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The Ceasefire Scam in Gaza — with Jacobin Long Reads
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Last October, the Trump administration announced a ceasefire deal in Gaza after two years of relentless carnage. Since the deal was announced, Israel has continued to occupy much of Gaza, and its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has launched his so-called Board of Peace to administer Gaza without any input from Palestinians. Having received a blank check for his scheme from the UN Security Council, Trump now presents the Board of Peace as an alternative to the UN itself.
In this collaborative episode of Rethinking Palestine, Al-Shabaka Co-Director Yara Hawari joins Jacobin's Long Reads for an update on conditions in Gaza and the wider international context.
Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast, hosted by features editor Daniel Finn, looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers.
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Transcript
Ceasefire and Ongoing Violence
00:00:00
Speaker
ceasefire needs to be understood not as an end to violence or a violent reality for Palestinians, but rather a very different phase of the genocide. Certainly one that doesn't come with carpet bombardments every day like we saw over the last two years. But it's still a reality of, you know, daily killing, of daily deprivation, of of basic necessities.
00:00:27
Speaker
From Ashabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, I am Yara Hawari, and this is Rethinking Palestine.
00:00:36
Speaker
Earlier this month, I joined the Jacobin Longreads podcast, which features editor Daniel Finn, to discuss the ceasefire scam in Gaza. This is a conversation that we had.
00:00:50
Speaker
Our guest today for an update on conditions in Gaza and the wider international context is Yara Hawari. Yara is the co-director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian policy network.
00:01:03
Speaker
You can read her analysis of Palestinian politics on the Al-Shabaka website, which we'll include with the page for this episode. Yara, thanks very much for joining us today.
00:01:16
Speaker
I want to begin by going back to the point last autumn when there was this much trumpeted announcement of a ceasefire deal by Donald Trump and his officials with great self-satisfaction.
00:01:29
Speaker
Now, I think anyone who has been following the news from Gaza at all closely over the last three months will know that this has not been a ceasefire in any generally understood sense the term, because fire has not ceased, certainly not from the Israeli side. The Israeli forces continue to occupy large parts of Gaza and have killed hundreds of people, as well as restricting humanitarian aid to the population there.
00:01:57
Speaker
But if we could imagine just for a moment that this really had been a ceasefire, that this really had drawn a line under more than two years of a relentless Israeli assault against the Gaza Strip.
00:02:09
Speaker
What was the level, the scale of death and destruction that had already been inflicted on the people of Gaza by that point? Well, I think when the ceasefire was declared on the 10th of October 2025, a lot of Palestinians breathed a sigh of relief, and especially in Gaza. You know, Palestinians in Gaza just endured two years of constant bombardment estimated to equal roughly six times the explosive force of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
00:02:44
Speaker
and concentrated on an area less than half the size of Hiroshima. So the devastation has been all-encompassing. This is not an exaggeration. All hospitals and universities have been bombed. Most homes and and schools have been destroyed. Vital infrastructure such as sewage systems, electricity lines,
00:03:09
Speaker
all have been damaged, you know, beyond repair. This has resulted in an estimated 68 million tons of rubble across the strip.
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
00:03:21
Speaker
And devastatingly, under that rubble lay at least 10,000 bodies of Palestinians who were killed in bombardments and who have yet to be recovered And, you know, whilst we we know that the official number of those killed in the two years of bombardments is thought to be well over 70,000,
00:03:43
Speaker
On top of them and and those that are not mentioned are those that have been indirectly killed by the genocide. There was this article in the Lancet Medical Journal, one of the the leading global medical journals, that explained in in typical conflict zones the number of indirect to direct deaths is is usually four to one. So indirect deaths would include those that would not have died had there been a status quo.
00:04:14
Speaker
um Because the health system in in Gaza has been so brutally and systematically dismantled, people are dying from what would have been preventable deaths.
00:04:24
Speaker
People are also dying from the cold, from lack of nutrition, not having access to to certain types of medication. People have also died from depression and heartbreak.
00:04:35
Speaker
And of course, this isn't a typical conflict zone. This is an ongoing and active genocide within the context of a decades-old colonial occupation that is essentially seeking to extinguish life in in all its forms.
