A Great Day For The Resistance in Palestine 

The Qassam Brigades succeeded not only in winning the war and achieving victory in Gaza, but also in dealing fatal blows to Israeli morale, when they surprised the entire world, not just Israel, by organizing a military parade for hundreds of their fighters who emerged from the rubble, and/or heart of tunnels in their extremely elegant green clothes with their personal weapons, in a startling move,  shedding light on their strength, despite Netanyahu’s 15 months of carnage. Brigade fighters stood steadfast, fighting, and sniping Israeli soldiers like birds and rabbits, despite the deceptions by their political and military leaders.

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The smiling faces of the three Israeli female prisoners released in the first batch of the exchange according to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement were striking. The three young women emerged as if they had just returned from a concert, in good health, and in high spirits as if they were staying in a five-star hotel. It was a wonderful and very smart gesture for their guards to present symbolic gifts before they left the Strip in a Red Cross car.

These are the terrorists according to US and European specifics, setting an example of humanity, while the diplomatic envoys of Western civilization rape prisoners and treat them in a Nazi-like manner. The most honest example is the mujahida Khalida Jarrar and the painful state she appeared in after her release.

The fire of resistance ignites in the West Bank, suicide operations expand, and the dead among the occupation forces rises on the first days of the ceasefire to confirm that jihad is continuing in parallel and in conjunction with the exchange of prisoners.

The one who forced Netanyahu to drink the cup of defeat is not Trump, but the heroes of the Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades, and the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who exhausted the Israeli army with heavy losses among its brigades and battalions, in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu stands defeated, not achieving any of his goals, neither eliminating the resistance movements in Gaza, nor with displacing the people of the Strip and replacing them with Israeli settlers.

As such we do not rule out the fact that he may violate the ceasefire in the coming days, and before the end of its first phase, in the hope of remaining in power. But no matter, the goals he failed to achieve over the course of 15 months of extermination and ethnic cleansing will not be achieved if he returns to war again but legitimize many retaliatory reactions from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Yemen, and perhaps soon from Lebanon and Iraq.

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Our people in the Gaza Strip celebrate and sing for joys of victory achieved by the resistance. Perhaps the return of the symbolic Abu Obeida after months of absence, congratulating all on victory and ignoring all Arab leaders except Yemen whilst affirming the readiness of the Qassam to return to fighting is a confirmation of the strength and steadfastness of the resistance, and its high capabilities to manage war, manage negotiations, and psychological warfare.

Thus we assert that the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine, and the restoration of dignity to the Arabs and Muslims, has become imminent and it is only a matter of time…

This editorial by Al Rai Al Youm’s Chief Editor  Mr Abdel Bari Atwan has been reproduced from Arabic

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Israel-Jailed Khalida Jarrar is Out But at What Cost?

Freed Palestinian leader, politician, and activist Khalida Jarrar said Israeli authorities do not treat Palestinian prisoners as human beings, describing the conditions in jails as “the worst and most difficult since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967.”

In the early hours of Monday, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement that suspended its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed more than 47,000 lives since Oct. 7, 2023, and left the enclave in ruins.

Jarrar, who was held in administrative detention in December 2023, was among those set free. It came after three female Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza were released. Administrative detention is a policy that allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals without charge or trial.

Speaking to Anadolu, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who has been arrested multiple times, said Israeli prison conditions “have never been as harsh as they are now, be it the repeated assaults or constant use of tear gas.”

Describing the state of prisons in Israel, Jarrar said the Palestinians endure “poor quality and insufficient quantity of food, as well as the solitary confinement policy practiced by the occupation authorities.”

“I spent six months in solitary confinement,” she said, adding that “many Palestinians are held in solitary cells in very harsh conditions.”

The senior politician said what is happening in Israeli prisons is a result of policies by the current Israeli government and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister who resigned after the Gaza truce, trying “to deal with the prisoners as if they are not humans.”

As Jarrar, 61, was led through a cheering crowd, it could be seen her once-dark hair had grayed, and she looked exhausted.

“We were subjected to extreme harshness and physical assault in a deliberate and intentional attempt to humiliate and demean us,” she said.

The lawmaker stressed that the prisoners’ cause is “an integral part of our people’s causes,” and all Israeli policies against the prisoners must be confronted nationally.

