π️Lonny's War Update- October 715, 2023 - September 20, 2025 π️
π️Day 715 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
Trump on hostages: Young people can take a lot, ‘but a lot of people died in these horrible tunnels’
US President Donald Trump again tells reporters that fewer than 20 hostages may be alive in Gaza.
“Look, young people don’t die, they just don’t die. They can take a lot, but a lot of people died in these horrible tunnels. They’re mostly in the tunnels,” he says while speaking in the Oval Office of the White House. link Trump has no tact and never thinks of the implications from statements like his. Because of his closeness to Netanyahu, the hostage families hear him spout like that and believe, understandably, that he is getting his news straight from Netanyahu and/or intelligence experts. They are constantly lied to by Netanyahu and all of his people and new information and intelligence is always kept from them by this government as well as the army. Therefore, when statements like this are made, the families immediately plead with the government, with Netanyahu and Dermer to give them whatever updated information they have. It is hard to believe that Netanyahu is providing the most current information to the families when it is known that he is a pathological liar. In addition to that, he together with his political advisors and PR people, always weigh what information is good for him to release and what will hurt him politically. So news of additional hostages being killed in captivity will be bad for him, so if this is the case, he waits for bodies to be returned and then let the army handle all announcements, essentially removing himself from the fray. The hostages families are mentally tortured every day that their loved ones remain in Gaza. Statements like Trumps and denials from Netanyahu always make their torture worse, if that is imaginable.
- Hostage survivor Naama Levy urges UN to act for 48 still held in Gaza: 'I am here to be their voice'Naama Levy, freed after 477 days in Hamas captivity, urged the world at a UN event to act now to save the 48 hostages still held in Gaza for nearly two yearsIn an emotional address at a UN-organized event on Friday, Naama Levy, who served in the IDF as a lookout and survived captivity in Gaza, urged the world to save the 48 remaining hostages.“You have all seen that horrifying video of me from that darkest day,” Levy said, recalling October 7, 2023, when she was kidnapped. “I was violently dragged from a black Jeep, wounded, terrified, bleeding and helpless, paraded in front of a hateful, raging mob, with the terrifying sounds of gunfire and cheering all around me.”“That was only the first day in hell,” she continued. “The first of 477 long, agonizing days. My time being held hostage will remain carved into my body and soul for the rest of my life."Levy described the nearly 16 months she spent in captivity: “Days turned into months, and months into more than a year. I endured periods without food or water, suffered severe malnutrition, unimaginable hunger and untreated injuries. I was kept in unbearable sanitary conditions with the constant fear that each moment could be my last. Those were 477 days where each minute felt like eternity.”She said she was transferred between safe houses, sometimes left in total isolation, other times held with young women, some badly wounded and untreated. One of the most terrifying moments, she recalled, came when she was forced to run from house to house under fire. “Bullets whistled past my ears as my captors reloaded their weapons. I ran as fast as I could. I was weak, struggling to breathe, terrified for my life,” she said. Levy also described the terror of Hamas tunnels. “There's nothing that can compare to the darkness and dread that the tunnels bring with them. The same tunnels where far too many innocent people are still being held at this very moment,” she said. “Imagine being forced into a dark, deep tunnel underground, where the air is empty of oxygen. It feels impossible to take a deep breath, the stench of mold fills your lungs, and you are left on a damp mattress. That was my reality, again and again.”The rally at Hostages Square, last week (Photo: Dana Kopel) Eight months after her release, Levy said she cannot bear the thought of others still enduring what she did. “As I stand here before you, there are hostages for whom this nightmare has not ended. Some of them I saw with my own eyes. Their faces never leave me. Their voices are silenced. That is why I am here — to be their voice,” she said. “There are sons, fathers, brothers, and one daughter who must be saved. Families are waiting for them, fighting to end their suffering, just as you would fight if this unthinkable horror happened to someone you love.” She called on the international community to act urgently. “Diplomacy and negotiation freed me. That same diplomacy must bring the others home — the living to rebuild their lives, and the dead to be buried with dignity,” Levy said. “Please act. Find a solution now. Save these innocent lives, because in saving them, it is as if you saved the entire world. Bring them all home — now.” link
Hamas propaganda image labels 48 remaining hostages as missing navigator Ron Arad
Hamas publishes a propaganda image of the remaining 48 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, naming them all Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who has been classified as missing since 1988.
The image’s text reads: “Because of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s refusal, and [IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal] Zamir’s capitulation, a parting image as the military operation in Gaza City begins.”
The text appears to accuse Netanyahu of refusing to reach a ceasefire-hostage release deal, while charging that Zamir is carrying out the order to conquer Gaza City despite his reported opposition to the plan.
Hostage families have expressed fear that their loved ones would share the fate of Arad without a deal for their release.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March 2024, and one additional hostage, a dual American-Israeli citizen, in May 2024 as a “gesture” to the United States. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.
Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 51 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
IDF estimates 480,000 Gaza City residents have moved to Strip’s south
Some 480,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated Gaza City to the Strip’s south, according to fresh IDF estimates.
Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF launched a major offensive against Hamas in the area.
Ahead of the offensive, the IDF ordered Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to evacuate immediately to an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.
Armed group claims to set up area in Khan Younis for Gazans seeking alternative to Hamas rule
A former member of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in Gaza says he has formed a group operating against Hamas in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, and urges Palestinians in the area to seek safety with him.
Hossam al-Astal tells The Times of Israel that his group will take in “whoever lives under Hamas’s oppression,” and that there is enough food, water and shelter for all.