00:04:54
Speaker
And for those that survive, really this is to make life so unbearable. So that that was where we were at when the ceasefire was announced on the 10th of October 2025. And that's where we continue to be in this sham of a ceasefire.
00:05:13
Speaker
Could you talk to us in a bit more detail about what has been happening in Gaza since the declaration of this deal? I alluded to it in the opening question, the fact that there has been ongoing occupation, ongoing violence by Israeli forces. But could you tell us what that is involved on the ground? And could you also discuss perhaps Some of the other aspects of what Israel has been doing in Gaza, such as its policy of continuing to foster criminal gangs, which its PR strategy has presented as civilian alternative to Hamas in Gaza.
00:05:53
Speaker
So almost immediately after the the ceasefire was announced, the Israeli regime started attacking Gaza again. and it And it hasn't really stopped since then. I think nearly every day since the ceasefire was announced, the Israeli regime has killed Palestinians in Gaza. And I think at at last count, it was over 500 Palestinians have been killed.
00:06:16
Speaker
and many more injured since October 2025. Just a few days ago, there was a heavy airstrike or multiple airstrikes on Khan Yunus that killed at least 31 people, including six children.
00:06:28
Speaker
and In addition to that, it's still not letting in enough aid. And as per the ceasefire agreement, you know, that they're supposed to be stopping the the bombing and and and attacks on Palestinians, but they're also supposed to be allowing aid into the Strip. um At least 600 trucks of aid are supposed to be allowed in every day, and Israel has not fulfilled this end of the bargain. i think at the end of last year, it was reported that the Israeli regime was only allowing in 150 trucks or so a day to cross into the strip. and
00:07:02
Speaker
And it's not only about the the number of trucks, it's also about what's in those trucks. You know, they've been restricting, deliberately restricting the entry of nutritious food, including um protein sources, meat, dairy, um and um fresh vegetables. And we've seen um from um reports from people on the ground that you can buy canned food, you can buy you know, snack food, but fresh fruit and and protein sources remain really difficult to get hold of, and as well as much needed medicine, tents and and other materials for for shelters.
00:07:39
Speaker
So I think people need to understand that when they hear the word, ceasefire doesn't actually mean there has been an end to the violence and it doesn't mean that the Israeli army has withdrawn from Gaza. And actually, unfortunately, part of that the ceasefire agreement was that the Israeli army would withdraw to this invisible boundary known as the the yellow line. This line essentially cuts Gaza in half, the area beyond the line is about 53% of Gaza and not coincidentally, it includes most of the agricultural and industrial land, an area that has been almost totally depopulated of of Palestinians.
International Influence and the Gaza Conflict
00:08:23
Speaker
So most Palestinians in Gaza are sheltering now on the western side of that that yellow yellow line And a lot of people whose homes are on the other side of the yellow line have have attempted to return home to to see if their houses are still standing, to recover possessions.
00:08:41
Speaker
And many have been shot in the process. And there are those, you know, who've crossed this unmarked yellow line unknowingly. And as such, they've been targeted by by snipers or drones and killed or injured.
00:08:54
Speaker
So, again, this ceasefire needs to be understood not as an end to violence or a violent reality for Palestinians, but rather a very different phase of the genocide.
00:09:09
Speaker
Certainly, you know, one that doesn't come with carpet bombardments every day like we saw over the last two years, but it's still a reality of, you know, daily killing, of daily deprivation, of of basic necessities. And meanwhile, the Israeli regime has, since the beginning of the genocide, been propping up criminal militias um and gangs in an attempt to undermine social cohesion and to make sure that it has a constant presence, even in areas where the Israeli army is not present.
00:09:48
Speaker
And these these gangs and militias are incredibly violent, incredibly disruptive, and are quite often criminals or made up of people who have been criminals.
00:10:02
Speaker
And it's an age-old tactic. You know, the Israeli regime has done this for a long time in in Palestine, but it's also an age-old colonial tactic that's been used in in many different contexts.
00:10:15
Speaker
As you mentioned, Israel has continued to severely restrict the access of humanitarian aid to Gaza. And one element of that was the announcement last month that Israel was going to impose new restrictions on a number of NGOs. In addition to the embargo it was already placing on UNRWA, a number of quite prominent international NGOs, one of which had the former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband as its director, so hardly out of the Western political mainstream. But they were all told that they wouldn't be allowed to operate in Gaza unless they supplied the Israeli authorities with a list of their Palestinian staff members. What was the significance of that announcement in particular?
