with Arab countries, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Salah describes what Trump is proposing as a “shock theory” that aims to quickly present solutions in an attempt to force everyone to accept them.

Salah believes that Trump's statements serve the Netanyahu government, which benefits from the continuation of far-right rule in Israel.

He stresses that American institutions, including Trump's team, are fully aware that the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank is contrary to international law and will not be feasible on the ground, but the real goal lies in exploiting these statements to force Arab countries to accept normalization with Israel, and thus impose solutions that end the Palestinian issue at the expense of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Salah believes that Trump's statements about displacement aim to put more pressure on Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, to accept the idea of "self-rule" for the Palestinians instead of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, which reflects an Israeli vision that seeks to liquidate the Palestinian cause and establish Israel in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his visit to Washington on Saturday by appearing on Fox News, repeating his denunciations of the previous US administration that he had repeated everywhere (during his visit) to please and curry favor with the administration of US President Donald Trump, despite the Biden administration’s full support for him and Israel, enabling them to continue a war of extermination of defenseless civilians in Gaza, unparalleled in the twenty-first century.

Netanyahu also spoke admiringly on American television about Trump's plan to take over Gaza as "the first new idea in years" regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu insisted during his meetings with President Trump, Republican lawmakers, and influential leaders who share his right-wing racist ideology that Trump was finally correcting the course of the relationship between the United States and Israel after the actions of former President Joe Biden, in order to create a difference in positions between him and the Biden administration, which provided him with $28 billion in weapons, and to create a difference, or a disagreement (or a space between positions, as the American proverb says) between Biden and Israel, in denial of the reality of Biden’s position and his administration from October 7, 2023, until his departure from the White House, on January 20, 2025, which Netanyahu himself acknowledged, saying: “Biden has acted as Israel’s most important supporter in history.”

Netanyahu’s eager praise of Trump is, on the one hand, the necessary self-adulation required of any world leader trying to stay in President Trump’s good graces, and on the other hand, “also serves as Netanyahu’s down payment as a thank-you for Trump’s stunning plan for the mass exodus of Palestinians and the American takeover of Gaza,” according to an article in Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper.

Netanyahu left Washington with a variety of actions and Trump gifts to show off to the Israeli far right: Trump executive orders on UNRWA; the International Criminal Court; the announcement of $7 billion in arms sales (although they were approved by Biden); and a recommitment to maximum pressure on Iran—all while bypassing any pesky congressional barriers.

Moreover, according to experts, Netanyahu is clearly encouraged by Trump casting doubt on the feasibility of a Gaza ceasefire and diverting the world’s attention away from the dozens of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, and toward the horrific Gaza plan — which leaves far more questions than answers, even after attempts at clarification by the president and senior U.S. officials, especially given Trump’s repeated insistence on his plan to take over Gaza and turn it into the Middle East Riviera.

While Netanyahu and his allies are touting Trump’s plan to seize Gaza as the immediate achievement of the Washington visit (and meeting with Trump), the real prize could come in the near future, according to speculation. In the hours before Netanyahu arrived, Trump responded to a question about annexing the occupied West Bank by comparing Israel’s standing in the Middle East to the point of a pen on his desk. Asked later alongside Netanyahu, Trump said “people love the idea” of annexation and “we’ll be announcing it in the next four weeks.” Trump is widely expected to announce that he will drop the term “West Bank” in official US discourse, and instead use “Judea and Samaria.”

“The hope of changing the name of the West Bank to Judea and Samaria is to normalize settlement and make it a permanent reality, and to facilitate the process of annexing the West Bank, according to the Deal of the Century plan that President Trump launched at the White House in January 2020 (which gives Israel 33% of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley),” a former official in the previous Trump administration told Jerusalem on condition of anonymity.

While Trump’s reference to annexing the West Bank, “Little Israel,” may have been lost in the uproar and shock over the Gaza takeover, a quick glance at the calendar shows that four weeks after that meeting, Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address to Congress, and he may use that as a platform to outline his plans to annex the West Bank.

Trump is expected to use his Gaza plan as leverage with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is due in Washington this week and will meet Trump on Feb. 11 in the hope of avoiding another diplomatic disaster. If Abdullah refuses to accept Palestinians from Gaza and the ceasefire collapses, Trump could use the resumption of U.S. aid to Jordan as a carrot and annexation as a stick.

In Trump's latest blunder, the US president pledged on Sunday to buy and own Gaza, and said he might give parts of it to other countries in the Middle East to help rebuild it.

Trump said that "countries in the Middle East will accept the Palestinians after those countries talked to him." He repeated his talk about Gaza, saying that he would "turn it into a good place for future development." He added: "I will take care of the Palestinians, and I will make sure that they are not killed," knowing that no one knows how the deal to buy and sell the devastated Strip will be done.

Experts believe that no matter how Trump’s plans end, Netanyahu has arrived in Israel feeling more comfortable than ever, and more confident than ever that he has secured his political survival. Miriam Adelson, who donated $200 million to Trump during his pregnancy and has significant influence over Trump, was rumored to be leaning toward the return of Naftali Bennett as prime minister in Israel, but has now abandoned the idea.

The Israeli occupation forces launched an arrest campaign in the West Bank at dawn and this morning, Monday.

In Jenin, the occupation forces stormed the town of Silat al-Harithiya and surrounded a house, demanding that those inside leave via loudspeakers, and set fire to the house before arresting: Alaa al-Baytawi, Karam al-Saadi, Yousef al-Sulami, and Walid Abu al-Rashid.

The occupation forces also destroyed a commercial store after searching it, closing it and vandalizing its contents. They also raided Salah Abu Al-Rashid’s home and vandalized its contents.

In Tubas, the occupation forces arrested Yazan Samer Samara (17 years old) after raiding and searching his family’s home.

The occupation forces blew up the door of the family's house during the raid, and also raided the homes of other citizens in the town.

The occupation bulldozers also destroyed citizens' property before withdrawing from the town.