“In the coming days, we will bring in another 300-400 people,” he says, adding that the group carries out security screenings to make sure those joining have no ties to Hamas.
Al-Astal’s group has established itself around the village of Kizan al-Najjar, just south of Khan Younis, which was emptied of its residents during the war. The location is about a kilometer from al-Mawasi, where Israel has directed Palestinians displaced from Gaza City.
“I am responsible for the (new) humanitarian zone in Khan Younis,” he explains, comparing his efforts to those of Yasser Abu Shabab, whose armed gang has set up security structures and civilian infrastructure as an alternative to Hamas rule in Israeli-controlled parts of Rafah in recent months.
The two men and their respective groups are in contact, al-Astal says, “but each of us operates independently.”
Hailing from a Bedouin family in the Khan Younis area, 50-year-old al-Astal says he worked in Israel for many years, and later for the PA’s security forces when they still controlled Gaza. He was jailed by Hamas several times. Hamas-linked social media accounts have shared images of al-Astal in recent days, accusing him of collaborating with Israel.
He says there is “coordination” between his group and Israel, and that soon “we will rely on Israel to bring us electricity and water.”
Al-Astal says the group has weapons to defend themselves and that they received funding from multiple sources, including the US, Europe, and unspecified Arab states.
“People here don’t want Hamas, they want peace with Israel,” he says. “I’m 50 years old; I remember when the army and Israel were in Gaza, and we lived in peace,” he reflects. “Children played, children went to school, and there were no problems. But today, Hamas’s terror has destroyed Gaza and its people.”
The IDF has refused to comment. link. Instead of allowing and enabling the placement of an alternative governing body made of Palestinian Technocrats and backed by the PA and the Arab States, Netanyahu has been funding and arming Clan Chiefs, a euphemism for War Lords in this case to try to replace Hamas. These clans are all known to be criminal family organizations and have been involved in everything from smuggling, robbery, murders, human trafficking and cooperation with Hamas. Netanyahu has been pushing for clans to control areas of their fiefdom and not have any organized and central governing body. The world has witnesses too many times the funding and arming of clans which become the epitome of war lords, who at first fight on your side and eventually used the weapons and money that you provided to then fight against you. Never has there been a case of funding and arming war lords that came out with positive results and long time allies. The last case of a big power trying to use war lords to their advantage was Afghanistan and the US. That turned out to be a disaster, just as this attempt by Netanyahu in Gaza.
Israel reportedly carrying out heavy bombardment of Gaza City
Israel is carrying out a heavy bombardment of Gaza City, according to Palestinian reports.
Several are killed and wounded in the explosions, according to reports. video
Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Spain launch global fundraising campaign for PA
France, Norway, Spain and Saudi Arabia are working to rally countries around an emergency aid package to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s collapse while Israel withholds hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to Ramallah, according to a letter to potential donor states obtained by The Times of Israel.
For four consecutive months, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been refusing to transfer clearance revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf. These funds make up the majority of Ramallah’s budget and their withholding has brought the PA to brink of collapse.
The letter to potential donor countries who will be attending a French-Saudi two-state solution conference at the UN on Monday says that participants are expected to demand Israel release the Palestinian funds.
However, organizers appear resigned to the possibility that Jerusalem will not budge on the issue and therefore have set a fundraising goal of $200 million for each of the next six months to cover the PA’s operating expenses.
“Support to the recovery of the private sector and the functioning of essential commercial actors, including Palestinian banks, is also needed,” the letter says.
A European diplomat tells The Times of Israel that the four participating countries have already agreed to donate $200 million a month to the PA for six months, but are hoping that other countries help share the burden.
“The Palestinian Authority is engaged in implementing an ambitious reform agenda, aiming at structural transformations that lay the foundation for a modern, transparent, and accountable State,” say the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Spain, as they seek to justify another international fundraising campaign for Ramallah.
Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the effort is particularly noteworthy, as Riyadh previously was one of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s biggest critics, accusing him of corruption.
The leading Arab country’s inclusion in the effort gives Ramallah’s recent reform efforts a boost of legitimacy.
The letter says the PA is facing an “existential threat” due to the withholding of clearance revenues on top of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, settler violence in the West Bank and blocks on transfers to Palestinian banks.
“A viable Palestinian state capable of fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people will be essential for a future of peace and
security in the Middle East,” the four countries say.“We therefore need to urgently mobilize to prevent a financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority, with severe implications for Palestinian society, regional stability, and international security,” the letter continues. “Financial shortcoming cannot be the cause of the failure of the Palestinian State and destabilization of the Middle East.”
“We need to act now, and with this objective, we propose to swiftly coordinate in the coming days an emergency coalition for Palestine,” the letter states. link Smotrich, as Finance Minister controls the purse strings even to the Palestinian Authority. He has acted many times, mostly illegally to prevent the tax money collect by Israel on behalf of the PA, to be transferred to the PA in order to weaken the PA more and more, even to collapse. Smotrich the extremist messianic has an embedded belief that if he causes the lives of the Palestinians to be so bad, they will just leave, abandon their homes and property, and then Smotich and his band of extremist settlers can then easily take over all of the West Bank and have only Jewish settlements throughout. He has the same plan for Gaza. Smotrich doesn't take into consideration any implications as he believes that any price is worth paying to get rid of all the Palestinians and create the Greater Israel. He believes it will all be a domino effect that will start by destroying the PA and watching chaos occur in the West Bank with Israel stepping with the army but only to prevent attacks on settlers. He wants and believes that chaos will bring about Palestinian killing Palestinian (he has no issue with the settlers and army killing them as well) and for their lives to be so terrible and in danger by their own people that they will leave in masse. Ironically or not, it has been Netanyahu who has prevented Smotrich's plan of destroying the PA. Netanyahu knows some of the benefits of the PA. First and foremost, the thing that most Israelis don't know or acknowledge, the security coordination between Palestinian Authority security forces and Israeli. The Palestinians have literally prevented thousands of terror attacks against Israelis. Besides the security cooperation, Netanyahu does not want to take on the municipal obligations of an occupier such as garbage collection, water and electricity supply, education and medical services and everything else that the PA does. He wants them to exist but in a very weakened state so that he can continue to say that there is no partner for peace.