00:11:06
Speaker
So this announcement was made in late December 2025. Israel announced that it was suspending the work of 37 humanitarian organizations, around 15% of the total number of NGOs that work on the ground in Gaza, but also happened to be some of the largest NGOs that work on the ground in Gaza. And they include, you know, as you mentioned, some of the most well-known across occupied Palestine, but also internationally. It included Defence for Children International, um the ICRC, Medical Aid for Palestinians UK, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and um and MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders in English.
00:11:53
Speaker
And, you know, I'm sure a lot of people will be aware that international NGOs have been heavily involved in the humanitarian response to the genocide in Gaza. They've delivered more than half of all food assistance. They support a lot of the, you know, healthcare efforts. They provide shelters, etc. So their presence in Gaza pre and and during the genocide has been crucial. Now, of course, there are you know reasons for that, deliberate de-development of Gaza, the kind of reliance that's been forced upon Palestinians because of conditions of siege and blockade, conditions that you know have rendered them really a population heavily reliant on aid. And so there are legitimate reasons
00:12:35
Speaker
critiques on how those organizations are part of this this process of de-development and forced reliance. But undeniably, you know, completely stopping this aid means that an entire population suffers, especially when there's nothing to take its place. And the Israeli regime knows that. And the reason that the Israeli regime suspended these organizations as you briefly mentioned, is because they want them to comply with new policies that will require them to submit to the Israeli authorities all the documentation about their staff, local and international, and documentation about funding and and operations.
00:13:13
Speaker
Now, as an occupying power, the Israeli regime doesn't have the right to demand that kind of information. But more importantly, This is a regime that has systematically targeted aid workers and their families, including those in so-called pre-authorized aid convoys. This is a regime that has bombed aid facilities.
00:13:34
Speaker
This is a regime that is in no way, shape or form, a good-faith actor. And so, you know, also according, I think, to these regulations, is any you know organization which has called for boycotts of Israel or has expressed support for the ICC or the ICJ cases against Israel and its leaders are also going to be banned from distributing aid.
00:13:58
Speaker
So it's a complete crackdown aimed at complete compliance, but it's also one that comes with very legitimate fears, for local staff in particular who are the most vulnerable to Israeli violence. And so what we did see with MSF, Medicines on Frontier, was that they were going to comply. In fact, they they released a statement saying that they had consulted with local staff and that they were going to hand over the information that the Israeli regime requested so that could continue its operations in
00:14:35
Speaker
in Gaza. But of course, the reality was quite different. And it came to light as a result of a campaign from various doctors and and medical staff, including Dr. Ghassan Abouzutta.
00:14:47
Speaker
It came to light that actually those staff members were being coerced and pressured by senior management in MSF into agreeing to hand over their information. Essentially, they were being guilt tripped into it.
00:15:01
Speaker
And so there was a huge campaign on in the media and on social media against MSF and against this coercion. And it it looks like now that MSF has has backtracked after, you know, a lot of outrage.
00:15:16
Speaker
And the latest is that it it won't be complying with these new regulations. But that means that, of course, its operations will be seriously limited in Gaza if allowed at all.
00:15:29
Speaker
But I think what's you know really clear from all of this is that the Israeli regime is is trying to re-engineer the landscape of aid distribution in Gaza and in Palestine, where you know ultimately it will have complete control over who gets what and when.
00:15:48
Speaker
If you're enjoying this podcast, please visit our website, al-shabaka.org, where you will find more Palestinian policy analysis and where you can join our mailing list and donate to support our work.
00:16:00
Speaker
This has all been taking place in a particular international context. And you've written about this yourself, about the maneuvers on the international stage that have facilitated and legitimized the approach of the Trump administration.
00:16:17
Speaker
So could you talk us through that process going from the moment when the UN Security Council, including states that have been sharply at odds with the US in recent years,
00:16:31
Speaker
either voted for or abstained on a motion that gave the Trump administration authority to go ahead with its plans for Gaza, leading from that moment up to the proclamation in the past few weeks of what Donald Trump and his officials call the Board of Peace, which appears to be not just relevant to Gaza, but a wider attempt to marginalise and delegitimise the UN n framework altogether.