Jarrar was elected as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last parliamentary elections held in 2006. She has served as the head of the assembly’s prisoners commission and was also appointed to the Palestinian committee for follow-up with the International Criminal Court.

Jarrar was arrested by the Israeli army several times on accusations of affiliation to an “outlawed” party and for her role in activities supporting Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.

According to prisoners’ affairs groups, she was repeatedly mistreated by prison guards, affecting her well-being.

Estimates put the number of Palestinian detainees at Israeli prisons at over 11,000.

Hamas released the three Israeli captives under the ceasefire deal, which took effect on Sunday.

The three-phase deal includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

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Rebuilding Gaza is a Massive Task

The rebuilding process in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of Israeli bombardment will “take an awful lot of time” despite the promised surge in humanitarian deliveries, a UN official in Gaza has warned.

“We’re not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, infrastructure. We’ve got individuals, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” Sam Rose, acting director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, told the BBC.

“We’re expecting a major uptick in the volume of aid that’s coming in, and of course it’s far easier for us to go and collect that aid because many of the problems that we have faced so far in the war go away when the fighting stops,” Rose said.

But he also stressed that “we have to get away from thinking of people’s needs in Gaza as a function of the volume of aid”.

“Every person in Gaza has been traumatised by what’s gone on. Everyone has lost something. Most of those homes are now destroyed, most of the roads are now destroyed,” he added. “It’s going to be a long, long process of rehabilitation and rebuilding.”

The World Health Organization’s regional director, Hanan Balkhy, meanwhile said it had a 60-day plan to get Gaza’s health system back on its feet to meet the population’s urgent needs and prioritize care for the thousands of people with life-changing injuries.

The plan includes repairing Gaza’s hospitals – half of which are out of service and the others are only partially functional – setting up temporary clinics in the hardest-hit areas, addressing malnutrition and controlling disease outbreaks.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has also been displaced multiple times, 60% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated 1.84 million people across Gaza were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and that 133,000 people were facing catastrophic levels, which can lead to starvation and death.

The following month, an IPC committee warned that there was a strong likelihood that famine was “imminent” in some areas of northern Gaza.

Before the ceasefire, the UN said the besieged northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun had been largely cut off from food assistance since the Israeli military launched a ground offensive and siege in October according to the Quds News Network.

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Trump: Gaza is a ‘Huge Demolition Site’ That Can be ‘Rebuilt’

US President Donald Trump said he is not confident that the ceasefire agreement on Gaza would continue. He stressed the Strip was subjected to massive destruction but did not rule out taking part in the reconstruction of the 364-kilometer-enclave.

Trump spoke to reporters on Monday from the Oval Office while signing executive orders on the first day of his second term, and said in response to a question about the possibility of continuing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, “I’m not confident. This is not our war, this is their war.”

Speaking to reporters, Monday, from the Oval Office while signing executive orders on the first day of his second term as US president, Trump said in response to a question about the possibility of continuing the Gaza ceasefire: “I’m not confident. This is not our war, this is their war.”

While claiming that Hamas was “weakened” after the Israeli war on the Strip for 15 months, he added: “As to the future regarding the rule of Gaza, that depends on several things, and I still cannot imagine that. Most of those who ruled there were killed, and there are those who rule in a brutal way.”

Trump pointed out Gaza was subjected to massive destruction. He described it as a “huge demolition site” but must be rebuilt in a different way, indicating his administration may contribute to the reconstruction of the Strip.

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“There are some beautiful things you can do there. The coast is amazing, the weather and the location are great. There are some beautiful things you can do in Gaza. There are some beautiful things you can do in Gaza,” he said.

In his inauguration speech, Trump said that he wants to be a peacemaker: “My proudest legacy is to be a peacemaker and a unifier. That’s what I want to be and that’s what I want to do. And I’m so happy that the day before I took office for a second term, the hostages in the Middle East are coming home.”

The Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect at 8:30 am last Sunday, ending 471 days of genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation army on the Strip, which left more than 158,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, announced last Wednesday evening the success of the efforts of the mediators (Doha, Cairo and Washington) in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The agreement consists of three stages, each lasting 42 days, and includes a cessation of military operations, the withdrawal of the occupation army from populated areas in Gaza, the opening of the Rafah crossing and enhancing the entry of aid through it, and the exchange of prisoners according to Quds Press.

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