IDF hits some 100 terror sites in Gaza over past day, kills several Hamas operatives
Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force struck some 100 targets in the Gaza Strip, the military says.
The targets included tunnels, weapon depots, cells of operatives, and other infrastructure used by terror groups.
Hamas authorities report that at least 34 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
In Gaza City, the military says the 98th Division continues to expand its operations and, in the past day, destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnel shafts, booby-trapped buildings, and positions used by terror operatives. Several Hamas operatives, including field commanders, were also killed, the army says.
The 162nd Division, which is also operating in Gaza City and the Kafr Jabalia area, killed several more operatives — including by directing a drone strike — and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, the IDF says.
Elsewhere in northern Gaza, the IDF says the 99th Division’s forces directed strikes on several Hamas infrastructures and killed operatives
In the Strip’s south, the Gaza Division destroyed additional Hamas sites, including tunnels, and killed several operatives in Khan Younis and Rafah.
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
Read the opinion piece "Have you lost your minds? by Dr. Gershon Baskin in the War and Politics section below
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
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"May Hamas burn": the charged visit in the city that became the symbol of terror
The streets that emptied, the pictures of the martyrs and the residents who curse Sinwar: Jenin struggles to recover from the blows it took – and fights for its survival. Behind the sign "No entry for Israelis" hides a city that is troubled by the possibility that also in its territory a war will begin: "There is no stability, there is no food, there is no work. There is nothing normal in war." The voices from inside, the criticism of the Palestinian Authority and the data that emphasize the crisisSuddenly he appears before us. A boy of 17, with a small cart of cold water bottles. Until recently he was part of the "Jenin Battalion" of the Islamic Jihad. After he was wounded in his leg, today he contents himself with calling passersby to stop and drink, in return for a symbolic payment.
This boy is not just another person in the market. He is the symbol of today’s Jenin, a city that moves between a past of terror to a present of survival, between military raids to a stubborn attempt to keep routine, with the knowledge that every quiet is probably temporary and at any moment the situation might flip over, like a bowl that slips from the hands.
In Jenin everything is exposed to the eye: the silent streets, the destroyed camp, the fear of the unknown and the posters of the martyrs that gaze from concrete walls. The residents here know well that what happens in Gaza could happen also there, in their homes.The sign warns: "No entry for Israelis"
Reihan crossing, the northern gate of Israel to Jenin, today stands almost empty. No cars, no movement, only soldiers who stand at their positions, keeping the quiet that almost threatens. Only half an hour drive from Afula and we are already here – on the way to the city that long ago became the symbol of terror. But when you enter inside a different picture becomes clear, much more complex.Once, tens of thousands of Palestinian workers used to pass through Reihan on their way to work in Israel, or sick people who travel for medical treatment. But since October 7 everything almost stopped, the crossing is deserted and only a few hundreds of people hold permits. We continue to drive, on the right the seam area winds, on the left the settlements Hermesh and Mevo Dotan. A few more minutes drive and the red sign pops before us: 'No entry for Israelis, Area A.' At a short distance from it already appears the sign 'Jenin', and from there we are already in the city itself.
Pictures of martyrs that hang throughout Jenin gaze at you suddenly | Photo: Amit Martin Mansharof, N12At the entrance to Jenin the streets are silent. The shops are open but empty of customers, and cars almost do not drive. The feeling is of heavy quiet. We meet Muhammad (a fictitious name, like all names in the article), a Palestinian businessman, father of three children who resides in the city.
"Life in Jenin is hard," says Muhammad in an interview to magazine N12, pointing at the empty sidewalk. "Why? Because there is no stability. There is no economic stability, there is no security stability. The people cannot know if there is security or there is not security. Indeed the army that is present solved a problem, but it created other problems."
To what other problems do you refer?
"The economic situation from October 7 until today is very bad because there is constant activity of the army, and because the main crossing of Jenin, Jalama, is closed – and it is in fact the central thing. Workers do not succeed to work, there are not many workplaces here and there are not many factories, only very few.""Life here is hard, people do not know if they have security or not." A tense tour in Jenin | Photo: Amit Martin Mansharof, N12"This is an illusion that there is quiet"
In Jenin, behind a locked iron gate, the Ferris wheel stands still. A facility that was built to carry children high turned into a symbol that the city stopped still. Next to it peel remnants of paint in the closed go-kart track, that on other days was full of families. This sight, of an abandoned amusement park, marks what happens in the heart of the city that seemingly froze in its place since October 7."Because of the situation a big problem of illegal residents in Israel was created – the workers who enter through illegal breaches because the Israeli government does not give permits. If they would give, this would not happen," continues Muhammad.
You see the pictures from Gaza, but Hamas did not succeed to realize its wet dream on October 7, to ignite the West Bank. Still there is here relative quiet.