00:17:00
Speaker
Yeah, and so what's been quite remarkable to me is that on an international level, the Israeli regime continues to enjoy unprecedented diplomatic, financial and a military cover despite a literal livestream genocide.
00:17:16
Speaker
And it's remarkable to me not because I ever had any hope or or faith that the international community would protect Palestinians from such violence,
00:17:27
Speaker
But I think because I thought that they would put up a bigger fight to protect the legal framework that they have set up to maintain the world order that they designed.
00:17:37
Speaker
And indeed, I think Israel's genocide in Gaza signals the start of a complete unraveling of that world order. And so, you know, on November 2025, I think it was, when we saw the the UN Security Council pass Resolution 2803, which endorsed President Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza.
00:18:03
Speaker
That was really, I think, the cherry on the cake. It's a resolution which in itself contradicts international law by mandating a ah foreign body to rule over Palestinians and Gaza.
00:18:16
Speaker
but it also contradicts previous UN m resolutions. And from sources at the UN, we know that in the lead up to this resolution, states and individuals saw some of the most political bullying and cajoling and coercion that they've ever seen at the UN. Because this resolution, you know, effectively gives Donald Trump the green light to do whatever he wants in Gaza. You know, it creates...
00:18:44
Speaker
These two bodies are supposed to take control. The Board of Peace, which of course is chaired by Trump, and an international stabilization force, which is tasked with maintaining security um and enforcing the disarmament of Palestinian um groups and factions.
00:19:02
Speaker
And then on on top of all of that, you know, it effectively bypasses all the local and international structures in the distribution of aid. So everything will have to pass through the Board of Peace.
00:19:14
Speaker
And it goes without saying that the resolution made no mention of the genocide, did not propose any kind of mechanism for accountability for war crimes.
00:19:24
Speaker
And so essentially, you know, this is a resolution that that not only contravenes international law, but it gives the US, which is the co-perpetrator of genocide, complete control over Gaza.
00:19:37
Speaker
And I think states thought that, you know, by giving this to Trump, they, you know, effectively giving him Gaza, they would quell his appetite. But I think that was a massive miscalculation. You know, the resolution supported the the border peace in the context of Gaza.
00:19:55
Speaker
But as you alluded to, that the Trump administration is now making it very clear that the border peace is a global project. It's actually an attempt to replace UN. now i'm replacing the UN n wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it was an attempt to create something more equitable and less biased towards the global north. But Trump is trying to replace the UN with himself. You just have to look at the the logo of the Board of Peace. You know, it's a It's a UN knockoff logo, except that it's in gold, which is, I guess, Trump's favorite color. And instead of the world, it includes only Trump's expansion dreams. You know, it includes Greenland, Canada and Northern Latin America and the US. So it's a ah really a ridiculous and almost laughable thing.
00:20:42
Speaker
except for the fact that this is very real and it's going to come with very serious consequences, not just for for Gaza, but on a wider scale. Looking at this scheme, the Board of Peace itself, in a bit more detail, what is the the composition of this body? Who was offered a place on it?
00:21:02
Speaker
What inducements were they offered to join? And who turned down the offer and on what grounds, as far as we're aware? So we have to break this down because it is a bit confusing and all over the place. What we know so far as to the structure of the board is as follows. Trump has essentially designated himself as chairman for life with the ability to nominate a successor. and And this is a really important point because it means that his role or the chairmanship of the Board Peace is not restricted to the US presidency.
00:21:38
Speaker
And then comes the the broad proper, which is um comprised of national leaders. And I think about 60 countries were invited. Most European countries turned down their invitations, except for, I believe, Hungary and um and Bulgaria. um The main reason that was given for turning down these invitations was that the board was going beyond its mandate and also because Trump invited Russian President Putin to join.
00:22:09
Speaker
No objection to Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu joining, who has an ICC arrest warrant and who couldn't even travel to Davos for the inauguration of the board because he would have been ah arrested by the the Swiss authorities because of this arrest warrant.
00:22:25
Speaker
And then we have the executive board, which has seven members. Nikolai Mladenov, who has the title of High Representative for Gaza. And I'm laughing because it's so ridiculous, but it's also um incredibly scary.
