Frankly Speaking: Biden’s peace plan — too little, too late?

1 President Biden’s Gaza peace plan too little, too late?
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2 Hala Rharrit explains why she resigned
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Updated 09 June 2024
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Frankly Speaking: Biden’s peace plan — too little, too late?

Frankly Speaking: Biden’s peace plan — too little, too late?
  • Hala Rharrit explains the precise reasons behind her recent resignation as the US State Department’ Arab language spokesperson
  • Underscores urgency of suspending arms sales to Israel, fears that US actions may radicalize a generation of Muslim and Arab youth

DUBAI: Hala Rharrit, who resigned as the US State Department’s Arabic-language spokesperson on April 24 over the government’s stance on Gaza, has commended President Joe Biden’s peace proposal, saying “this will hopefully alleviate some of the suffering; we’ll have to wait and see.” However, she expressed concern that he US is violating international law by continuing to sell weapons to Israel.

Appearing on Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Rharrit said she was pleased to hear President Biden calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but cautioned that the peace plan neither addressed US arms sales to Israel, nor committed to creating a Palestinian state.

Biden outlined on May 31 a three-phase ceasefire proposal, beginning with Israeli troops pulling out of Gaza’s cities, releasing humanitarian aid, and freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas returning some of the hostages and captured Israeli soldiers.

Under the plan, the warring sides would then discuss a full hostage release and military withdrawal, followed by multilateral talks to rebuild Gaza without rearming Hamas. One week into the US pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the ceasefire appeal is working.

“First and foremost, the priority is to stop the fighting and stop the violence by any means necessary,” Rharrit told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen during an interview that explored the motives and timing for her resignation from the State Department among other topics.

“I think we can see that there’s been intense suffering and every day that this conflict continues, there are more lives that are lost in Gaza. And I was very pleased to see that the president from the podium was advocating for a ceasefire and saying it is now time for this war to end.

“Of course, it is horrific that it’s taking this long. And I’m also very concerned that we have not stopped our US weapons flow to Israel.

“It does not address the fact that we are still in violation of US and international law, for all intents and purposes, and that we continue to supply deadly ammunition, offensive weaponry to the state of Israel. And that also needs to stop.

“And obviously the issue of a two-state solution and the Palestinian right to self-determination needs to be included in that. But, for the immediate term, we need a ceasefire. We need the weapons to stop dropping and we need the Gazans to be able to breathe and to live.”




Appearing on Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Rharrit said she was pleased to hear President Biden calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but warned it did not prevent US arms sales to Israel nor commit to creating a Palestinian state. (AN Photo)

Rharrit was neither the first nor the last administration official to quit over the issue. Nearly a month earlier, Annelle Sheline of the State Department’s human rights bureau announced her resignation, and State Department official Josh Paul resigned in October.

A senior official in the US Education Department, Tariq Habash, who is Palestinian-American, stepped down in January, and Lily Greenberg-Call became the latest to go in mid-May when she left her position at the Department of the Interior.

Rharrit said she resigned after failing to influence the administration’s position from within and because the government’s stance made it “impossible” to promote US interests abroad. “I did it, really, to follow my conscience, and I did it, really, in service of my country,” said Rharrit.

“I became a diplomat 18 years ago to help the US promote its interests throughout the world, specifically in the Arab world, and to strengthen ties throughout this particular region. And I felt like I could effectively do that for the last 18 years. This policy unfortunately made it impossible.

“I saw that there was mass killing in Gaza that my government unfortunately was enabling through the continuous flow of US weapons. I could go on and on about the atrocities that we all bear witness to these last few months.

“I did everything I could since Oct. 7 to try to dissuade the US position, to try to help the situation. But after a while, it became clear that the policy was not shifting. And so I decided to submit my resignation, also to speak out on behalf of the US, not as a diplomat, but as an American citizen, to try to help the situation from the outside.”

Challenged by Jensen on whether it was the US policy itself that she objected to or the talking points the administration made her deliver as Arabic-language spokesperson, Rharrit said her opposition was not “based on personal reasons.” Rather it was intended to serve US interest in the face of “growing anti-American sentiment” in the Middle East.