"Why quiet? That is not true. This is an illusion that there is quiet. The proof is the attack in Jerusalem (at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood, in which six Israelis were murdered). There is no quiet in the West Bank. There is a volcano that boils. Yes, there is 'control', but imaginary control because the people inside are not calm.""The situation is difficult, but without intifada," claims Muhammad. "That is what caused October 7 to happen. Outside it looked like the situation was good, but inside the situation was not good. In order that we do not return to another October 7 and that there will not be more problems, we need a real solution, from the root, to the problems."
In the market signs of life are noticeable, and also signs of tension | Photo: Amit Martin Mansharof, N12"We do not know what happens there inside"
We pass by the Arab-American University in Jenin – a relatively prestigious institution that for years has attracted many students from the Arab sector in Israel who live in the Triangle cities and the Galilee. The reason is clear: here no psychometric test is required. And indeed the studies are conducted mostly in English, but they are not cheap, and unlike universities in Israel – in Jenin there are no second exam dates.In the last two years the number of students shrank and the studies take place partly remotely. And still, outside the campus gates groups of young people are seen who look for routine. When we arrive at the market of Jenin, here already more movement is felt: open stalls, voices of hawkers and many people who come to buy basic groceries.
What do the people in Jenin want? The majority prefer calm or terror?
"The people want to live in dignity. When their dignity goes and their real rights do not exist, then there are those who go to make problems. In the end, the person is born free. You cannot impose on him all these problems and pressures. Everything is hard, the travel is hard, the roads are hard. But there is a people that wants to live. A people that must live. Without connection to religions or beliefs. In my opinion there needs to be agreement in Israel to allow open lives for everyone, that each one will live in security. But to press that some will live in peace and some not, this will not bring stability."Residents in Jenin warn: "The quiet today and the pressure that Israel applies – will lead to explosion tomorrow" | Photo: Amit Martin Mansharof, N12Indeed we do not enter the refugee camp itself – after all no one, except the army, enters there today – yet its residents did not disappear: most of them found shelter inside the city itself, in crowded and packed buildings. Until the last IDF operation about 14 thousand Palestinians lived in the camp, and now it is closed and destroyed. "No one knows what really happens there inside," admits Muhammad. "Yesterday a few people tried to enter, and two were killed."
Do you fear that in Jenin will happen what the IDF did in Gaza?
"Yes, of course, clearly we fear that. Everyone takes this into account, because no one knows what will happen."Facing the ticking bombs: the sector in which the IDF shapes the space anew
The fortress of terror in the West Bank turned into a ghost city: "We destroyed every building that had terror infrastructure"
"Why do we pay the price?"
Sami, a resident of Jenin, describes the sharp change that occurred: "Before October 7 I would go out every day to Israel, work and earn well. Today? Nothing. What are we connected to Hamas and to Sinwar? May they both burn, I only want to live in dignity and in partnership here, in Jenin. So why did the government limit me? Why do we pay the price?"Amer, a Palestinian from the refugee camp who was forced to leave his home, speaks angrily: "Israel turned from a state into a big and inhuman monster in the eyes of the world. The peoples of the world see it as Dracula, Israel turns the West Bank into Gaza. It destroys houses, seizes lands, builds settlements and erects checkpoints. It will impose complete control over the West Bank in the near period, and that is what we see."
When he is asked about the relative quiet in the city, his answer is short: "The quiet today and the pressure that Israel applies are what will lead to explosion tomorrow." And still, Amer admits that Jenin paid a heavy price of destruction, and therefore most residents want quiet. But when the conversation touches the Palestinian Authority, he insists: "It is not true that it 'does not exist,' its existence is good because it at least provides some security to the people."
2,000 shekels a month: the collapse data
And still, there are also other voices in Jenin. Some of the residents claim that the situation is actually more stable since the IDF entered regularly to the city and that thanks to it there is relative quiet – something that the Palestinian Authority did not succeed to provide. "We have no faith in the Authority at all," they say here. For them it does not exist, it is not capable to hold order and not to give security. And still they admit that the relative quiet is based on the military presence, they fear that everything is temporary, that one day the forces will leave and the city will return to be what it was.The criticism of Hamas and the Jihad is heard throughout the city. N12 camera inside Jenin | Photo: Amit Martin Mansharof, N12Beyond the personal stories, the data teach how heavy the price that Jenin pays since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The unemployment in the city and its surroundings jumped to about 48% – among the highest rates in Judea and Samaria. Hundreds of small and medium businesses closed, mainly in the fields of food, clothing and vehicle trade. Shop owners tell of a dramatic drop in revenues, difficulty to preserve workers and move to only partial work.
The economic crisis of the Palestinian Authority adds to this: the clearance funds from Israel (the tax that Israel collects and transfers to the Authority) are not received in their order, and the salaries are paid only partly – around 50% of the wage. As a result the average wage in Jenin today stands at only about 2,000 shekels. Businessmen turn to grey channels, buy gold or withdraw cash from the banks out of fear of collapse, and some even try to invest outside the borders of the Authority – in Turkey, in Jordan or in the United Arab Emirates.
"This is the holiday that gives us air"
The opening of Jalama crossing on weekends for Israeli Arabs is perceived as a point of light: about 2,500 enter every Saturday, bring with them movement to the markets, to the restaurants and to the shops, despite the fear. "This gives air, and Saturday is a holiday for us in Jenin," clarifies Sami. "But this is not enough, and the Palestinian workers without money, the merchants absorb enormous losses," he continues.In Jenin they miss the days before the war, when thousands of vehicles entered every day and not only on the weekend. According to the local chamber of commerce, it is about a turnover of 7 to 10 million shekels every weekend, money that indeed brings movement to the city but is far from providing economic stability.
