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A Palestinian woman inspects a house that was destroyed after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, April 24, 2024.
Rafah braces for Israeli invasion as famine looms
As the World Food Programme warns that Gaza is getting closer to famine by the day, US troops are set to begin constructing a floating pier off the northern coast of the enclave to increase the flow of desperately needed aid. The project is expected to be done by early May.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to lay the groundwork for an invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where over a million Palestinians are sheltering. Israel has pummeled Rafah with airstrikes in recent days, and the Israeli military is gathering tanks and armored vehicles near the southern Gaza border ahead of the expected operation.
The Israeli government, which says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, has rebuffed international opposition to a ground offensive. Israel also says it’s taking steps to help evacuate civilians before invading, and satellite images suggest
Months of unsuccessful efforts to secure a new truce in the war have kept the door open for a Rafah operation. On Wednesday, a top Hamas official said the militant group would lay down its arms if Israel accepted an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders — but there’s virtually no chance of that happening, particularly given the current Israeli government firmly opposes Palestinian statehood.
For now, all eyes are on Rafah. “We are afraid of what will happen in Rafah. The level of alert is very high,” Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday.
A protester chants slogans in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside of Columbia University in New York City, U.S., April 24, 2024.
Live and kicking? Campus activism in North America
The disruption at some of America’s most prestigious universities in recent days has been well-documented. Protesters have been arrested at New York University, Yale, and Columbia, where the administration has declared a hybrid (in-class and online) approach to the final week of classes.
Police have attempted to draw a line between free expression and maintaining safety on campuses. Jewish students claim that the intimidating chants and antisemitic incidents have crossed that line at times. Protesters at Columbia called for Hamas to blow away Tel Aviv and Israel, 19-year-old Nicholas Baumtold the Associated Press. “Jews are scared at Columbia. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
As usual, Canada has been a non-conductor of such radical currents.
Protests have occurred — there was a large anti-Israel rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa last weekend at which chants of “Long live October 7th” were heard.
But it was not specifically a student protest and Canadian campuses have not seen the formation of encampments, such as the one that has taken over Columbia’s green.
McGill University in Montreal has witnessed a hunger strike by some students protesting the university’s investment in companies supporting the Israeli military. There was a brief sit-in at the main library.
But the tradition of radical student protest seems less ingrained in Canada.
Henry David Thoreau talked of disobedience being the true fountain of American liberty — sentiments that students took to heart during the civil rights and anti-Vietnam marches of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Canadian student protests are preoccupied with less holistic concerns — in the ‘70s in Toronto, they were concerned about equal representation on the university senate; in Quebec in 2012, students reacted against increased tuition fees.
It is a circumstance that vindicates the observation that while Canada is a live country, unlike the US, it is not kicking.
Who's winning the Israel-Palestine information war?
To fully grasp why the Gaza war remains so far from a peaceful resolution, you need to understand the codependency between Israel's Far Right and Hamas. So says Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman on "GZERO World."
Watch full episode here: How the Israel-Gaza war could end - if Netanyahu wants it to
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
What would an Israel-Palestine solution look like?
Imagine if it were possible. What would a post-war Palestinian resolution to the Gaza conflict actually look like? Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L Friedman games that out for Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Friedman breaks it down. "Two stages. First stage is the UAE, Egypt and Jordan agree to send troops to Gaza to provide security in a transition after Israel would pull back with American logistical help." Friedman also lays out what the Palestinians themselves would have to do to ensure an enduring peace. "And the thing that the Palestinians would do is I believe reconvene the PLO, the umbrella, the sole legitimate organization, which means the umbrella organization to legitimate to nominate a Palestinian government of technocrats."Watch full episode here: How the Israel-Gaza war could end - if Netanyahu wants it to
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
How the Israel-Gaza war could end - if Netanyahu wants it to
How close is the Gaza war to ending? “Nowhere” says Pulitzer-prize winning author and New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, Friedman games out a possible resolution to the war (as far-fetched as it may seem right now) and explains why both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas are obstacles to peace. Key to understanding this, Friedman says, is grasping the “codependency” that Netanyahu and Hamas share.
"Netanyahu always understood that... having a strong Hamas in Gaza is the best way to ensure a weak Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.” And even if he wanted to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict, Friedman explains, Netanyahu is paralyzed to do so because of his own precarious political position. “He is hostage to a Far Right in his coalition that has told him... progress toward a unified Palestinian position is a no-go, we'll throw you out of power."
Friedman and Ian also talk about how the US-Israel relationship is as tense as it has ever been. As Ian explains early in the episode, “The Biden administration is losing patience with its closest ally in the Middle East." And yet, the flow of weaponry and money to Jerusalem from Washington remains unabated. It's clear that the path to peace remains elusive. The voices of moderation and diplomacy are more critical than ever, Friedman says. But in the meantime, all signs point to more bloodshed and a new generation of Israelis and Palestinians who will grow up hating each other.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
Author Thomas Friedman on how the Gaza war could end
Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World Podcast, while the Gaza war rages on with no end in sight, Ian Bremmer and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman discuss how it could end, who is standing in the way, and what comes next.