Elaborating on the issue, she said: “The talking points I was expected to deliver to this part of the world really failed to acknowledge the plight of the Palestinians. You cannot speak about one people without speaking about the suffering of another people. ... I had intense pushback and I actually refused to do interviews on Gaza.”

She added: “I was opposed to the policy based on my experience and my regional expertise in the Middle East and what I’ve done for my country in this part of the world.”

Rharrit also emphasized that she was actually a political affairs officer (“This is what I have done my entire career”), citing her previous postings as a political and human rights officer in Yemen and deputy political economic chief in Qatar.

“My latest position was as spokesperson and I was the one that was supposed to go out on Arab television and promote this policy. I did not become a diplomat to promote a war and I certainly didn’t become a diplomat to promote a plausible genocide.

“So, from the very beginning there were major concerns that I made very clear about our talking points that they were, indeed, dehumanizing to the Palestinians, that they did not acknowledge the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, that they tried to gloss over the suffering of Palestinians.

“And why I made that point is that, as spokespeople, our job was not just to be communicators; our job was to be effective communicators. And what I was documenting on a daily basis, and reporting back to Washington, was that what we were saying was creating anti-American sentiment. Generating a backlash. And that, in itself, was not in the interests of the US.”

Israel launched its retaliatory assault in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, which saw some 1,200 people killed and 240 taken hostage. Over the course of the eight-month conflict, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials.

Asked by Jensen why it took so long — and the deaths of so many civilians — before she “developed a conscience” and resigned, Rharrit said she had hoped to influence the administration’s stance from within by communicating the sentiments of the Arab street.

“I believed in my government. I continue to believe in my government despite all of it. And I felt it was my duty and my responsibility to stay on and make my voice heard,” she said.

“Part of what I did as spokesperson was generate daily reports back to Washington covering pan-Arab media — not just traditional media but (also) social media. And we all have been witnessing what has been happening on Arab social media, specifically everything that has been coming out of Gaza.

“I needed and I wanted Washington to see this and I sent those images that were going viral, of the toddlers being killed, of the children being burnt. I sent these images to Washington to wake up their conscience as well to show them that Americans were being blamed for this, not just the Israelis, and that is fundamentally not in the US interest.

“I felt it was my duty as an American diplomat to stay on and do it and say that. But, unfortunately, as you said, it became abundantly clear that there were no red lines and it was intensely disheartening, day after day, week after week, month after month, to see that we would continue to send more and more arms.

“And I would stress, that is in violation of US law in addition to international law. And that is why I eventually submitted my resignation after countless conversations internally, which basically made me feel like no matter what I would do, no matter what anybody else would do, the position wasn’t changing.”




A woman and child walk among debris, aftermath of Israeli strikes at the area, where Israeli hostages were rescued on Saturday, as Palestinian death toll rises to 274, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (Reuters)

Although they did not resign in “any coordinated manner,” Rharrit said she was in regular contact with other former administration officials who quit over the issue and who hope to continue to change attitudes in Washington.

Rharrit concurred that the stance adopted by the Biden administration could radicalize a generation of Muslim and Arab youth, potentially creating a Hamas 2.0 capable of replicating attacks like the one that befell Israel on Oct. 7.

“This was my argument for months, every single day, that, again if you want to even ignore the plight of the Palestinians, even if you are choosing to not acknowledge their humanity, this is not in the interests of the Israeli people, because all this will do is generate an endless cycle of violence, and this cycle of revenge,” she said.

“And that does not serve Israeli interests and it certainly does not serve the US. It will continue to destabilize the Middle East for generations to come. All the countries in this region will have to deal with that.

“Violence is not the answer. Bombs are not the answer. A political solution which actually recognizes the dignity and the humanity of the Palestinians, establishes a state of self-determination for the Palestinians, that is the only solution to this, and the only thing that really can counter extremism. And we’ve seen that. And that’s what we need to get to, that type of political resolution.”