Munir, another resident of Jenin, describes the reality in simple words. "There is no stability, there is no food, there is no work. There is nothing normal in war," he emphasizes. According to him, as long as the army is present, people stay in the houses. When it goes out – they try to work. "This is a tragic subject," he says. "Everything is destruction in the refugee camp, there are no civilians and only the army inside."
The fear that Israel will act in Jenin like in Gaza rises again and again in conversations. "People expect it, fear it," he adds, "the situation is frightening."
How many support Hamas and the Islamic Jihad?
Munir shakes his head: "No, all the people are against. They only want to return to the situation that was before 17 years – before everything deteriorated. If Israel will open the crossings, take the army out of the camp, return the workers to work in Israel – the situation will return to be natural. The people will have normal lives."Quiet in the city may be only temporary, until the terror will raise its head again or the IDF will increase its activity. "We are with Israel, there is no Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen only talks and will not enter Jenin," concludes Sami. "Give us only to work, to live, to keep routine and lives in partnership." link
- Have you lost your minds?
When Samer Sinijlawi and I announced the creation of the Alliance for Two States, many of our Israeli and Palestinian colleagues thought that we have totally gone bonkers. How can you talk about a two-state solution while the war is continuing in Gaza, when Israel is being accused of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza, while Hamas still controls the Strip and they are still holding hostages?How could Israelis and Palestinians, deep in trauma and pain even consider that there might be an option of a future of peace between these two peoples? Israeli society is broken and in despair. Israelis talk about not having air to breathe. The war goes on, Israelis keep showing up for duty and going to Gaza to fight a war that has no strategic end game other than keeping Netanyahu in power. Demonstrations against the war and the government take place every day, but very few of protesters believe that they have any impact on their own government. The majority of Israelis want the war to end for the government to go home. But many Israelis are seriously talking about the possibility that elections in 2026 may not take place due to governmental manipulation as Israel’s democracy seems to be withering away and divisions within society are becoming more violent in words and in deeds.
The Prime Minister of Israel is speaking about Israel being Sparta and living by the sword forever. His government is building new settlements every day. Israel is placing millions of Palestinians in cages throughout the West Bank, with yellow gates being constructed on the entrances and exits of every Palestinian town, village, refugee camp and city. Israel is ethnically cleansing parts of the West Bank and making plans to annex all of the occupied territories. Smotrich is talking about concrete plans for mass evacuations of Gazans and building new towns for Israelis all along the Gaza coast.
Palestinians in the West Bank are broke and the economy of the Palestinian Authority is broke. The sense of desperation amongst Palestinians in the West Bank is felt in every district of the area. Almost no Palestinians have any confidence whatsoever in the Palestinian Authority and its leaders. In Gaza, almost every Gazan wants Hamas to be out of their lives forever and many wish that all Hamas leaders would simply die. Desperation doesn’t even begin to describe the feelings of millions of Gazans. They have no present, and the future has no promise of anything better.
Both sides of this conflict share trauma, despair, anger and pain. Very few Israelis and Palestinians see any partner for peace on the other side. Peace is beyond imagination. Survival is the current mode – while it is clear that Israelis are struggling to survive much more metaphorically than Palestinians who struggle for survival is concrete and severe. Many Israelis and Palestinians tell me that I should forget about talking or thinking about peace for at least another generation. They say to me that it will never come in my lifetime. I am 69 years old and I have been hearing that I will never see peace in my lifetime since I was in my 20’s. I rejected it then and I reject it now. As we all watch the most horrible chapter of our lives unfold before our eyes, I say categorically that the war in Gaza must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. We cannot and must not continue to do this to each other. Even when this war ends, there will be about seven million Israeli Jews and seven million Palestinian Arabs living on the same land between the River and the Sea. That will not change – even if many Israelis and Palestinians, particularly young people, dream about finding their future in some distant land.
It would be helpful if we had leaders on both sides that spoke openly about a different reality. It would be very helpful if there were more Palestinians like Samer who say with conviction that we Palestinians cannot deny the historic connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. It would be wonderful if there were more Israelis like me who say with conviction that we Jewish Israelis cannot deny the historic connection of the Palestinian people to the land of Palestine. It would be enormously helpful if those voices came from political leaders and not just from civil society activists like us.
For decades I have heard from thousands of Israelis and Palestinians the exact same statement: we want peace, but they don’t! Both sides have a perception of self that verbalizes their own desire to live in peace but note that there are no partners for peace on the other side. Both sides are justified in their assessment because what they live on a daily basis drives home dramatically the absence of partners for peace on the other side. No Israeli nor Palestinian can honestly say that their own side, their own leaders, their own society projects to the other side a true desire to live in peace. In the actions and words of many Israelis and Palestinians – particularly from people who call themselves leaders – we have the embodiment of only a conflictual narrative.
We, both sides in this conflict, have educated the young generations to live by the sword, to perceive the other side as illegitimate, unequal in rights and in many cases having no legitimate claim for national existence on the same piece of land that both sides claim as their own. Our political arenas are devoid of significant leaders who stand up and paint a picture of the future of two states living side-by-side in peace.
No one considers taking dramatic steps against the tide that have the power to change reality. No one challenges the untenable status quo of endless conflict, death and destruction, yet no one offers an alternative. Israelis and Palestinians don’t meet each other. The physical barriers, the abusive permit systems, the Palestinian anti-normalization campaign, and mutual fear have all succeeded in fostering a complete disconnect between Israelis and Palestinians and this has existed now for decades. It is very difficult to break out of the sense of despair, fear, anger, hatred and loss. Yet that is what we must do.
