A VERY interesting time for the Palestians’….
A Peace Plan….
A British former Prime Minster pitched as the leader of of poist conflicy Gaza….
And?
The BASIC Goal?
Pushing Hamas out of the political status in Gaza and out the door completely?
THAT IS a VERY BIG Move that might NOT be possible….
All this while Isreal keeps the presure up with it’s Gaza Military Op and it losing the support of the American public and the American President….
Going it alone HAS consequences for the Netanyahu Government Internationally AND Domestically….
The Deal….
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday to a U.S.-backed deal to end the nearly two years of war in Gaza amid a fresh push by President Donald Trump, but obstacles to peace remained amid questions about whether Hamas would also sign on.
Israeli sign-off was a significant moment in the twisting conflict, which has been marked by deals and diplomatic initiatives that have quickly fallen apart. The initiative agreed to Monday was notable because it appeared to have high-level Israeli buy-in along with assent from neighboring Arab nations.
But it remained unclear whether Hamas would agree to a deal that would lead to its disarmament and potential exile from Gaza. Nor was it clear that Netanyahu could square his sharp opposition to Palestinian statehood with a plan that on paper could go down that road.
Trump, speaking after more than two hours of meetings at the White House, betrayed little of that caution, declaring with no evidence that the deal was likely to result not just in peace in Gaza but a comprehensive restructuring of “thousands” of years of Middle Eastern relations….
…
Tony Blair as The Gaza Leader?
The Brit’s Back in the Middle East….
A postwar Gaza action plan, significant elements of which were crafted by Blair, a stalwart of center-left politics, was released Monday following a lengthy White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a news conference by the two, Netanyahu said he supported it…..
Hamas?
The plan, unveiled by Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday calls for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas disarmament and a transitional government led by an international body.
The plan was welcomed in principle by leaders in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt, who said they were ready to cooperate with the US to ensure its implementation.
It was clear, however, that Hamas remained the key to whether Trump’s peace proposal gets off the ground. Experts and residents of Gaza said the absence of the group from negotiations and the plan’s demand that they renounce governance of the strip raised doubts about its viability.
“It’s clear that this plan is unrealistic,” Ibrahim Joudeh told the AFP news agency from southern Gaza, adding “it’s drafted with conditions that the US and Israel know Hamas will never accept. For us, that means the war and the suffering will continue.”…
…
Anas Sorour, a 31-year-old street vendor told AFP that “despite everything we’ve lived through and lost in this war … I still have hope.”
“No war lasts for ever. This time I am very optimistic, and God willing it will be a moment of joy that makes us forget our pain and our anguish,” he said.
But after almost two years of war and countless attempts at ceasefire deals for Gaza, every new announcement is still met with suspicion.
Mohammed al-Beltaji, a 47-year-old from Gaza City, summarised his views of the negotiations: “As always, Israel agrees then Hamas refuses – or the other way around. It’s all a game, and we, the people, are the ones paying the price.”…..
Americans begin to lose support for Israel….
Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, American support for Israel has undergone a seismic reversal, with large shares of voters expressing starkly negative views about the Israeli government’s management of the conflict, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University found.
Disapproval of the war appears to have prompted a striking reassessment by American voters of their broader sympathies in the decades-old conflict in the region, with slightly more voters siding with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since The Times began asking voters about their sympathies in 1998.
In the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, American voters broadly sympathized with Israelis over Palestinians, with 47 percent siding with Israel and 20 percent with Palestinians. In the new poll, 34 percent said they sided with Israel and 35 percent with Palestinians. Thirty-one percent said they were unsure or backed both equally.
A majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks. About six out of 10 voters said that Israel should end its military campaign, even if the remaining Israeli hostages were not released or Hamas was not eliminated. And 40 percent of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in the 2023 poll….
I found this on Netanyahu and Qatar…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday and apologized for violating Qatari sovereignty in Israel’s recent strike on Doha, a source familiar tells Axios. He also expressed regret for the killing of a Qatari security officer.
Why it matters: An Israeli apology over the strike was a key Qatari condition for resuming its mediation with Hamas over a deal to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages. The apology call, which happened during Netanyahu’s meeting with President Trump, could clear the way for such a deal.
- The White House said Trump “hosted” the trilateral call and hoped it would be a step toward improving relations between the two key U.S. allies.
Flashback: Israel attempted to take out Hamas’ leaders in the Sept. 9 attack in Doha but only managed to kill lower-level officials while uniting Arab leaders in outrage.
The intrigue: The strike paradoxically helped create momentum in the region behind a comprehensive deal to end the war, which Trump hopes to announce during Netanyahu’s visit….