Currently, a rift between the Biden administration and the Israeli government over how to handle the conflict is widening. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including nearly 14,000 children, according to local health officials and the United Nations. And over a hundred Israelis remain hostages of Hamas. And to make matters worse, just this week, thousands of Israelis took to the streets to call for Netanyahu’s ouster, an Israeli airstrike in Damascus killed several top Iranian commanders (threatening a wider regional escalation), and another Israeli strike in Gaza killed seven aid workers in a food convoy for the nonprofit, World Central Kitchen.
It may seem premature to talk about a resolution to this conflict, but Friedman argues that it is more important now than ever to map out a viable endgame. "Either we're going to go into 2024 with some really new ideas,” Friedman tells Ian, “or we're going back to 1947 with some really new weapons."
Also, Friedman emphasizes the "codependency" between Netanyahu and Hamas, noting Bibi’s reliance on a right-wing coalition opposed to any progress toward Palestinian unity.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
Palestinians react as they inspect damages at Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the Hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City April 1, 2024.
Israel’s Shifa raid ends. Is Rafah next?
The Israeli military on Monday confirmed its withdrawal from Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest health facility, concluding a raid that lasted roughly two weeks and sparked criticism from the WHO and international rights groups.
Israel says the raid, which reportedly left the hospital in ruins, destroyed a terrorist base and may have garnered intel that could help locate hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023. Israel’s war tactics are increasingly being scrutinized globally, including by the US – the Jewish State’s top ally.
At home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a serious domestic backlash over his handling of the war. Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the weekend to call for his removal and a hostage deal. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s coalition is threatened by divisions over conscription exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Is Rafah next? Netanyahu pushed back against critics on Sunday, noting that he has done all he can to secure the release of the Israeli hostages – and saying that Rafah remains in his sights.
The US and Israel held a virtual meeting Monday on alternatives to invading Rafah, but few expect Netanyahu – who has said there will be “no victory” without entering Rafah – to change course.
Busy Bibi: On Monday, Netanyahu also announced he would temporarily shut down Al Jazeera in Israel, referring to it as a “terror channel” and accusing the Doha-based outlet of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks. In yet another sign of the growing rift between the US and Israel, the White House said: "A move like this is concerning.”
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shaking hands with US president Jimmy Carter
On the 45th anniversary of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, it is more critical and at risk than ever
45 years ago today, a handshake between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin laid the groundwork for nearly half a century of peace and cooperation between neighboring Israel and Egypt.
The Israeli-Egyptian relationship has survived two Palestinian uprisings and a series of wars between Israel and Hamas, despite Cairo’s early advocacy of the Palestinian cause. And now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to send Israeli troops into Rafah, on the Egyptian border with Gaza, Egypt’s peace with Israel puts Cairo in a humanitarian quandary.
What is the Israel-Egypt peace treaty? After fighting five wars over three decades, Israel and Egypt made peace in Washington D.C in 1979, marking the first ever peace treaty between an Arab country and Israel.
The negotiations were the first successful effort at establishing lasting peace between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors. Egypt had lost the Sinai Peninsula to Israel in 1967, providing Tel Aviv with a crucial bargaining chip to secure its southern border and neutralize the region’s most powerful Arab country.
Meanwhile, Sadat’s failed attempt to retake Sinai during the 1973 Yom Kippur War led him to doubt his ability to overcome Israel militarily. But he needed Sinai to reopen the economically crucial Suez Canal, and a major ally to replace the Soviets who supported his predecessor Gamal Abdel Nasser. Negotiations with Israel at Camp David allowed Egypt to regain control over the Sinai peninsula, boost its economy, and bring the US on as an ally.
The treaty has enabled the two countries to make billions in cross-border trade and economic partnerships. Cairo also receives over $1 billion a year in military and economic aid from the US, while it coordinates with Israel in the fight against terrorism in Sinai.
Misery for civilians in Gaza. Even before Oct. 7, Egypt has been concerned that Israel could resolve the Gaza issue at its expense. Since Hamas’s attack on Israel, Egypt has held that a temporary or permanent displacement of Gazans to its territory, whether intentional or unintentional, is not up for discussion.
While Egypt is facilitating humanitarian aid into Gaza, hosting a deluge of refugees would strain its economy, which is already on life-support.
More than 1 million displaced Palestinians are squeezed into tent camps between the border of Rafah and Egypt's thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. Cairo fears that if it were to allow a mass exodus of Palestinians — starving, sick, and desperate as they may be — Israel might never let them go back. Cairo is cautious not to seem like it is collaborating with Israel against the Palestinians — but it also doesn’t want to inadvertently let in Hamas and worsen the insecurity issues in Sinai.
Egypt is building a cement-walled security perimeter near the border to hold up to 150,000 people in case the border is breached during an Israeli assault on Rafah.
The Oct. 7 attack already stalled the peace process between Saudi Arabia and Israel. If an invasion of Rafah jeopardizes the Israel-Egypt relationship, a foundational component of rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world, it would be another strategic win for Hamas at the detriment of the entire region's security.