The international campaign to recognize the State of Palestine will not change the reality on the ground for Palestinians. They will continue to live under the harsh illegal Israeli occupation. But when some of Israel’s best friends recognize the State of Palestine and do so stating that it is an act of friendship towards Israel, there is a new message being delivered to the Israeli people. Recognition of Palestine is not a reward to Hamas terror and crimes, it is in fact a gift to Israel because it sets the path clearly forward for how to end this conflict.
When the Saudis and other Arab and Muslim nations reaffirm the commitment that they made in 2002 in the Arab Peace Initiative to recognize Israel and make peace with Israel when there is a Palestinian state next to Israel, this is a gift to the people of Israel to help them to understand that Israel does not have to be Sparta – Israel can be part of a rapidly developing part of the world that it physically exists within but is not part of. Israel’s Arab neighbors are anxious to embrace Israel and to share with Israel the tremendous potential of the region, but they will not do that as long as Israel is at war with the Palestinian people and deny the Palestinian people the very same rights that it demands for itself.
You get what you give
I have been crossing borders from Jewish Israel into Palestinian Israel and into Palestine since 1978. That is a long time. I lived for two years in a Palestinian village in Israel from 1979-1981. Even back then, most Israeli Jews would ask me: Aren’t you afraid? I would tell them that I don’t even have a lock on my door. During my two years living there I visited more than 500 homes. I was welcomed wherever I went. I showed my interest in those that I met and they reciprocated by showing their interest in me. I listened to their stories and asked a lot of questions. I didn’t always agree with their politics and often had respectful arguments and disagreements – but they were always focused on how to create a better future for us all.
I have visited almost every major town, city and refugee camp in the West Bank and many of the smaller villages as well. Before mid-2007, I visited Gaza many times and even slept over on occasion. During the 24 years that I co-directed IPCRI – Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information, I organized and ran more than 2000 joint Israeli-Palestinian working groups of professionals on every subject area that concerns the relations between the two sides. I worked with thousands of Israelis and Palestinians over the years and maintain contact with hundreds of them up to the present time.
I think that I have a better and deeper understanding of Palestinian society than most other Israeli Jews. I have always agreed to speak to anyone who was willing to speak with me – even when the zone of agreement between us was very small or even non-existent. I have come to understand that most Israelis and most Palestinians really do want to live in peace, and most of them are prepared to make agreements that recognize the national rights of the other side.
Every issue in conflict between Israel and Palestine can be resolved – I am entirely convinced of this. Our problem is that we have no starting point and no one to start it. The absence of leadership willing to take risks so that their people will have a chance to live in peace is devastating. In the court of history, our leaders on both sides will be found guilty of not acting in the best interests of their people. Those in Israel who can only talk about defense (which is usually a code word for offense) and those in Palestine who still talk about a viable option of armed struggle are criminally responsible for determining a continuation of death, destruction and despair.
But I don’t despair, and I honestly believe that we are closer to heading in a new direction than most of us can perceive. The young generation of Israelis and Palestinians, while they may collectively seem more extreme than their parents, will come to the conclusion that staying on the same path is futile. There are and will be more young people who will understand that we don’t have to waste our resources and our lives on fighting a conflict that can be resolved. What we need is the spark to light the fire of hope that will spread rapidly when people of courage on both sides stand together with the same message that mutual recognition of rights and a common desire to live in peace is what we must achieve. This will be a mutually reassuring message that will be heard over the noise of the militarists and those who promise us nothing but continued hatred and mutual fear.
It should be known that on July 9, 2025, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took on a commitment on behalf of the Palestinian people in a letter that he wrote to French President Macron and to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This letter was unfortunately not published widely, and most people don’t know of its contents. This is one more example of the failure of leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. But the contents of his letter should be the compass for Palestinians for moving forward. His words were a firm undertaking to France, Saudi Arabia and to all of those countries who are considering recognizing the State of Palestine.
Abbas wrote:
“The Palestinian people is not destined to live under occupation nor are we and the Israelis destined to be at war. We can live in peace and security, side by side, tomorrow if we make the right decisions today. We need to all take the necessary bold and unprecedented steps that set us on that path. I am determined to ensure we uphold our responsibilities and count on your help to mobilize the international community to uphold its own, and ensure Israel upholds its obligations. I hope the Israeli people will seize this opportunity for peace…
There can be no military solution to the conflict, and we reject violence and terrorism and denounce all attacks against civilians, whether Palestinians or Israelis. Israel has to bring to an immediate end its war and aggression against the Palestinian people and to withdraw fully from the Gaza Strip, and to release the Palestinian prisoners. What Hamas did on October 7th of killing and taking civilians hostage is unacceptable and condemnable and Hamas has to immediately release all hostages and captives…
We are ready to conclude within a clear and binding timeline, and with international support, supervision and guarantees, a peace agreement that ends the Israeli occupation and resolves all outstanding and final status issues, leading to an end of all claims, and the achievement of just and lasting peace based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including land for peace, and the Arab Peace Initiative…
The PLO has recognized the right of Israel to exist over 30 years ago, a recognition that binds the State of Palestine to this day, while Israel’s recognition of the Palestinian State is long overdue…
The State of Palestine has adopted an ambitious reform agenda and has made meaningful progress in implementing it, revoking the law on payments to families of prisoners and martyrs and implementing a new social security system without discrimination.