00:22:42
Speaker
So Mladenov is this High Representative for Gaza. Marco Rubio, who is, of course, the United States Secretary of State. We have Steve Witkoff, who's the US Special Envoy to the Middle East.
00:22:56
Speaker
Jared Kushner, who, of course, is Donald Trump's son-in-law. Tony Blair, who needs no introduction. Mark Rowan, who is the CEO of Apollo Global Management. AJ Bangor, who's the President of the World Bank.
00:23:10
Speaker
And then Robert Gabriel Jr., who's an American political advisor. And then we also have a another body called the Gaza Executive Board, and its head is Mladenov. And basically, we have the same people as are on the executive board with a few additions, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the UAE, an Israeli businessman, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. And then we have the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is the Palestinian government.
00:23:46
Speaker
Technocratic Committee, which reports to ah the Gaza Executive Board and to Mladenov. We recently saw the announcement that phase two had begun of this process, this deal.
00:24:03
Speaker
What does that actually entail? Does it make any concrete difference on the ground? And how do you think conditions in Gaza are likely to develop over the course of 2026?
00:24:15
Speaker
So the US announced ah phase two of the ceasefire mid-January. The reality is that most of the goals that were supposed to be achieved in order to reach phase two have not been reached, namely a halt in violence, Israeli withdrawal to the yellow line, and a full resumption of aid. In fact, the only...
00:24:34
Speaker
goal that has been achieved as the return of all the Israeli hostages. So the ceasefire hasn't delivered, definitely not for Palestinians. But what marked this transition into phase two, and of course, you know, these terms are very arbitrary, because as I mentioned, we're not really in phase two, and the transition is not really a transition. But nonetheless, what the US used to mark this transition was the announcement of the National Committee on the administration of Gaza. This is the technocratic committee, um the Palestinian Technocratic Committee. It's a 15-member body which is chaired by Dr. Ali Shahath, who's an engineer who has worked for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in various capacities, is originally um from Gaza. And, you know, I think in the the grand scheme of things, this committee
00:25:29
Speaker
signals a shift towards depoliticised governance in Gaza amid the ongoing genocide. And it's presented as this very you know neutral, technocratic governing structure.
00:25:41
Speaker
But the reality is that it's going to function as um a managerial mechanism that stabilises conditions. And this committee has been tasked with managing the the reconstruction service provision in Gaza, of course, under the the watchful eye of Mladenov and um Blair, who are going to report directly to to Trump.
00:26:05
Speaker
And there are a lot of things that still remain really unclear, you know, about the committee, about how it's going to be able to carry out this work. The issue of Israeli withdrawal to the yellow line still remains unclear. But for now, the committee is supposed to be operating in the the western part of Gaza, the part that you know doesn't really have Israeli forces.
00:26:29
Speaker
But funnily enough, the committee um hasn't actually been allowed into Gaza yet by the Israeli regime. What is very clear is that this committee is not going to have any kind of political function. They've been very clear about that.
00:26:43
Speaker
um In fact, there's an interview where the the chair, um Dr. Ali Shah, was explicitly asked about Israeli forces, about the disarmament of Hamas, and he just deferred all of these questions to the Board of Peace.
00:26:57
Speaker
So I think it's very important to understand the limitations of this committee. It's not a new government, it's not a new leadership in Gaza. What's very clear is that the US's approach is to completely depoliticise the issue of Palestine and turn it into an economic one, into a real estate issue.
00:27:16
Speaker
And so this committee creates this appearance of Palestinian involvement, but it operates totally or will operate totally under the subordination of the Board of So in practice, you know, it's it's almost positioned to play a very similar role to that of the the Palestinian Authority.
00:27:35
Speaker
in the West Bank, you know, a service provider operating under colonial oversight with political questions deferred indefinitely. And as I mentioned, you know, the big question is is if Israel will actually allow this technocratic committee to do the work that it's mandated to do. And I think, you know, we're already seeing it being sabotaged at every stage possible. The fact that they haven't actually been let into Gaza yet. There was a big issue in the Israeli media the other day because the committee shared its new logo and its logo incorporates the the Palestinian Authority's logo and the Israelis lost their minds over it.
00:28:14
Speaker
So I think we'll we'll have to wait and see if this committee is actually allowed to operate in any way, shape or form. And it's, you know, obviously Gaza is in urgent need of immediate relief and recovery and reconstruction. And the committee might be able to facilitate some of that. But speaking with Palestinians on the ground in Gaza and specifically about the committee. I think there's a lot of mixed feelings about it.