Of course, Washington’s stance on Gaza could soon change if Biden fails to secure a second term in November’s presidential election and his Republican rival Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Whatever the outcome, Rharrit expects Gaza will weigh heavily on the election.
“I think it will weigh intensely,” she said. “Because I think young Americans have been consuming all of this carnage on their phones and they’ve risen up. It’s awakened their consciousness not just in terms of Gaza, but in terms of so many injustices in this world.

“And they’re seeing through a lot that the government has sort of tried to promote and they’re demanding a change. They’re demanding social change. And it doesn’t matter what walks of life.

“And I want to stress this, that a lot of this movement, it’s not about an us vs. them narrative. Not at all. People that are supporting the Palestinians in Gaza come from all faiths, all backgrounds. And it’s for the sake of humanity and nothing else.”

 

 


Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East

Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East
Updated 13 min 34 sec ago
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Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East

Senior Arab officials warn that Trump Gaza plan would inflame Middle East
  • Trump plan would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a ‘damaging effect on peace and stability’
  • Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the US would take over Gaza

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians, which has drawn global condemnation, will threaten a fragile ceasefire in the enclave and fuel regional instability, senior Arab officials said on Wednesday.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned the World Government Summit in Dubai that if Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a “damaging effect on peace and stability.”

Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the United States would take over Gaza, resettle its over 2-million Palestinian population and develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

After 16 months of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza war following Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October 2023, Palestinians fear a repeat of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when nearly 800,000 people fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel. Trump has said they would have no right to return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume fighting Hamas until it was defeated if the Palestinian militant group did not release hostages by midday on Saturday.

Hamas later issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing it.

Hamas has gradually been releasing hostages since the first phase of a ceasefire began on January 19, but on Monday said it would not free any more over accusations Israel was violating the deal.

“If the situation explodes militarily once more, all this (ceasefire) effort will be wasted,” Aboul Gheit said.

Jasem Al-Budaiwi, who heads the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council political and economic alliance, called on Trump to remember the strong ties between the region and Washington.

“But there has to be give and take, he says his opinion and Arab world should say theirs; what he is saying won’t be accepted by the Arab world.”

Trump has said the Palestinians in Gaza, an impoverished tiny strip of land, could settle in countries like Jordan, which already has a huge Palestinian population, and Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state. Both have rejected the proposal.

For Jordan, Trump’s talk of resettlement comes close to its nightmare of a mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, with the idea of Jordan becoming an alternative Palestinian home long promoted by ultra-nationalist Israelis.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi partly views it as a security issue. He believes Islamists like Hamas are an existential threat to Egypt and beyond and would not welcome any members of the group crossing the border and settling in Egypt.

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss “serious” developments for Palestinians.

Aboul Gheit said the idea of the Arab Peace Initiative floated in 2002, in which Arab nations offered Israel normalized ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in 1967, would be reintroduced.

Trump’s plan has upended decades of US policy that endorsed a two-state solution in which Israel and a Palestinian state would coexist.

So far, 16 of 33 hostages taken by Hamas militants from Israel have been freed as part of the ceasefire deal’s first phase due to last 42 days. Five Thai hostages were also let go in an unscheduled release.

In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks and others detained during the war and held without charge.


Nerves fray in Turkiye textile sector as Syrian refugees mull return

Nerves fray in Turkiye textile sector as Syrian refugees mull return
Updated 12 February 2025
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Nerves fray in Turkiye textile sector as Syrian refugees mull return

