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U.S. President Joe Biden is pushing Saudi Arabia and Israel to sign on to a broad “normalization” deal, which would be a landmark of his first term in the White House. But Israel’s Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman each have their own calculations standing in the way.
The Israel-Hamas war has revived the urgency of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the two-state solution. The West views that this solution would soften polarization in Western societies, and calm down the Middle East, so the United States and NATO can again focus their efforts on confronting the real adversaries in Beijing and Moscow.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has created an unprecedented crisis for moderate Arab countries, mainly for those who have ties with Israel, and for Saudi Arabia that was on the verge of reaching a normalization deal with Israel. It’s hard to envision a future for Gaza without them.
The higher cost of the war will not deter Hamas leaders from claiming victory once any truce is reached. It will only push the discussion of a real solution for the region farther away from all.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to task by hostage families during his Memorial Day speech on Monday — just the latest sign of the deep divisions in Israeli society as the war enters its eighth month, with no vision for the future.
While the Palestinian cause is important for Iran and the Arab militias it backs, the return of this issue to the forefront may not benefit the resistance camp. And its tactic of strategic patience may not produce the intended results.
Entire Palestinian families have been wiped out over the past seven months in Gaza in Israel’s bombing campaign. Many families resorted to dividing their family members to different places, so at least some of them survive if their houses are bombed.
The Israeli prime minister has foreign and domestic pressure to accept a ceasefire deal, but he may be set to make the bloodiest decision of the war to date in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Images of recent student-led, pro-Palestinian protests across the world are reminiscent of the demonstrations of solidarity in support of Vietnam, that rocked campuses some 50+ years ago. But beyond the same indignation fueling the demonstrations, the context, and potential political repercussions, vary greatly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders both have deeply cynical reasons to prolong hostilities. Meanwhile, it’s in the self-interest of both the U.S. and Arab regimes to try all avenues to broker a ceasefire to ease the suffering of those caught in the crossfire.
A Jewish attack on the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque during passover may be part of a plan to fulfill an obscure slaughtering rite of a “Red cow” to achieve the prophecy that will trigger the push to construct the mythic third temple of Jerusalem. The war in Gaza is raising the stakes.
Besides repeated bombings of school buildings, the Israeli army also has turned many universities into military barracks and interrogation sites, before blowing them up. That’s part of a premeditated policy to destroy Gaza’s entire education system.
Washington has vetoed Palestine’s full membership to the United Nations and is using talk of the “two-state solution” to distract from Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Pushed by the U.S. to normalize ties with Israel, what will Arab states do?
Despite talk of a smaller impact, Israel is prolonging its war on Gaza with more bombing campaigns that regularly kill civilians. The daily slaughter continues as the international community and Middle East have been focused on the growing tensions between Israel and Iran.
The brother of Palestinian journalist Mohamed Abu Shahma chose to return home to Khan Younis despite Israel’s offensive on the city. He paid the ultimate price.
The Israeli blockade of food, water, fuel, and essential medicines and supplies is inflicting immense suffering on Palestinians. Women in the Gaza strip are forced to sell their jewelry to feed their children amid lack of humanitarian aid and soaring prices, reports independent Arab media Daraj.
After Israel’s military killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen — including six foreigners —, its closest allies in the West revolted. Some threatened to stop supplying Israel’s war machine. The Arab countries, meanwhile, are still taking the position of “concerned observer” of Israel’s killing of over 33,000 Palestinians, two thirds of them women and children.
Spain is leading the way on European recognition of the state of Palestine. Ireland, Malta and Slovenia have also signed a joint statement asserting readiness to recognize the warring region. Will other European Union countries follow suit?
After seven workers with the NGO World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli drone, we must ask what drives humans to give themselves to others, and risk everything. It should put any lingering cynicism to rest.
In late March, the Palestinian embassy in Cairo organized a crossing for Palestinians back into Gaza. Al Manassa talks with some of the Palestinians preparing to leave the safety of Egypt about their motivations for returning to the war-torn homeland.
The Israeli drone strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza has set off an international outcry. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction was a reminder that cutting off humanitarian aid has been part of the strategy from the start of the war in Gaza.
Displaced people in Gaza accuse aid groups’ representatives of “extortion and theft” in demanding money in exchange for aid packages that are meant to be free donations from governments or NGOs.
Israel’s colonial-settler project aims to kill this protective, familiar, and memory-preserving space called “home” in the Occupied Territories. This Palestinian heartbreak is documented for all to see, and ultimately, and paradoxically, squashes any attempt to dehumanize a people.
Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza have given Islamists new momentum and a new outlook on their recent political setbacks.
Criticism of Israel in the United States remained a taboo for many decades. But this has begun to change with new generations and Palestinians presenting their cause on a humanitarian basis. It may ultimately make it impossible to reconcile being both a progressive and a Zionist.
Fishermen in war-torn Gaza are risking their lives by entering the Mediterranean despite relentless Israeli naval bombing. They say they have no option to feed their children amid a looming famine in the strip.
By abstaining from a UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Washington has not only angered Benjamin Netanyahu — it has potentially altered the dynamics of the whole Israel-Hamas war.
With Israel blocking aid from entering Gaza, some are either resorting to force to get aid to feed their children or turning to a new black market where merchants and war profiteers exploit people’s needs.
The military struggle of the Palestinians has become a holy matter that banned any discussion about it — including reviews, criticism and accountability. That has given the tyranny of militarism the upper hand at the expense of politics and popular movements.
The U.S. pier and sea corridor aims at isolating Gaza from its Arab neighbors, paving the way for the incoming authority, and facilitating attacks on the resistance.
Released detainees detail how Israel’s military used them as human shields in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Soldiers would put civilian Palestinians in front of military targets, endangering their lives, according to accounts from recently-released detainees.
As the United Arab Emirates normalizes relations with Israel, an Emirati organization’s recent revival of a famous pan-Arab song is strangely devoid of all common Arab issues and subjects that would anger Israel, just as Palestinians are being massacred in Gaza.
With the Israel-Hamas war now in its sixth month and hunger worsening in Gaza, Palestinian have begun fasting for Ramadan. Al Manassa spent the first day of the Muslim holy month with a displaced family in their tent in Mawasi.
Famine creeps into Gaza, one could expect a certain pragmatism would push influential countries in the region to intervene. Yet each of these countries has its own political agenda.
The U.S. has joined several other countries in airdropping aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, but this showy international response is ill conceived and unlikely to avert the looming famine in the coastal enclave.
U.S. President Joe Biden said this weekend that “Netanyahu is doing Israel more harm than good”: a phrase that speaks volumes about the lack of trust between the two men, especially still without a ceasefire, and humanitarian aid blocked from entering an increasingly desperate Gaza Strip.
Abductions are one of the main sources of income for terrorists in Africa. Recently a South African paramedic was freed in Mali after being held for more than six years. His release is down to one man who worked tirelessly to secure his freedom.
A 31-year-old Gaza woman shares her firsthand account of being detained by Israeli soldiers for more than a month without any clear reason while fleeing Israel’s bombardment.
Tensions continue to rise between the UN and Israel, despite the publication of a UN report confirming Hamas’s accusations of sexual violence on October 7. It’s a long history of mistrust which has resurfaced in the current crisis.
What to make of the criticism of Hamas’ statements or slogans, which are similar to Fatah rhetoric in its early years? Does any debate of the merits of the two rival organizations matter in the face of Israel’s responsibility for the ongoing slaughter in Gaza?