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Israel, Hamas set to resume Gaza ceasefire talks as Netanyahu due to meet Trump

Israel, Hamas set to resume Gaza ceasefire talks as Netanyahu due to meet Trump

Al Arabiya6 hours ago
Israel and Hamas are set to hold indirect talks in Qatar for a second day on Monday, aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, ahead of a meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.
The US president has said a deal could be reached this week. Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Netanyahu said that Israeli negotiators had been given clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire under conditions that Israel has accepted.
An Israeli official described the atmosphere so far at the Gaza talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, as positive. Palestinian officials said that initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively.
A second Israeli official said the issue of humanitarian aid had been discussed in Qatar, without providing further details.
The Truce talks have been revived following last month's 12-day Israeli air war against its arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas.
The US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely.
Ending the war has been the main sticking point in past rounds of talks, with Hamas demanding a full end to the conflict in return for releasing all hostages, and Israel insisting it would fight on until Hamas is dismantled.
Some of Netanyahu's hardline coalition partners oppose ending the fighting. But, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the 21-month-old war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire.
The war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Around 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health authorities, led to a hunger crisis, displaced nearly all the population and left most of the territory in ruins.
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Can Mamdani become the next New York City mayor?
Can Mamdani become the next New York City mayor?

Arab News

time11 minutes ago

  • Arab News

Can Mamdani become the next New York City mayor?

When you land in New York these days, all the talk is about Zohran Mamdani, the young immigrant politician who last month won the Democratic Party's nomination to be its candidate for mayor of New York City, winning easily against more powerful candidates. His challenge now is to win the mayoral election in November despite a national campaign, led by President Donald Trump, to discredit him, including threats to arrest or deport him. At a highly polarized time in American politics, in which conservatives have the upper hand, Mamdani's stunning success is an anomaly. He is not only a member of the Democratic Party, but also of the Democratic Socialists of America, a leftist political organization and the largest socialist grouping in the country. He has taken on New York's dominant landlords, real estate developers and Wall Street tycoons. 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How Western governments avoid confronting Israel
How Western governments avoid confronting Israel

Arab News

time30 minutes ago

  • Arab News

How Western governments avoid confronting Israel

Flying in the teeth of mass public opinion, governments allergic to getting tough with Israel have deployed a host of tactics to put off implementing any measures that might hold it to account. In doing so, they have been prepared to smash much-cherished ethical principles and norms, as well as international law. Keeping the US administration happy is a cornerstone of the approach of many leaders, no matter how many atrocities or crimes against humanity Israel perpetrates. This has contaminated the entire international system. The most egregious failing is not just to ignore the crimes, but to be complicit with Israel's genocide in Gaza and its regime of apartheid. But the complicity brings additional side effects — notably the trivialization of values most of us hold dear. Above all, this has meant hollowing out the international legal system. The international Court of Justice and International Criminal Court are only respected when ruling against the foes of Western powers. When the latter issued an arrest warrant for Israeli leaders, the US sanctioned the court's key actors. The UK has been an alarming exemplar of this. The actions of the government have trivialized terrorism, racism and antisemitism, while belittling genocide, war crimes and rape. Last week, the British government decided to proscribe as terrorist a pro-Palestine protest group that engages in direct action. It is now a criminal offence to join or to express support for Palestine Action, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This move came as part of a bill that lumped it together with two genuinely violent neo-Nazi organizations, helping to ensure the legislation passed through Parliament. This came after four members of Palestine Action, protesting against Israel's genocide, broke into a British military base and spray painted aircraft red. Vandalism, yes; criminal, certainly; but hardly terrorism. The farcical nature of the legislation was exposed when police arrested 27 protesters on the day it came into effect. One of them was an 83-year-old female priest. Terrorism should always be treated as a serious offence. Yet those who spray paint buildings and aircraft are now in the same category as those who blow themselves up at pop concerts, for example. Police resources risk being diverted away from genuinely violent groups. This will, by design, have massive implications for the right to protest and the right to free speech. The chilling effect on the movement for Palestinian rights will be Arctic. It echoes the way in which ministers in the previous government described pro-Palestinian protests as 'hate marches.' Racism and antisemitism have also been trivialized and for similar reasons. The weaponization of antisemitism by anti-Palestinian groups has often been echoed in government statements. The weaponization of antisemitism by anti-Palestinian groups has often been echoed in government statements. Chris Doyle A once pretty obscure rap act has become known globally owing to one of its member's chant at the Glastonbury Festival of 'death, death to the IDF.' All death chants are vile, but this soon mutated in headlines into being an antisemitic chant calling for the killing of Israelis, which it was not. The Israeli army has been conducting genocide and war crimes, livestreamed to the world. The British government has voiced more criticism of the BBC for not cutting its live feed of this show than it has of the incitement to genocide by Israeli leaders. Serious acts of antisemitism are all too frequent, such as the arson attack on the oldest synagogue in Melbourne last week. So, when government ministers pitch in to this weaponization, it jeopardizes the fight against real antisemitism. It blurs the line between legitimate political speech and prohibited speech. As for anti-Arab racism, this remains the least discussed and researched form of racism imaginable. This is quite something when the people of Gaza are the victims of genocide and all Palestinians under Israeli control suffer from varying degrees of institutionalized discrimination as part of its regime of apartheid. All this threatens freedom of speech. Add to that the way in which many states or cities have banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations or even the flying of the Palestinian flag. Israel has destroyed every single university in Gaza, but in the US the issue has been reduced to alleged antisemitism on college campuses. It is a deliberate exercise in distraction and diversion. Get the debate on to antisemitism or the nature of protests and the media focus switches away from the real crimes on the ground — every single day, the Israeli military's killing and starvation machine is at work in Gaza. 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