Nerves fray in Turkiye textile sector as Syrian refugees mull return

GAZIANTEP: As excitement swept through the Syrian community after Bashar Assad’s overthrow, businesses in Turkiye that rely on them for labor began quickly crunching the numbers.
“The Syrians have made a big contribution to the textile sector here. If they leave, there will be a serious labor problem,” said Ali Gozcu, reflecting the widespread anxiety gripping Turkiye’s textile industry.
Gozcu runs ALG Teksil, a clothing firm in Gaziantep, a southeastern Turkish city that is home to half a million Syrians.
“We don’t expect a sudden departure, but if it happens, we will suffer a serious loss of labor,” he told AFP, adding that 70 percent of his workers were Syrian.
And he is not alone.
“All of the workers here are Syrian,” agreed Yusuf Samil Kandil, a quality controller at Beni Giy clothing, referring to the Unal district where textile firms line the run-down streets and old-fashioned mannequins stand in dusty shopfronts alongside racks of garments.
“If the Syrians leave, our labor costs will increase significantly, as well as our production costs,” he told AFP.
Turkiye is the world’s sixth-largest textile manufacturer and its industry is based in the southern regions that host most of its around 2.9 million Syrian migrants.
Government figures show that around 100,000 Syrians have work permits, but experts believe about a million Syrians are active in the Turkish economy, mostly in informal, labor-intensive jobs in construction, manufacturing and textiles.
Their departure could put a serious dent in the workforce of an industry that is struggling with inflationary pressures and rising costs.
So far, just over 81,000 people have returned, interior ministry figures show, although observers expect a surge in June over the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
On ALG’s factory floor, dozens of young men and women sit hunched over industrial sewing machines or overlockers, churning out thousands of t-shirts.
A new Syrian flag hangs on the wall and there is an Arabic notice on the toilet door.
Zekeriya Bozo, a 55-year-old worker who wants to return to Syria and “create a new business there” said: “If Syrians leave, there won’t be anyone left to work” at ALG.
But experts say it is a complicated picture for Syrians, suggesting fears of a mass departure are unfounded due to the uncertainty hanging over a country ravaged by 13 years of war.
“Although they’re very happy that Assad is gone, that was only one barrier to them going back,” said Professor Murat Erdogan, whose Syrians Barometer survey has consistently flagged their concerns about safety, the potential for conflict and Syria’s ruined infrastructure.
Most have established a life in Turkiye, with more than 970,000 babies born over the past 12 years.
Despite tough working conditions, they know they are unlikely to find something better back home, he told AFP.
“They told us they have a lot of problems in Turkiye and work very hard for very little money. But if they go back, even if they did find jobs, they said they’ll only get $14 a month,” he said.
They earn far more than that in Turkiye.
“Going back is a huge decision. Because of that, I think a maximum of 20 percent of them will return and that will take a lot of time.”
Despite the uncertainty, Gozcu is looking into new ways of working that could accommodate the return of some Syrians, nearly half of whom hail from the Aleppo region just across the border from Gaziantep.
“We’ve become very close with our Syrian workers,” he told AFP.
If need be, “we will open workshops in Syria for them and will continue our production there,” he said.
Although much of Syria was in ruins, Kemal Kirisci, a migration expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, said there was potential for developing business links in the future.
“Syria is a very promising place in the long run. Ideally, we could have a very porous economic border so people could move back-and-forth,” he told AFP.
“It would be a win for Turkish industry, for the economy, a win for Syria and for the new regime.”
There could eventually be a revival of the so-called ‘ShamGen’ area of free trade and visa-free movement between Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkiye that was inspired by the EU’s Schengen zone but collapsed at the start of the war in 2011.
“These things could be revived very easily — but the key lies with this new regime,” he said.


Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed

Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed
Updated 12 February 2025
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Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed

Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed
  • Before Assad’s overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in rebel-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria

ATME, Syria: Mehdi Al-Shayesh thought he would quickly resettle in his central Syrian home town after Bashar Assad was ousted, but like many others stuck in camps, he found his home uninhabitable.
“We were unbelievably happy when the regime fell,” the 40-year-old said from his small, concrete-block house in Atme displacement camp, one of the largest and most crowded in the Idlib area in the northwest.
But “when we reached our village” in Hama province “we were disappointed,” said the father of four, who has been displaced since 2012.
“Our home used to be like a small paradise... but it was hit by bombing.” Now it “is no longer habitable,” he told AFP.
Assad’s December 8 ouster sparked the hope of returning for millions of displaced across Syria and refugees abroad. However, many now face the reality of finding their homes and basic infrastructure badly damaged or destroyed.
Syria’s transitional authorities are counting on international support, particularly from wealthy Gulf Arab states, to rebuild the country after almost 14 years of devastating war.
Shayesh said he was happy to see relatives in formerly government-held areas after so many years, but he cannot afford to repair his home so has returned to the northwest.
In the icy winter weather, smoke rises from fuel heaters in the sprawling camp near the border with Turkiye. It is home to tens of thousands of people living in close quarters in what were supposed to be temporary structures.

