Trump is threatening to let “all hell break loose” after Hamas paused the release of Israeli captives in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire. But make no mistake, this is exactly what Israel wants.
As Palestinians return to what remains of their homes, they find that they are no longer the places they left behind, because the ones they love the most are gone.
On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump in The White House during his second term. During the meeting, Trump doubled down on previous suggestions to remove Palestinians from Gaza.
When hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza squeezed into crowded shelters during the war, one family found refuge among the tombstones.
Late on Monday, 300,000 forcibly displaced Palestinians returned to Gaza City and northern Gaza for the first time since the start of Israel’s genocidal war.
Israel is continuing an offensive on the West Bank city of Jenin that analysts say is meant to appease the settler movement as it pushes the government to exert more control over the occupied territory in preparation for annexation.
Some are hoping for a great “Trump effect” on U.S. policy toward Palestine after his envoy brokered the Gaza ceasefire. But Trump was only operating out of self-interest, and these same interests will lead him right back to full support for Israel.
Scenes of celebration overtook the streets of Ramallah as the first group of Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, were released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. Despite the joy many felt, tensions remain high in the West Bank.
In the final hours before the Gaza ceasefire I asked my friends and family, “What’s the first thing you’ll do?” Through their answers, I came to understand the truce was not a moment of joy but a chance for our postponed grief to finally surface.
Although trained as a social researcher, when the war began in October 2023 I joined the search and rescue team in the Gaza City neighborhood of al-Shuja’iyya. Here are some of my stories of being a first responder during the Gaza genocide.