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• The Gaza Ceasefire Stalemate and the Case of Mahmoud Khalil: A discussion with Sami Al-Arian

  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. 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.Al-Arian himself 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. “It's incredible how American values, the American Constitution, American cherished principles have been shredded by this administration and former administrations,” says Al-Arian. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

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• The State of the Gaza “Ceasefire” and an Interview with Hezbollah

  With Phase 1 of the Gaza ceasefire deal set to expire Saturday with no agreement (yet) for its continuation, Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous discuss the recent developments with the negotiations, as well as Egypt’s role in possible Gaza reconstruction and governance paths. A forthcoming Arab League summit is expected to be centered around presenting an alternative plan to Trump’s threats to turn Gaza into a U.S.-owned “Middle East Riviera,” one which would not include the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians of Gaza.Abdel Kouddous has just returned from Lebanon and discusses his reporting from the devastated south of the country in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal. Sharif also speaks with a leading political figure in Hezbollah and member of the Lebanese parliament Dr. Ibrahim al-Moussawi about Trump’s demand that Hezbollah be expelled from the Lebanese government and the pledge by Lebanon’s new president that he will impose a monopoly on the use of arms, which suggests a plan to disarm Hezbollah. They also discuss the future of Hezbollah in the wake of the assassination and funeral of the group’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.Listen above or on the Drop Site News channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts.We're a fully reader-supported newsroom, which means our journalism depends on people like you. Find all our reporting at dropsitenews.com, and subscribe to the Drop Site News channel on any podcast platform. If our work matters to you, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. Your support keeps us independent and investigating. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

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• Trump and the Future of the Ukraine-Russia War

  It has been three years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, killing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying huge portions of the country. Now, the Trump administration has signaled that it wants to end the war in Ukraine, but there are significant questions and deep concerns about Trump’s plans for how to end the fighting.The Trump administration has signaled it wants Ukraine to pay back the U.S. for American financial support of the war. But there are fears now that the U.S. will impose a diplomatic agreement onto Ukraine that results in crushing economic debts, damaging the country, while doing little to permanently ending the conflict.Drop Site’s Murtaza Hussain is joined by Rajan Menon, an expert on Ukraine and a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.Listen above or on the Drop Site News channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

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• The Day After “Phase 1“: What Comes Next for Gaza, Hamas, Israel, and the Future of Palestinian Liberation?

  On Thursday morning in Gaza, Palestinian resistance factions handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross the bodies of four Israeli captives. According to Hamas, all four of the Israeli citizens were killed in Israeli airstrikes.As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued his efforts to sabotage the Gaza ceasefire and exchange of captives deal, Hamas has begun putting out substantive public proposals of its own. Hamas says it is prepared to negotiate a comprehensive deal for Phase 2 that would include the return of all Israeli captives held in Gaza “as one package,” rather than the staggered weekly releases that have marked Phase 1 of the deal. In return, Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups would require Israel to completely withdraw all of its forces from the Gaza Strip and for international mediators, including the U.S., to certify a permanent truce. Hamas also announced it would release all six living Israeli captives slated for exchange in Phase 1 on Saturday, saying it was evidence of the group’s flexibility and willingness to reach a viable deal.On this episode of Drop Site News’s podcast, Palestinian analyst Abdaljawad Omar, an adjunct professor at Birzeit university and a writer based in Ramallah, joins Jeremy Scahill for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of the ongoing negotiations. They also analyze the recent meetings of a range of Palestinian political parties and factions aimed at creating a national unity committee that could administer the Gaza Strip if the ceasefire holds and reconstruction begins. Omar also discusses President Donald Trump’s threat to attempt to forcibly expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to build a U.S.-owned Middle East “Riviera.” Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

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• Pankaj Mishra on the Meaning of the Genocide in Gaza

  This week, during a press briefing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump floated an idea for the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip, while expelling the surviving Palestinian population from the territory.While outlandish, Trump’s statement emboldened many on the Israeli right who continue to dream of eliminating the Palestinian population of the land through expulsions, siege, and mass killings.On this new episode of Drop Site News's podcast, Pankaj Mishra joins Murtaza Hussain for a discussion on the genocide in Gaza, how various regions of the world have responded to the genocide, and the broad historical context. Mishra’s latest book, “The World After Gaza: A History,” is out now.Listen above or on the Drop Site channel on Apple, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe

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