Shayesh expressed the hope that reconstruction efforts would take into account that families may have changed significantly during years of displacement.
“If we go back to the village now... there will be no home for my five brothers” who are now all married, “and no land to build on,” he said, as rain poured outside.
“Just as we held out hope that the regime would fall — and thank God, it did — we hope that supportive countries will help people to rebuild and return,” he added.
Before Assad’s overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in rebel-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria.
David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said that “over 71,000 people have departed camps in northwest Syria over the past two months.”
“But that’s a small fraction compared to the two million who remain and will continue to need life-saving aid,” he told AFP.
“Many camp residents are unable to return as their homes are destroyed or lack electricity, running water or other basic services. Many are also afraid of getting caught in minefields left from former front lines,” he added.
Mariam Aanbari, 30, who has lived in the Atme camp for seven years, said: “We all want to return to our homes, but there are no homes to return to.
“Our homes have been razed to the ground,” added the mother of three who was displaced from Hama province.

Aanbari said her husband’s daily earnings were just enough to buy bread and water.
“It was difficult with Bashar Assad and it’s difficult” now, she told AFP, her six-month-old asleep beside her as she washed dishes in freezing water.
Most people in the camp depend on humanitarian aid in a country where the economy has been battered by the war and a majority of the population lives in poverty.
“I hope people will help us, for the little ones’ sakes,” Aanbari said.
“I hope they will save people from this situation — that someone will come and rebuild our home and we can go back there in safety.”
Motorbikes zip between homes and children play in the cold in the camp where Sabah Al-Jaser, 52, and her husband Mohammed have a small corner shop.
“We were happy because the regime fell. And we’re sad because we went back and our homes have been destroyed,” said Jaser, who was displaced from elsewhere in Idlib province.
“It’s heartbreaking... how things were and how they have become,” said the mother of four, wearing a black abaya.
Still, she said she hoped to go back at the end of this school year.
“We used to dream of returning to our village,” she said, emphasising that the camp was not their home.
“Thank God, we will return,” she said determinedly.
“We will pitch a tent.”

 


Israel’s fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman puts the focus on West Bank violence

Israel’s fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman puts the focus on West Bank violence
Updated 12 February 2025
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Israel’s fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman puts the focus on West Bank violence

Israel’s fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman puts the focus on West Bank violence
  • Across the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least 905 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry

