On Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to Middle East Steve Witkoff arrived in Doha, Qatar for negotiations on extending the Gaza “ceasefire” and exchange of captives deal between Hamas and Israel. These talks come in the midst of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and as Israel has continued to violate the terms of the original agreement signed on January 19. Israeli forces have killed more than 130 Palestinians in Gaza and refused to allow the delivery of 60,000 mobile homes and 200,000 tents as stipulated under the terms of the deal. For the past 11 days Israel has imposed a total blockade on all aid entering the Strip. This weekend Israel cut off electricity to the one remaining desalination plant in Gaza, which provided drinking water to some 500,000 Palestinians. Israel claims it is undertaking these actions in an effort to pressure Hamas, effectively admitting to carrying out an act of collective punishment on the civilian population.
Israel has maintained that it does not intend to move the ceasefire to a formal second phase, which would include the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and an enduring cessation of military hostilities. Instead, Israel is pushing for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire with no guarantee of its withdrawal or an end to the war. It wants Hamas to release ten living Israeli captives upon signing such a deal. Hamas has said that it is negotiating in good faith and wants the U.S. and regional mediators from Qatar and Egypt to pressure Israel to abide by the original three phase deal. Israel remains irked that the Trump administration’s envoy on hostages Adam Boehler met directly with Hamas.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Jeremy Scahill speaks to Dr. Sami Al-Arian, the director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University. In addition to discussing the Gaza negotiations, the strategies of Hamas, the U.S. and Israel, they also talk about the case of Palestinian organizer Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and green card holder who was snatched by federal agents on Saturday night and threatened with deportation.
“It's incredible how American values, the American Constitution, American cherished principles have been shredded by this administration and former administrations,” said Al-Arian. “All because they're trying to save Zionism from its inevitable fate. It is an apartheid type regime, its supremacist racist ideology that it's trying to create a system with two different sets of laws, that is involved in genocide and war of extermination and war crimes. Its leaders have been on the wanted list by the International Criminal Court, and yet they are trying to ignore all this and come after activists, particularly if they are vulnerable in their residency or immigration.”
Al-Arian, who is Palestinian, was prosecuted by the U.S. government during the George W. Bush administration, though the government failed to win a conviction at trial on the 52 count indictment it brought against him. Facing ongoing threats of prosecution, Al-Arian agreed to a plea deal and to voluntarily leave the U.S. He was deported in 2015.
Also on Drop Site News: Shuaib Almosawa reports from Sana’a as Yemen's Houthis renew a blockade on Israeli ships, following the expiration of their deadline for Israel to allow aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Image: Palestinians continue to live their daily lives under difficult conditions as electricity cuts continue in Gaza City, Gaza on March 10, 2025. Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images.
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