We reiterate our constant demand for an international supervision over incitement and hate speech in statements, curriculum, and in official media by both sides.
We are also committed to the organization of presidential and general elections within a year to be conducted under international auspices, supervision and support. These elections will be inclusive and open solely, based on a new party legislation, to political forces and candidates that clearly accept the PLO political platform and the resolutions of international legitimacy and the principle of One State, One Government, One Law and One Gun.”
These words of the Palestinian President need to be echoed by Palestinians all over because they represent the only real hope for rapid change. These words, spoken by Palestinians, will have the power to change the current dynamic and perhaps some Israeli leaders will stand up and echo words of consent and agreement.
Our future is in the hands of our leaders by what they say and what they do and by what they do not say and what they do not do. We must demand from them, in Israel and in Palestine, to change our course and to steer us in a new direction that may very well have the power to draw out the same new sentiments from people and leaders on the other side.
But first and foremost – we have to end this horrible war in Gaza. There is only one person in the world who can do that, and that is President Trump. We need for that to happen today.
About the Author
Gershon Baskin, together with Samer Sinijlaw head the Alliance for Two States
- The Region and the World
- Efforts to punish Israel over Gaza war intensify in sports and cultural arenas
Calls to bar Israel from global scene gain traction as actors seek boycott, 5 European countries threaten to skip Eurovision should Israel partake and Spanish PM urges sports banGENEVA — A major cycling race in Spain was disrupted by protests against an Israeli team. A basketball game in Poland was preceded by fans booing the Israeli national anthem. And several European countries are threatening to boycott a signature entertainment event if Israel takes part.
The global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sports and culture. Israel’s critics say it should be sidelined from international events just like Russia has been since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Unlike Russia, which faced widespread condemnation and Western sanctions, Israel has not been shut out by global sports institutions like the International Olympic Committee or the world soccer body FIFA. Besides the small international Muay Thai federation, there’s been little will in international sports to prevent Israeli athletes from competing under their national flag.
But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro SΓ‘nchez, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, raised the temperature earlier this week by siding with anti-Israel protesters who disrupted the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, saying it was time to boycott Israel from international sports events until the “barbarity” in Gaza ends. A day after his comments, Spain’s public broadcaster joined four other European countries threatening to quit and not air next year’s Eurovision Song Contest — a hugely popular event in Israel and across Europe — if Israel is allowed to compete.
Earlier this month, some Hollywood filmmakers, actors and other industry figures signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions — including festivals, broadcasters and production companies.
Why, SΓ‘nchez asked, shouldn’t Israel be expelled from sports just like Russia? “This is different,” the IOC’s executive director for Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said this week in Milan when asked to compare the two.
Both the IOC and FIFA have stated that the legal reasons for acting against Russia have not been reached in Israel’s case, but haven’t given detailed explanations.
The IOC has said Israel hasn’t breached the Olympic charter like Russia, when it annexed territories in eastern Ukraine. Also, European soccer federations and clubs are not refusing to play Israeli opponents.
FIFA declined a request for comment on its Israel policy and the delayed work of two panels reviewing formal complaints by the Palestinian soccer federation, which has long tried to bar Israel from competition over its treatment of Palestinians.
Israel reacts strongly to Spanish prime minister’s comments
Israel reacted strongly to SΓ‘nchez’s call for a sports boycott. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the Spanish leader an “antisemite and a liar.”
Israel has dug in its heels in the face of international isolation and criticism of its military campaign in Gaza, which came in response to the brutal October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas-led terrorists, which killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians and saw 251 others kidnapped. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 64,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the Gaza fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The most notable exclusion from international sports was imposed on Apartheid-era South Africa. It did not compete at any Olympics after 1960 until the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, two years after Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
Russia was swiftly blacklisted by most sports federations after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Its athletes competed under a neutral flag at the Paris Olympics.
Currently, there is no momentum for Israel to face the same fate. Still, some analysts said the move by Spain is significant, not least because it is a major soccer power set to co-host the 2030 World Cup. It will also host an NFL game next month and the opening stage of next year’s Tour de France bike race.
“Until now we haven’t seen this type of outrage against Israeli action in Gaza,” said Antoine Duval of the Asser Institute, a Netherlands-based think tank. “I think this tide is turning now.”
Sports federations complain
How impactful Spain’s move will be remains to be seen. No world leader has so far followed SΓ‘nchez’s call for excluding Israel from international sports.
On Thursday, a British lawmaker in Birmingham called on European soccer body UEFA to “urgently cancel” soccer team Aston Villa’s November 6 Europa League match against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv “to ensure public safety and community harmony.” UEFA has not shown any indication it will do so.
Israel’s Culture and Sports Ministry didn’t return messages seeking comment.
In Europe, several sports federations have groused about having to play Israeli teams, while noting they have no choice since Israel isn’t banned from international competitions.
Celtic fans lift a protest banner about Israel during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Glasgow Celtic and Bayern Munich at the Celtic Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, February 12, 2025. (AP/Scott Heppell)“Facing Israel in these circumstances is not a scenario we would wish,” Basketball Ireland chief executive John Feehan said last month about being drawn to play Israel in a Women’s Eurobasket qualifying game in November. “But there has been no change in Israel’s status within sport.”
Feehan said Ireland’s basketball federation could face sanctions “should we elect not to play, which would be hugely damaging to the sport here.”
In men’s soccer, Italy and Norway will host Israel next month in World Cup qualifying matches and both federations spoke this week of their dissatisfaction with the situation.
