The Israeli war cabinet unanimously approved on Sunday the expansion of Israel’s war on Gaza, which reportedly include plans to reoccupy the strip indefinitely.
As Israeli airstrikes throughout Lebanon continue, the Lebanese state is threatening to disarm Palestinian factions in the refugee camps. Residents fear this is a prelude to an all-out assault on the camps — and the Palestinian cause.
When the bombing of hospitals was still taboo in October 2023, Israel denied bombing al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. This time, Israel claims it targeted a Hamas command-and-control center at the hospital. It has not provided any evidence.
The same reality that compelled Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to take up arms in the 1970s persist to this day. The Palestinians of the camps now view the resistance movement in Gaza with renewed hope for liberation.
Hamas’s application to the UK Home Secretary to remove its designation as a terrorist organization aims to build international support for Palestinian resistance and affirm the group’s role as a political actor in determining the future of Gaza.
The voices of Palestinians who protested against Hamas in Gaza are not only a reminder of the unbearable suffering that has been inflicted upon them, but also of the fact that those subjected to that suffering are an entire people, and not Hamas.
Anti-Hamas protests this week in Gaza reflect widespread Palestinian desperation amid the Israeli genocide. The figures behind the protests might also indicate that external actors are now seeking to exploit Gaza’s pain for political gain.
The protests in Gaza calling for Hamas to step down are fueled by a desire for certainty — that if Hamas simply surrenders, Israel’s genocide will stop. The tragedy is that these cries will go unheard, or even worse, will further fuel the war machine.
Hamas said that it would release Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four deceased Israeli captives. The announcement has backed Israel into a corner in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
Mahmoud Khalil’s case represents a horrifying precedent, but it is not developing in a vacuum. The Trump administration’s unprecedented assault on Khalil is one of many efforts to stifle dissent and stave off justice for Palestine.