00:28:40
Speaker
And I think, you know, the reality is its ability to deliver is completely dependent on the Israeli regime. And the the other thing that was interesting that that marked phase two, in addition to the announcement of the Palestine Technocratic Committee, was Kushner's plan that he presented at Davos for
US and Israeli Policies in Palestine
00:29:04
Speaker
It was a very dystopic presentation of these high rises, of this very futuristic looking enclave. And as details of this plan have emerged, you start to realize actually what the Americans have in store for Palestinians. And it's it's incredibly fascinating.
00:29:26
Speaker
disturbing, you know, the ideas to force Palestinians into these so-called planned communities that are going to be very highly controlled and surveilled, even even more so than we already are. And only approved Palestinians will be able to live in these areas and they'll be subjected to all these security checks and they'll have to give over their bio data and they won't have access to cash. It will be a cashless community and the schools and curriculums will be tightly controlled. So it's very clear that this is the way that the the American administration are thinking about this. And we've always talked about the the Palestinian reality being very dystopic, but I think this really exceeds anything that we've seen or heard before.
00:30:13
Speaker
While all of this has been happening, we've also seen escalating violence by Israeli forces in the West Bank. And we've seen quite recently an important symbolic move by Israeli forces to attack and dismantle the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, even though the building was already unoccupied. But It was ordered reportedly directly by Ben Gavir as a symbolic blow against the role of UNRWA.
00:30:46
Speaker
Could you tell us a bit more about what has been happening in the West Bank and how would you say it relates what has been happening in Gaza at the same time? Yeah, and I think there there hasn't been enough coverage of what's been happening in the West Bank. And obviously, you know, the the violence in in Gaza, the the violence of the genocide has been so horrific. That has taken up a lot of coverage, and rightly so. But under, you know, the cover of the genocide the over the last two years, the Israeli regime has really...
00:31:18
Speaker
expanded its control over the West Bank and its settlement of the West Bank. We've seen an increased use of what the Israeli authorities call counter-insurgency operations, operations such as Operation Iron Wall, Operation Summer Camps, or all these really weird names used to to describe basically um military operations. You know, they're always presented as these temporary targeted operations are in response to some kind of so-called terror act or cell, but they're really, you know, they're far from it. These operations are designed not only to disrupt Palestinian life, but also to create facts on the ground. So with each new military operation comes a new permanent checkpoint or a new permanent road closure or and or demolition of Palestinian homes or permanent takeover of land.
00:32:13
Speaker
So Operation Summer Camps, for example, resulted in the largest mass displacement campaign since 1967. This operation saw the depopulation of the the camps in the northern the northern West Bank.
00:32:28
Speaker
ah Nearly 50,000 Palestinians were were kicked out of their homes, and then the camps themselves were were destroyed, and some of them have been effectively turned into Israeli military headquarters. So these operations create new realities on the ground. And it's a very cool coordinated effort between the army and the settlers to essentially re-engineer the spatial and social environment to reduce the area of land that Palestinians live on, but also to create an atmosphere where there can be no dissent or resistance to occupation. And often in the media, when we hear about settler violence, it's very much separated from from the state or
00:33:09
Speaker
you know, reported as something very fringe. But that's far from the reality. The reality is that the settlers operate hand in hand with the Israeli army, and it's very much part and parcel of Israeli government policy.
00:33:25
Speaker
In February 2023, actually, prior to the genocide, we saw that settlement planning was transferred from Kogat, which is the Israeli Occupation Administration, to the the Minister of Finance, there a guy called Bezalel Smotrich, who is a far-right genocidal politician. And um under him, what we've seen is unprecedented settlement growth. And a massive increase of of checkpoints and um military gates that that prevent Palestinians from from accessing their land. So this has really a accelerated since the start of the genocide.
00:34:04
Speaker
What we saw prior to the genocide was a sort of slow creeping annexation and takeover of land. But the genocide has been used as a cover for the Israelis to really accelerate that takeover.
00:34:15
Speaker
And finally, on the West Bank, although this applies to Palestinian refugees wherever they are, the Israelis are really in the final stage of ending UNRWA operations.
