Gaza

NPR - Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners yesterday as part of the initial phase of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Hamas also freed the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages. Some of the Palestinians who returned to Gaza were journalists, doctors and first responders who were taken from hospitals and off the streets by soldiers. NPR’s Aya Batrawy tells Up First that some of the returned Palestinians showed signs of torture on their bodies and severe malnutrition, and some struggled to walk.

NPR -  NPR’s Anas Baba witnessed the people’s return to Gaza and said he saw a mix of joy and survival as many embraced loved ones. But many of them have no homes to return to and have discovered that their families are gone. Israeli troops still occupy Gaza and won’t be withdrawing until Hamas disarms. Batrawy says it is still uncertain whether Hamas will agree to storing or handing over offensive weapons. As Gaza looks to rebuild, President Trump’s peace plan doesn’t address the West Bank or the creation of a Palestinian state, leaving the root of the conflict unresolved.   Time -   Over the past two years, more than 10% of Gaza’s population is dead or wounded; about 90% of its population has been displaced; 78% of all structures have been destroyed or damaged; 95% of hospitals have been rendered non-functional; and 90% of the schools have been damaged or destroyed. Facing a dystopian reality, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been walking back through the apocalyptic ruins of their neighborhoods and homes. Rebuilding Gaza would take tens of billions of dollars and decades. In the face of this devastating reality, President Trump’s plan amounts to a hostage release deal, a ceasefire of an uncertain term, and a prayer. The 20-point Trump peace plan is thin on details and principles. Who will administer Gaza in the meanwhile? Who will offer the billions required for reconstruction in the absence of a lasting political settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The plan proclaims that Israel will not “occupy or annex Gaza” and Hamas “will not have” any direct or indirect role in the governance of Gaza. It envisions a transitional authority of technocrats led by Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, and supervised by a “board of peace” chaired by President Trump. This is hoped to pave the way for the return of the Palestinian Authority to run Gaza, after it meets a series of demands and tests, following which, conditions may finally be in place for a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”   The vague promise of a “pathway” to Palestinian independence is reminiscent of past negotiations, when invoking the promise of an eventual Palestinian state had become a smokescreen to camouflage what was already a cruel, unjust, and explosive reality; it predictably led to the immense violence witnessed over the past two years. Former Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Trump is using the developed peace plan the Biden administration created for the Israel and Hamas war. "It’s good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden Administration developed." - Via Winter    I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it was President @JoeBiden who secured the release of 140 hostages in Gaza. Trump? Just 28. That means Biden was responsible for 83% of all the hostages freed — yet you’d never know it from the way the media talks. Via Chris D. Jackson