For today, links to reports from the Cradle, the Associated Press and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (WEST BANK, SYRIA and UKRAINE entries for this date, so far, are HERE, HERE and HERE, or scroll up or down.  GAZA 2-27-25 entry is HERE, or scroll down.) — MCM

–   –   –

FROM FEB. 27  Hundreds of Palestinians freed from Israeli jails after weeklong holdup. From the Cradle. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were let out from Israel’s prisons early on Thursday in exchange for the handover of the bodies of four Israeli captives who were held in Gaza, as part of the seventh and final round of exchanges for phase one of the ceasefire. READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

FROM FEB. 27  Israel’s refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire, by Joseph Krauss | AP  Israel’s refusal to withdraw from a narrow strip of desert on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, as called for in the ceasefire with Hamas, could further threaten the fragile truce. An Israeli official said Thursday . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

FROM FEB. 27  Egyptians respond to Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza. Reported by Aya Batrawy | NPR  President Donald Trump’s ideas for Gaza have sparked concerns in the Middle East. He says Palestinians should all leave and move to Egypt and Jordan. Click HERE to listen and read.

–   –   –

The crucial role of the Palestinian people in resisting displacement, by Majed Al-Zeer | Middle East Monitor  For 77 years since the Nakba, the Palestinian people have played a leading role in confronting various attempts aimed at erasing their cause and resolving the conflict by bypassing their rights. These attempts . . . READ MORE . . .

.