In a sort-of ceasefire, the killings – including of children – have slowed, not stopped. Israeli military operations continue to displace hundreds of families in Gaza. Aid has increased but Israel is still blocking vital supplies. Palestinians desperately require security, humanitarian relief and reconstruction. But they need and expect a political horizon too.
Donald Trump’s plans make only the vaguest and most conditional reference to a Palestinian state, and Israelis – as well as their ultra-right government – have entrenched their opposition since the atrocities of 7 October 2023. Yet after two yhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/07/the-guardian-view-on-marwan-barghouti-palestinians-need-a-political-future-as-well-as-aid-and-reconstructionears of annihilation, Palestinian nationhood has won international support that many thought unimaginable.
The political fate of Palestinians is bound to the personal fate of Marwan Barghouti. After more than two decades in an Israeli jail for murder, the charismatic 66-year-old is by far the most popular Palestinian leader, widely regarded as the only figure capable of uniting factions riven by ideology and enmity.
Though a member of Fatah, Mr Barghouti has criticised abuses by the Palestinian Authority and has won respect within Hamas ranks. He has led Palestinian prisoners, while the PA’s old guard are seen as self-serving, ineffective, unaccountable and essentially as security contractors for Israel in the West Bank.
International Glance
Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war.
A mass shooting carried out Saturday by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital left at least 12 people dead, police said. The victims included three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
For two decades, Muhammad Abdulrahman, 58, lived with his wife and his beehives on a remote hillside in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The U.S. is preparing to announce a transition into the second phase of its Gaza 20-point peace plan in the coming weeks, according to a U.S. official, as the U.S. and its allies seek to maintain a fragile ceasefire brokered between Hamas and Israel in October.
Palestinian sources report that at least 11 Palestinians were wounded in multiple attacks by settlers across the West Bank.





