00:34:28
Speaker
As you mentioned, they began bulldozing a part of the UNRWA headquarters in um East Jerusalem. And um there are basically, as I understand it, no international staff, UNRWA international staff in Palestine. All the operations have been seriously scaled down.
00:34:47
Speaker
And for better or worse, UNRWA plays a huge role in the lives of Palestinians. You know, hundreds of thousands of kids are educated in UNRWA schools. Tens of thousands of adults are employed by the agency.
00:34:59
Speaker
The mandate of UNRWA keeps the the Palestinian right of return alive on an international level. So when we say that the the situation is getting worse in the West Bank, I i think it really, it can't be understated.
00:35:13
Speaker
The final question that I want to put to as you have said, and as I've heard many Palestinians observe over not just the last two or three months, but the last two years, it's very difficult to think of a bleaker moment that the Palestinian people have faced in the whole period since the Nakba in the 1940s.
00:35:34
Speaker
Do you have a sense against that backdrop of what what the state of Palestinian politics and civil society is today in the wake of the Gaza genocide. Is there any space at all for people to engage in discussion about possible strategies that might begin to challenge such a bleak scenario, such a bleak balance of forces?
Palestinian Struggle and Global Politics
00:35:57
Speaker
I think a lot of Palestinians are talking about this moment as our post-Necba moment. There is a shock and ongoing trauma um for what has happened.
00:36:10
Speaker
You know, not only the the destruction and and devastation of the genocide in Gaza, but also the the violence and and repression that has engulfed the West Bank, you know.
00:36:20
Speaker
all of the things that I mentioned earlier, and that the political repression, I think, is something that we haven't seen for a long time. And maybe it is similar to what Palestinians experience post-Nakba. But the political space inside of Occupy Palestine is really very, very limited. And that's not to say that there isn't organizing or any kind of political movement, but it's really limited and more repressed now than it has ever been. You know, the number of of political prisoners has increased at least 10,000 and many of them are being held indefinitely under administrative detention. um Others are taken for a few days, beaten up and threatened. um You know, people are also being arrested.
00:37:06
Speaker
for social media posts. University campuses are being raided frequently. So there is this atmosphere of fear. But I think there's also a recognition that this is an existential moment for us as a people. You know, we either achieve liberation um and regain sovereignty over our homeland and return our people to their homes, or we're going to be exterminated as a people um and as a collective seeking self-determination.
00:37:37
Speaker
And so the big question for me now is is how do we reconcile with the fact that over the last two years, especially the Palestine movement, the Palestine Solidarity Movement has grown exponentially and achieved all of this international recognition and support at unprecedented levels. And yet the situation on the ground has gotten drastically worse and that the Solidarity Movement has not been able to stop the genocide.
00:38:07
Speaker
And I think the the answer is bigger than Palestine. i think Gaza has emerged as the the epicenter of global politics.
00:38:18
Speaker
And I think, you know, the future of Palestine has been ultimately understood to be connected to the the future of the world. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro,
00:38:29
Speaker
said at a conference that what we're seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal for the future. and And I think that future's already here. You know, why is it that governments are willing to oppress their own people in their own streets for protesting against a foreign state committing genocide?
00:38:48
Speaker
Why is it that that so many government corruption scandals involve weapons and security companies who are uncomplicit in the genocide in Gaza? Why is it that a politician's downfall can be orchestrated because they stand up against genocide somewhere, you know, very far away from where they are? You know, people are asking these questions in a really serious way. And I think they understand that Palestine can't be understood on its own, isolated from from global dynamics.
00:39:18
Speaker
And I think it's this reality of you know the fact that that Palestine exists in ah in a deeply unjust and and very violent world. It's this reality that allows the machinery of genocide in in Palestine to continue. And so I think the the task at hand is to build that into political momentum, to build that understanding of Palestine,
00:39:44
Speaker
into political momentum that can bring about radical change in political structures worldwide. And I'm not sure if we'll be able to do that, but I think that's really what has to happen.
00:40:04
Speaker
Rethinking Palestine is brought to you by Ashabaka, the Palestinian policy network. Ashabaka is the only global independent Palestinian think tank whose mission is to produce critical policy analysis and collectively imagine a new policymaking paradigm for Palestine and Palestinians worldwide.
00:40:21
Speaker
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