The media are reporting about more “poor Palestinians” being displaced from their homes in a few West Bank (Palestinian Authority controlled?) cities. What they are not telling you is the background to these events. Israel broke ties with UNRWA recently. (Reminder: There were no UNRWA facilities in Israel until some fell into Israeli hands with … More Truce 24 Feb
Hamas did return the body of Shiri Bibas after admitting the unidentified body they originally sent was not Shiri. They also released 6 hostages on Saturday, forcing others who remained captive to watch the staged ceremony of the handover. Both of these actions look to me like intentional psychological warfare ploys. The Israeli Forensics Institute … More Truce 23 Feb
Again, before proceeding, a couple of notes: First, Hezbollah has sent 5 drones into Israel in the past few days, only one of which was reported in the news. Second. IDF air strikes that killed a Hamas leader took place in Lebanon, not Gaza. Losing the 1956 Sinai war to Israel did not keep Nasser … More Truce 18 Feb
Everyone is playing the “grab the Headlines” game. Hamas started by saying they would delay releasing hostages. Trump then said ALL the hostages out by Sunday. Netanyahu modified that asking for only 9 live hostages. Now Hamas is back to “let’s all abide by the original agreement” I.e., We’ll release 3 on Saturday. Iran found … More Truce 14 Feb
One of the least impressive remarks I heard this morning was from a commentator on Sky News (UK). He said if Trump’s proposals go through it means the end of the 2 state solution. I have always been amazed at how so many countries still cling to that idea, and try to blame Israel for … More Truce 12 Feb
I may have to change the title of the blog entry this goes into. Hamas is threatening to delay release of hostages because of what they say is violations of the cease fire agreement by Israel. Not surprisingly, Israel says they have been meticulously abiding by the terms, and it is Hamas who is in … More Truce 11 Feb
Hamas (and others) continue to release threatening statement based on “if Israel does …” A lot of main stream media keep reporting this nonsense as if it were factual. At the same time, Hamas has been sending people into areas where the IDF has warned them not to enter. When that happens, IDF forces do … More Truce 10 Feb
When you can’t criticize someone for what they say you can just make up something they did not say and go after them for that. Many are attacking President Trump by deliberately distorting what he said about resettling Gaza Palestinians. What I heard did NOT include any mention of forcing anyone to leave. Of course, … More Truce 6 Feb
Israeli PM Netanyahu is in Washington. US President Trump is looking for new approaches to solve the Gaza problem/crisis. One part inctludes resettling people from the overcrowded conditions in the Gaza strip. The Arab side is not happy with this. Saudi Arabia was very quick to reiterate that any deal with Israel must include a … More Truce 5 Feb
UNRWA (continued) Yesterday I wrote some about how UNRW A was established. Today I want to write about what they are currently involved in doing. The first thing that needs to be mentioned is that everything UNRWA spends in Gaza frees a similar sum for Hamas to use for other things. Hamas exercises control over … More Truce 30 Jan
Wetherhorn 