Author: Gulf News Week
Will the fragile ceasefire hold as US President Trump arrives in the Middle East?After two years of genocide and only days into a new ceasefire, Palestinians are returning to Gaza City to find devastation: no homes, power, or family. Now, days after US President Donald Trump announced a plan to end the war, he is set to arrive in the region. There is optimism, but questions remain. Namely, will this deal hold?The Take is nominated for the Signal Awards in the Best Daily Podcast category. While we wait for the judges’ decisions, you can help us win the listeners’ vote. Vote…
US President Trump praises ‘new beautiful day’ as Gaza war comes to an end, but questions about the future remain.Political leaders from around the world have convened in Egypt for a ceremony to sign a ceasefire deal in Gaza, led by United States President Donald Trump and mediating partners such as Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye.Speaking in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, Trump envisioned a glimmering future for Gaza as a hub of development and investment, even as the Gaza Strip lies in ruins following Israel’s devastating, two-year assault.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘You…
Two families stood waiting in Ramallah, one to welcome their loved one, one to mourn that they may never see theirs.Ramallah, occupied West Bank – The morning dawned full of anticipation as thousands of Palestinian families prepared to welcome their imprisoned relatives, who were scheduled to be released as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.Some had spent decades in prison, some were serving consecutive life sentences, and most had been rounded up wholesale by Israel in Gaza during its two-year war on the besieged enclave.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Who are the Palestinian captives Israel…
Trump says the mega-donor, who spent more than $100m to help him win the 2024 US presidential election, ‘loves Israel’.As United States President Donald Trump addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire deal, he saluted American diplomats, generals and regional states involved in the agreement.Miriam Adelson, a pro-Israel mega-donor, also received a shout-out from the US president on Monday. Trump noted that she has “$60bn in her account” and that “she loves Israel”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Hamas and Israel exchange captives, detainees before Gaza summitlist 2 of 3‘Inhumane’: 154 freed Palestinian prisoners…
Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinians, political prisoners and detainees. Here’s a look at who they are.Thousands of Palestinians gathered in Ramallah on Monday to await the release of some 2,000 political prisoners and forcibly disappeared people who were taken by Israel from the West Bank, which it occupies, and Gaza, which it has waged war on for two years.Palestinians welcomed back 96 political prisoners, as well as the vast majority of people Israel detained from Gaza during the war.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Attacks by Israeli army, illegal settlers injure 36 in occupied West Banklist 2…
The US president talked about everything, except the genocide.United States President Donald Trump had the time of his life on Monday at the Israeli Knesset, where he was welcomed as “the president of peace”. His captive audience showered him with applause, laughs and too many standing ovations to count. A single protester undertook a brief outburst but was swiftly bundled out, earning the president more laughs and applause for his remark: “That was very efficient.”It was a typical stream-of-consciousness Trump speech although he mercifully refrained from rambling about escalators and teleprompters this time.I had initially hoped the fact that the…
The Doghmush clan reportedly fought against Hamas in a clash that killed at least 27 people.Israeli air strikes on Gaza may have halted, and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is ongoing, but tucked behind the headlines, tensions are brewing in Gaza between Hamas and armed groups.On Sunday, clashes erupted between an armed clan and Hamas security forces, killing at least 27 people, including eight members of Hamas, according to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza.Caught in the crossfire was 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, who was covering clashes in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood between what security sources told…
Israel destroyed or made inaccessible 98.5 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land. My family’s olive grove is part of it.Last week, a ceasefire was announced after two years of genocide in Gaza. The bombs have stopped falling, but the devastation remains. The majority of homes, schools, hospitals, universities, factories, and commercial buildings have been reduced to rubble. From above, Gaza looks like a grey desert of rubble, its vibrant urban spaces reduced to ghost towns, its lush agricultural land and greenery wiped out.The occupier’s aim was not only to render the Palestinians of Gaza homeless but also unable to provide for…
Palestinian families awaiting return of imprisoned relatives are shocked to learn they will be deported.Families of many of the Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel under an exchange deal say their long-awaited freedom is bittersweet after they learned their loved ones would be deported to third countries.At least 154 Palestinian prisoners being freed on Monday as part of the swap for Israeli captives held in Gaza will be forced into exile by Israel, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office said.Those to be deported are among a larger group of Palestinians being released by Israel – 250 people held in Israeli prisons…
Celebrations in Israel as living captives held by Hamas freed. Israel’s release of about 2,000 Palestinians under way.Hamas has released all 20 of the living captives it had been holding in the Gaza Strip, with the release of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel under way, as the two sides carry out the conditions of the ceasefire deal.Cheers broke out in Israel early on Monday, as television channels announced that the first lot of seven captives had been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Palestinians in Gaza need…