KAFR AL-LABAD, West Bank: The call came in the middle of the night, Mohammed Shula said. His daughter-in-law, eight months pregnant with her first child, was whispering. There was panic in her voice.
“Help, please,” Shula recalled her saying. “You have to save us.”
Minutes later, Sondos Shalabi was fatally shot.
Shalabi and her husband, 26-year-old Yazan Shula, had fled their home in the early hours of Sunday as Israeli security forces closed in on Nur Shams refugee camp, a crowded urban district in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Israeli military vehicles surrounded the camp days earlier, part of a larger crackdown on Palestinian militants across the northern occupied West Bank that has escalated since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect last month. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced the expansion of the army’s operations, saying it aimed to stop Iran — Hamas’ ally — from opening up a new front in the occupied territory.
Palestinians see the shooting of Shalabi, 23, as part of a worrying trend toward more lethal, warlike Israeli tactics in the West Bank. The Israeli army issued a short statement afterward, saying it had referred her shooting to the military police for criminal investigation.
Also on Sunday, just a few streets away, another young Palestinian woman, 21, was killed by the Israeli army. An explosive device it had planted detonated as she approached her front door.
In response, the Israeli army said that a wanted militant was in her house, compelling Israeli forces to break down the door. It said the woman did not leave despite the soldiers’ calls. The army said it “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.”
Across the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least 905 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Many appear to have been militants killed in gunbattles during Israeli raids. But rock-throwing protesters and uninvolved civilians — including a 2-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy and 73-year-old man — have also been killed in recent weeks.
“The basic rules of fighting, of confronting the Palestinians, is different now,” said Maher Kanan, a member of the emergency response team in the nearby village of Anabta, describing what he sees as the army’s new attitude and tactics. “The displacement, the number of civilians killed, they are doing here what they did in Gaza.”
Mohammed Shula, 58, told The Associated Press that his son and daughter-in-law said they started plotting their flight from Nur Shams last week as Israeli drones crisscrossed the sky, Palestinian militants boobytrapped the roads and their baby’s due date approached.
His son “was worried about (Shalabi) all the time. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to deliver the baby if the siege got worse,” he said.
Yazan Shula, a construction worker in Israel who lost his job after the Israeli government banned nearly 200,000 Palestinian workers from entering its territory, couldn’t wait to be a father, his own father said.
Shalabi, quiet and kind, was like a daughter to him — moving into their house in Nur Shams 18 month sago, after marrying his son. “This baby is what they were living for,” he said.
Early Sunday, the young couple packed up some clothes and belongings. The plan was simple — they would drive to the home of Shalabi’s parents outside the camp, some miles away in Tulkarem where soldiers weren’t operating. It was safer there, and near the hospital where Shalabi planned to give birth. Yazan Shula’s younger brother, 19-year-old Bilal, also wanted to get out and jumped in the backseat.
Not long after the three of them drove off, there was a burst of gunfire. Mohammed Shula’s phone rang.
His daughter-in-law’s breaths came in gasps, he said. An Israeli sniper had shot her husband, she told her father-in-law, and blood was flowing from the back of his head. She was unscathed, but had no idea what to do.
He coached her into staying calm. He told her to knock on the door of any house to ask for help. Her phone on speaker, he could hear her knocking and shrieking, he said. No one was answering.
She told him she could see soldiers approaching. The line went dead, said Mohammed Shula, who then called the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service.
“We couldn’t go outside because we were afraid we’d be shot,” said Suleiman Zuheiri, 65, a neighbor of the Shula family who was helping the medics reach their bodies. “We tried and tried. All in vain. (The medics) kept getting turned back, and the girl kept bleeding.”
Bilal Shula wasn’t hurt. He was arrested from the scene and detained for several hours.
The Red Crescent said that the International Committee of the Red Cross had secured approval from the Israeli military to allow medics inside the camp. But the paramedics were detained twice, for a half-hour each time, as they made their way toward the battered car, it said.
When asked why soldiers had blocked ambulances, the Israeli military repeated that it launched an investigation into the events surrounding Shalabi’s killing.
It wasn’t until after 8 a.m. that medics finally reached the young couple, and were detained a third time while rushing the husband out of the camp to the hospital, the Red Crescent said.
Yazan Shula was unconscious and in critical condition, and, as of Tuesday, remains on life support at a hospital. Shalabi was found dead. Her fetus also did not survive the shooting.
Mohammed Shula keeps thinking about how soldiers saw Shalabi’s body bleeding on the ground and did nothing to help as they handcuffed his other son and marched him into their vehicle.
“Why did they shoot them? They were doing nothing wrong. They could have stopped them, asked a question, but no, they just shot,” he said, his fingers busily rubbing a strand of prayer beads.
Israeli security forces invaded the camp some hours later. Explosions resounded through the alleyways. Armored bulldozers rumbled down the roads, chewing up the pavement and rupturing underground water pipes. The electricity went out. Then the taps ran dry.
Before Mohammed Shula could process what was happening, he said, Israeli troops banged on his front door and ordered everyone — his daughter, son and several grandchildren, one of them a year old, another 2 months old — to leave their home.
The Israeli military denied it was carrying out forcible evacuations in the West Bank, saying that it was facilitating the departure of civilians who wanted to leave the combat zone on their own accord. It did not respond to follow-up questions about why over a dozen Palestinian civilians interviewed in Nur Shams camp made the same claims about their forcible displacement.
Mohammed Shula pointed to a bag of baby diapers in the corner of his friend’s living room. That’s all he had time to bring with him, he said, not even photographs, or clothes.

