For today, links to an editorial from Middle East Monitor; to six reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, and National Public Radio; and to commentary from ScheerPost; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (WEST BANK, LEBANON and MEDIA entries for this date, so far, are HERE, HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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From militants to politicians: Can Hamas follow Syria’s Islamist reinvention? From Middle East Monitor. Since last December, many feared the repercussions of the power vacuum left by the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime. Regionally and internationally . . . READ MORE . . .
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Hamas releases 3 more Israeli hostages for 183 Palestinian prisoners under Gaza ceasefire, by Wafaa Shurafa, Mohammad Jahjouh and Tia Goldenberg | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages on Saturday, and Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile agreement that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip. READ MORE . . . Click HERE, HERE and HERE for reports from Reuters, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye.
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Egypt condemns Netanyahu’s call for Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia. From Middle East Eye. Egypt has strongly criticised comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he suggested that a Palestinian state could be established on Saudi territory. READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 7 Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian ambassador to the U.S., discusses Trump’s plans for Gaza. Michel Martin of NPR speaks with Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S., about how Egypt views President Trump’s plans for Gaza. Click HERE to listen and read.
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FROM FEB. 7 Trump’s plan to colonise Gaza echoes failed 19th-century American missions, by Joseph Massad | Middle East Eye President Donald Trump’s capitalist evangelical plan to steal and colonise Gaza is not the first American project to establish colonies in Palestine. READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 7 All the gloves come off in Gaza, by Patrick Lawrence | Original to ScheerPost Donald Trump announced his plan to depopulate the Gaza Strip and turn it into some kind of paradise built atop the bones of terrorist Israel’s victims in the presence of Bibi Netanyahu, who . . . READ MORE . . .