The Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza may reopen within days, albeit with tight restrictions from Israel on what and who can pass through it. At the same time, Israel has carried out expanded attacks within Gaza, despite the ceasefire still being in place. The remains of the final Israeli held captive in Gaza from the October 7, 2023, attack were recovered after a similar violation of the ceasefire. There was a lot to cover this week.
Mitchell Plitnick wrote about the Trump administration’s plans for the so-called Board of Peace and what they imply for Gaza. He argues that the proposed structure is not a transition plan but a framework for permanent American control.
Qassam Muaddi broke down the U.S. reconstruction plan and what it is designed to produce on the ground. He shows how the plan treats Palestinians as a population to be managed while leaving basic political rights off the table.
Tareq S. Hajjaj reported on reactions from Gazans to the announcement of the Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to oversee Gaza under Donald Trump and the Board of Peace.
Michael Arria reported on Mahmoud Khalil and the Trump administration’s effort to deport him to Algeria over a pro-Palestine speech. Immigration enforcement is being used to punish political activity and send a chilling message to the wider movement.
Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro accompanied Palestinians during the 2025 olive harvest in the West Bank. Their reporting shows how settler violence and military protection work together to make ordinary life and work on the land dangerous.
Mondoweiss is a founding member of the Movement Media Alliance. That organization released a statement about the arrest of journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon in Minnesota after they reported on the anti-ICE protests there.
📹 Video
Israel’s military chief just declared the “Yellow Line” will become Israel’s new border—cutting Gaza in half. But this isn’t a new idea. It’s a decades-old colonial strategy. Featuring Bisan Owda reporting from Gaza.
🇵🇸 Gaza and the Board of Peace
The Trump administration is moving to formalize U.S. control over Gaza’s political and economic future while keeping Palestinians outside the decision-making.
READ MORE → As Trump’s Board of Peace presses forward, Palestinians in Gaza fear what lies ahead, Tareq S. Hajjaj
READ MORE → The U.S. plan for Gaza has nothing in it for Palestinians, Qassam Muaddi
READ MORE → The U.S. occupation of Gaza has begun, Mitchell Plitnick
🇮🇱 Jerusalem and the West Bank
Israel continues to use settler organizations, courts, and military force to drive Palestinians off their land. Settler expansion advances through law and violence, and Palestinian life is treated as an obstacle to be cleared.
READ MORE → A Palestinian neighborhood’s last stand against Israeli settler takeover in Jerusalem, Qassam Muaddi
READ MORE → A bloody season the olive harvest in the West Bank, Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro
🚨 U.S. Crackdown on dissent
The U.S. state is expanding its use of immigration enforcement and detention while targeting Palestine solidarity. Punishment for dissent is being normalized, whether it is deportation threats for political speech or family detention and intimidation under the banner of security.
READ MORE → Mahmoud Khalil vows to oppose Trump efforts to deport him to Algeria over pro-Palestine speech, Michael Arria
READ MORE → Power and Pushback: Soliman family members recount harsh details of being held in ICE detention for 8 months, Michael Arria
READ MORE → ‘We cannot separate imperialism from domestic militarization’: Understanding the links between ICE, Gaza, and U.S. foreign policy, Michael Arria
🇺🇸 U.S. politics and the pro-Israel lobby
AIPAC and the Israel Lobby are adjusting to a political environment where unconditional support for Israel is increasingly unpopular with Democratic voters. The New Jersey race shows how the lobby is trying to enforce discipline while disguising its actions.
READ MORE → The Shift: AIPAC targets former ally in New Jersey, Michael Arria
✝️ Palestinian Christians and Christian Zionism
Church leaders in Jerusalem issued a rare and direct rejection of Christian Zionism, drawing a backlash from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. This is about political control and representation, and about silencing Palestinian Christian voices that refuse Zionist theology.
READ MORE → Mike Huckabee is interfering with the work and witness of churches in the Holy Land with a goal of silencing Palestinian Christians, Rifat Kassis
🇵🇸 Palestine 36
This week’s Palestine Letter newsletter looks at Annemarie Jacir’s film Palestine 36 and what it reveals about the continuity between the past and the present under colonial rule.
READ MORE → Palestine Letter: Palestine 36 is a movie about the Palestinian past that tells the story of today, Qassam Muaddi
IMO the biggest under-reported and important story in the last week or two is the IDF agreeing with the Gaza Health Ministry numbers on the death toll in Gaza, and the reason it’s so important is because it shines a light on how hasbara works. Here Mehdi Hasan says: I told you so.
Israel’s Military Now Accepts 70,000 Killed in Gaza – But Why Did Our Media Let Them Get Away With Denying It for So Long?……I have spent the past two years debating the credibility of the Gaza Health Ministry’s numbers with supporters of Israel. It turns out the Israeli military agrees with me, not them….Less than three minutes into my November 2023 interview with Mark Regev, then spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on MSNBC’s Peacock streaming service, he became agitated and began interrupting me….“The ‘Hamas-controlled’ Ministry of Health,” he interjected, after I cited figures from the Gaza Health Ministry on the number of Palestinians killed since Oct 7. “No, you can’t say that. You have to say the ‘Hamas-controlled’ Health Ministry… Please, tell the viewers the truth. That information is provided by Hamas….Every time I tried to mention that 11,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza according to the Ministry of Health, Regev shouted back: “Hamas’s numbers! Hamas’s numbers!”…
Israel’s Military Now Accepts 70,000 Killed in Gaza – But Why Did Our Media Let Them Get Away With Denying It for So Long?
Perhaps we should believe the statistics gurus who tell us that the Gaza Health Ministry numbers are almost certainly an undercount, and the number of women and children killed in the last two years is very high?
How Western officials, media coverage pushed to discredit Gaza death toll | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
What is the True Death Toll in Gaza? – CounterPunch.org
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the former Defense Minister. Netanyahu had to skip the Davos signing ceremony for the Board of Peace because the Government of Switzerland still plans to arrest him and transfer custody to the ICC, The Judges cited “reasonable grounds” that they intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, such as food, water, medicine, and fuel. Subsequent ICC arrest warrants for Israelis, Palestinians, and others have been kept under seal.
Trump can’t become a Netanyahu proxy to maintain the blockade status quo using the UN Security Council resolution. Spain, France and Turkey already have issued their own warrants for crimes committed in Palestine and on the high seas. Last night two more Israeli-French women had arrest warrants issued by French Courts for their complicity with others in incitement to commit genocide by blocking humanitarian aid shipments last summer.
For example the latest news reports say “Israel, Egypt Block Most Palestinians From Passing Gaza’s Rafah Crossing on Reopening Day – Haaretz News
“Israel and Egypt on Monday prevented the majority of Gazans approved to transit through the Rafah crossing from doing so, even after it was opened for the first time in a year and a half following U.S. pressure.” ..”The 12 Palestinians who managed to enter the Strip – nine women and three children – told Arab media outlets that they were questioned at several points during their transit. Some said they were transferred to an IDF checkpoint by masked gunmen from an Israel-backed militia formerly led by Yasser Abu Shabab. An Israeli defense official confirmed to Haaretz that militia members escort Palestinians entering from the Rafah crossing to the Israeli security checkpoint.” .. “The sources added that residents also faced difficulties leaving Gaza, with only 15 of the 50 patients – five patients and two escorts each – and their escorts seeking to exit the Strip for medical treatment permitted to do so.”