Italian soccer leader Gabriele Gravina said he was “well aware of the sensitivity of Italian public opinion” about the October 14 game in Udine. But refusing to play would result in a 3-0 loss by forfeit, according to FIFA’s rules.
“Not playing also means clearly saying we’re not going to the World Cup, we have to be aware of that,” Gravina said, adding that a boycott would instead help Israel advance closer to the finals tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Norway, which will play Israel on October 11, said it would donate profits from ticket sales to Doctors Without Borders for its humanitarian work in Gaza.
Fans voice protests against Israeli teams
When the Israeli men’s national team played in Poland at Eurobasket last month, there were protests outside the arena in Katowice. Inside, the Israeli anthem was loudly booed by fans.
Last year, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans came under attack in Amsterdam while attending a soccer game there. Before the match, some Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag, attacked a taxi and chanted anti-Arab slogans, according to Amsterdam police. Local Arab and Muslim gangs then attacked Israeli fans throughout the city after the game. In their WhatsApp conversations, the rioters spoke of a “Jew hunt.” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema labeled the attacks a “pogrom” before retracting the comment days later, after political blowback.
Protests inside stadiums are regularly seen in European soccer, even at the Champions League final in May. A “Stop Genocide In Gaza” banner in French was displayed during the game by Paris Saint-Germain fans congregated behind one goal in Munich.
UEFA did not open a disciplinary case, despite having rules prohibiting political messaging.
It fueled the debate at its own Super Cup game in August. Before kickoff in Udine, banners saying “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” were laid on the field in front of the PSG and Tottenham players.
In tennis, Canada hosted Israel in the Davis Cup last weekend behind closed doors in Halifax, Nova Scotia, due to “escalating safety concerns.” The move came after hundreds of Canadian athletes and academics urged Tennis Canada to cancel the matches over Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
In 2023, Indonesia lost hosting rights for the men’s Under-20 World Cup for FIFA rather than accept Israel playing on its turf. But its stance appears to have changed.
Israeli media reported in July that the country’s gymnastics federation was invited by Indonesia to send a team to the world championships in Jakarta later this year. Indonesia is currently in talks with the IOC to be considered as a host for the 2036 Summer Games. link
UN chief calls for world nations to not be ‘intimidated’ by Israel
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday that the world should not be “intimidated” by Israel as it presses its devastating Gaza war and pursues “creeping” annexation of the West Bank.
Israel has reportedly threatened to annex the West Bank if Western nations press ahead with recognizing a Palestinian state at next week’s UN high-level gathering in New York.
“We should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation, because with or without doing what we are doing, these actions would go on and at least there is a chance to mobilize international community to put pressure for them not to happen,” Guterres says. link For so long, the UN has not exactly been a friend to Israel. Even if we look at October 7. It took a year before UN organizations recognized the atrocities that were perpetrated against us. It has been easy to ignore all of these statements and declarations by the US Chief and member states due to Israel always being in their spotlight while ignoring other countries that acted as badly or worse. That is not to say to ignore the things that we have done, such as the dehumanizing occupation of 5 million people in the West Bank. So, we can ignore the UN BS but we have to fix and eliminate the issues that are real.
But the situation is different now. We have, in fact perpetrated war crimes in Gaza and are still doing it. We have created the world's worst humanitarian crisis and our so-called leaders exacerbated the crisis by ordering the halt of humanitarian aid knowing the consequences to the refugees in Gaza: starvation, malnutrition, sanitary dangers, etc. We have given the US and every other organization and country in the world the evidence of the horrors that we are commiting in Gaza. The government's attempts at mitigation were and are focused on preventing any foreign press entry into Gaza and they only allow Israeli journalists under strict supervision by the army into areas of Gaza that the army allows them to go. However, there are Palestinian journalist who work with major news channels such as the Washington post, CNN, ABC, European, Australian networks and others around the world. Our atrocities have been well covered but not in Israel. For the first year of the war, our soldiers themselves were providing first hand videos and pictures from the war zone through their social media accounts and all too much evidence of war crimes were posted as well. While the UN has traditionally been biased against Israel, no one should ignore these reports and statements especially when coupled with reports from other non UN bodies and countries that have been very close allies to Israel. We are definitely not angels and history and the international courts will determine how close we are to being devils.Jewish UK Labour parliamentarian rails at Israel after being denied entry to West Bank
A Jewish member of the UK’s ruling Labour party hits out at Israel days after he and a fellow Jewish Labour MP were blocked by Israel from visiting the West Bank.
In an op-ed published in the Guardian, MP Peter Prinsley states the experience demonstrated “how low Israel has been brought by its current government and how much it has changed, almost beyond recognition.”
Israel hasn’t publicly commented on the decision to block Prinsley and MP Simon Opher from the West Bank.
“It represents the extent to which the Israeli government has isolated itself. It saddens me to say that Israel today seems to be a world away from the inclusive, pluralistic, open and democratic principles on which it was founded in 1948,” Prinsley writes. “I am Jewish, one of just a dozen or so Jewish members of the House of Commons. I visited Israel for the first time as an idealistic medical student and have since returned for happy holidays, visiting family who live there. I am a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and a committed supporter of my local synagogue.”
He adds that he was denied entry on grounds of “public security or public safety or public order considerations,” but says he wasn’t given an explanation as to why he and the group he was traveling with were blocked from visiting hospitals in the West Bank.
“Israel once represented hope for a generation of Jews. It pains me greatly to say that the friendships that we in the Jewish community once thought eternal are now being undermined by the present Israeli government,” Prinsley says.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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