 


‘Hell worse than what we have already?’ Gazans reject Trump plans

‘Hell worse than what we have already?’ Gazans reject Trump plans
Updated 12 February 2025
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‘Hell worse than what we have already?’ Gazans reject Trump plans

‘Hell worse than what we have already?’ Gazans reject Trump plans
  • Under Trump’s scheme, Gaza’s about 2.2 million Palestinians would be resettled and the United States would take control and ownership of the coastal territory, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”
  • Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza — which they want to be part of an independent state also encompassing the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital — has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations

CAIRO/RAMALLAH/GAZA: With his Gaza home destroyed in Israel’s military offensive, Shaban Shaqaleh had intended to take his family on a break to Egypt once the Hamas-Israel ceasefire was firmly in place.
He changed his mind after US President Donald Trump announced plans to resettle Gaza’s Palestinian residents and redevelop the enclave, and said they should not have the right to return.
The Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, where dozens of multi-story buildings once stood, is now largely deserted. There is no running water or electricity and, like most buildings there, Shaqaleh’s home is in ruins.
“We are horrified by the destruction, the repeated displacement and the death, and I wanted to leave so I can secure a safe and better future for my children — until Trump said what he said,” Shaqaleh, 47, told Reuters via a chat app.
“After Trump’s remarks I canceled the idea. I fear leaving and never being able to come back. This is my homeland.”
Palestinians fear that Trump’s plan would enforce another Nakba, or Catastrophe, when they experienced mass expulsions in 1948 with the creation of Israel.
Under Trump’s scheme, Gaza’s about 2.2 million Palestinians would be resettled and the United States would take control and ownership of the coastal territory, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
“The idea of selling my home or the piece of land I own to foreign companies to leave the homeland and never come back is completely rejected. I am deeply rooted in the soil of my homeland and will always be,” Shaqaleh said.
Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza — which they want to be part of an independent state also encompassing the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital — has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations. Neighbouring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.

SATURDAY DEADLINE
After Hamas said on Monday it was suspending the release of Israeli hostages set out in the ceasefire deal due to alleged Israeli violations, Trump said the Palestinian militant group should release all those it still holds by noon on Saturday or he would propose canceling the truce and “let hell break out.”
“Hell worse than what we have already? Hell worse than killing?” said Jomaa Abu Kosh, a Palestinian from Rafah in southern Gaza, standing beside devastated homes.
One woman, Samira Al-Sabea, accused Israel of blocking aid deliveries, a charge denied by Israel.
“We are humiliated, street dogs are living a better life than us,” she said. “And Trump wants to make Gaza hell? This will never happen.”
Israel began its assault on Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people while some 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
The operation has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, by Gaza authorities’ counts, and obliterated much of the enclave.
Some Gazans said Palestinian leaders must find a solution to their problems.
“We don’t want to leave our country but also need a solution. Our leaders — Hamas, the PA (Palestinian Authority) and other factions — must find a solution,” said a 40-year-old carpenter who gave his name as Jehad.

’DOES HE OWN GAZA?“
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians were also aghast at Trump’s words.
“Does he own Gaza to ask people to leave it?” said Nader Imam. “Regarding Trump I only blame the American people. How can a country like this, a superpower, accept a person like Trump? His statements are savage.”
“What will Trump do? There is no fear, we rely on God,” said another West Bank resident, Mohammed Salah Tamimi.
The proposal shattered decades of US peace efforts built around a two-state solution and added pressure on neighboring Egypt and Jordan to take in resettled Palestinians.
Both countries, who receive billions in aid from the United States, rejected the plan citing concerns for national security and their commitment to the two-state solution.
For Jordan, which borders the West Bank and has absorbed more Palestinians than any other state since Israel’s creation, the plan is a nightmare.
Trump said he might withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused to cooperate. Jordan’s King Abdullah is set to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday and is expected to express his rejection of the plan.
“Jordan can never accept resolving this issue at its expense.” said Suleiman Saud, the chairman of the Palestine Committee in Jordan’s House of Representatives. “Jordan is for Jordanians, and Palestine is for Palestinians.”