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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 14, 2024 in this handout image.

Palestinian president office/Handout via REUTERS

Who is Muhammad Mustafa?

Mahmoud Abbas, the 88-year-old president of the widely unpopular Palestinian Authority, on Thursday named Muhammad Mustafa as the authority’s prime minister. Given Abbas’s age, and the need for a successor as leader of the PA who can offer some credible alternative to Hamas as the political voice of Palestinians, Mustafa will now become the subject of wide international scrutiny.

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GZERO

Why the world isn't fair: Yuval Noah Harari on AI, Ukraine, and Gaza

Listen: In the latest episode of the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits with bestselling author and historian Yuval Noah Harari to delve into the transformative power of storytelling, the existential challenges posed by AI, the critical geopolitical stakes of the Ukraine conflict, and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian situation, while also exploring personal and societal strategies for navigating an era of unprecedented change and advocating for mindfulness and ethical awareness.

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Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, February 19, 2024.

REUTERS/Kosay Al Nemer

Gaza aid convoy deaths threaten cease-fire talks

The WHO on Friday warned that the health system in Gaza is "more than on its knees."

This came a day after over 100 people were killed in Gaza as a desperate crowd gathered for aid amid the escalating humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Gaza officials say that Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, while the Israeli military blamed most of the deaths on a stampede and the general mayhem in the area.

The aid convoy deaths occurred the same day it was reported that the death toll from the war in Gaza surpassed 30,000. It also happened as concerns mount over the humanitarian situation in the territory, with children dying from hunger and hundreds of thousands of people reportedly on the brink of famine.

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FILE PHOTO: Fatah and Hamas officials wait for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and representatives of Palestinian groups and movements as a part of an intra-Palestinian talks in Moscow, Russia February 12, 2019.

Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS

Rival Palestinian factions try to make nice in Moscow

Hamas and Fatah, rival Palestinian factions with a bloody history, were in Moscow on Thursday for reconciliation talks.

Why is this significant? The jihadists of Hamas and the secular nationalists of Fatah are Palestine’s most powerful factions. They fought a war in 2007 that left Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah running the occupied West Bank. Reconciliation would be crucial for establishing any stable Palestinian state in the future.

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Palestinians families flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas.

Mohammed Talatene/Reuters

Israel orders evacuations in north Gaza, but where will people go?

Israel on Tuesday ordered new evacuations in Gaza City as it prepares for a controversial ground offensive in Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost town.

The news is a reminder that roughly 300,000 Palestinians are still estimated to be in northern Gaza despite evacuations that pushed waves of people south after Oct. 7. It’s also indicative of the myriad challenges Palestinians face amid the Israel-Hamas war. It’s estimated that up to 1.9 million people in Gaza have been displaced since fighting began, and around 1.5 million are sheltering in Rafah.

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A displaced Palestinian woman holds her son outside of a medical tent in Rafah, February 11, 2024.

REUTERS/Saleh Salem

Israel’s plans for Rafah face fierce opposition

Israel announced its intention to conduct ground operations in the southern Gaza town of Rafah to root out four Hamas battalions it says remain based there. The plan faces opposition from the US and other nations, however, over concerns for the safety of the 1.4 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah.

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An Israeli soldier gestures atop of a tank near the southern Gaza Strip border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from Israel, February 7, 2024.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Bibi rejects Hamas’ ‘delusional’ cease-fire offer

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday forcefully rejected a proposal from Hamas for a 135-day cease-fire involving a phased exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners – and the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday Oct 17, 2023.

REUTERS

Hamas and Bibi are both obstacles to a cease-fire

The US, Qatar, and Egypt are scrambling to secure a new truce in Gaza that would see more hostages released, but major obstacles remain. Hamas on Tuesday said it responded to a recent proposal for a temporary pause in the fighting with a “positive spirit,” but reiterated its demands for a permanent cease-fire and an end to Israel’s offensive in the coastal enclave.

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