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.



Babies are still being buried in Gaza.
A five-month-old infant was wrapped in a small shroud of...
Authorities in Azerbaijan say they have been left “bewildered” after Russian officials told them that a...
Iran is at war with the United States, Israel and Europe, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said...
This is a story about a missing painting, from an artist you may never have heard...





























