Middle East Press On: Israel, Hezbollah, Palestinian Refugees, Jordan, New Nakba, Trump, US, Saudi Arabia, and Netanyahu: New Age Islam's Selection, 14 February 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
14 February 2025
1. Extend the ceasefire in the North and protect Israel from Hezbollah
2. Palestinian refugees in Jordan fear ‘new Nakba’ with Trump’s displacement plan
3. The international community sold out the Palestinians decades ago on the right of return
4. Trump’s Gaza plan undermines US’ regional policy
5. Saudi Arabia’s political messages in response to Netanyahu
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Extend The Ceasefire In The North And Protect Israel From Hezbollah
By Jpost Editorial
February 14, 2025
Most of the attention this week, and for the last month, have been justifiably centred on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the shaky hostage release process, which, until now, has seen 16 Israelis and five Thai nationals released from the hell of Hamas captivity.
But there’s another ceasefire that must not be ignored – the one in the North between Israel and Lebanon meant to defang Hezbollah.
Under the deal agreed to and implemented on November 27, IDF troops had until January 26 to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Specifics included allowing the movement of Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani River, the withdrawal of IDF forces south of the Blue Line, and the deployment in southern Lebanon of the Lebanese Army to take over Hezbollah positions and dismantle the terror infrastructure entrenched there.
The truce includes a “side document” that enables Israel to attack any Hezbollah operatives who venture south of the Litani River, as well as attack any attempts by Hezbollah to rearm itself.
The implementation of the Israeli withdrawal on January 27 was delayed, and the status quo extended until February 18 after Israel said the Lebanese Army had not been fully deployed in southern Lebanon, meaning the IDF needed to remain in the area.
Is the Lebanese army ready for withdrawal?
The US was on board. "All parties share the goal of ensuring Hezbollah does not have the ability to threaten the Lebanese people or their neighbours. To achieve these goals, a short, temporary ceasefire extension is urgently needed," said Brian Hughes, White House National Security Council spokesperson, on January 24, three days before the Israeli withdrawal was slated to take place.
Since then, Israel has continued to respond to Hezbollah's violations of the ceasefire. On Sunday, IAF jets struck a Hezbollah tunnel that crossed from Lebanon into Syria and was used for smuggling weapons into the country.
The IDF also struck munitions and launch sites in Lebanon that the military said were still in operation, in violation of the ceasefire deal.
Most alarming is that, according to the IDF, the Lebanese Army is still not ready to be deployed in the areas that Israel is supposed to be withdrawing from next week.
That’s why Israel wants to remain in several points in Lebanon even after the planned withdrawal date of February 18, the Post’s Amichai Stein reported on Wednesday. KAN cited senior officials in the security cabinet on Thursday as saying that the US had granted Israeli troops permission to stay "in several locations" in Lebanon beyond February 18. It did not specify a new deadline.
However, the US appears to be rejecting any further withdrawal extension. US deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus, who visited Lebanon and Israel last weekend, told reporters that the Trump administration views February 18 as a “firm date” for the completion of Israel’s withdrawal.
Despite its resounding weakening by Israel during last year’s offensive, Hezbollah is far from still being a threat – to Israel, as well as to Syria, whose new leader, Ahmed Shara’a, is facing Hezbollah clashes and destabilization efforts.
Although the terror group is not officially part of the new Lebanese government formed last week, its ally Amal —headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri — was allowed to choose four of the new cabinet’s members, including Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, who has close ties to Hezbollah.
It’s imperative that as a fighting force, Hezbollah must be held to the terms of the ceasefire, and the Lebanese Army must deploy in the areas of southern Lebanon formerly held by the terrorists.
If those terms aren’t met, we agree with any government decision that delays the IDF withdrawal past the February 18 deadline, and we urge the US and all countries who want Lebanon to emerge from this dark period with hope for the future and want Israel to have a safe and secure northern border to support Jerusalem.
The residents of Israel’s north deserve to live in peace without the constant threat - and sight – of Hezbollah on their doorsteps and the continuous barrage of rockets that have been launched since October 7, 2023.
So be it if it takes longer than planned to achieve that goal. Otherwise, Hezbollah could quickly return to the south, and all of the achievements of the past year to neutralize them would have been for naught.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-842098
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Palestinian Refugees In Jordan Fear ‘New Nakba’ With Trump’s Displacement Plan
February 13, 2025
Palestinian elder Mohamed Ahmed Jafar was forced to take refuge in Jordan after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. Ever since, he has been living in the Jerash refugee camp, known locally as the Gaza camp, in northern Jordan.
Jafar, 77, said that US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza is an attempt to repeat the “Nakba”. The Nakba, or catastrophe, is the name used to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by Jewish terrorist gangs in 1948 to make room for Israel’s creation in Palestine.
“Despite their harsh conditions, the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and firmer in their struggle,” Jafar, whose “kunya” is Abu Osama, told Anadolu. “Gazans will not be relocated. Trump’s plan will not pass and Palestine is ours.”
Trump has called repeatedly for the US to “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere after Israel’s genocidal war, so that he can build what he calls “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
His proposal was met with widespread condemnations from Palestinians, Arab countries and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany and the UK.
The Jerash camp is home to over 35,000 Palestinian refugees who fled Gaza in the aftermath of the June 1967 War. It is one of 13 camps hosting around two million Palestinian refugees in Jordan.
Israel occupied Gaza, the West Bank, Syria’s Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 war. Abu Osama recalled that he was 19 when he was forced to flee Gaza to Jordan.
“At that time, we were living in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, but we were displaced under pressure,” he said. “This will not happen again, and Trump’s plan to displace Gaza’s population cannot pass.”
His family lived in Beersheva before Israel’s creation. In 1948, the family was forcibly displaced and relocated to Gaza.
“If I were in Gaza now, I would not have left it, and I would have stayed in a tent,” he said. “The current circumstances are similar to what we went through in 1967. What is different now is that the Palestinians in Gaza are more steadfast and tougher.”
Trump’s displacement plan comes amid a ceasefire agreement that has been in place in Gaza since 29 January, pressing the pause button on Israel’s genocidal war. The occupation regime has killed at least 48,200 Palestinians since October 2023, wounded 122,000 others and left an estimated 11,000 buried, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes. The enclave is in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250213-palestinian-refugees-in-jordan-fear-new-nakba-with-trumps-displacement-plan/
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The International Community Sold Out The Palestinians Decades Ago On The Right Of Return
February 13, 2025
“Gaza is an essential part of a future Palestinian state,” the EU Spokesman for Foreign Affairs Anouar El Anouni stated belatedly in response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of taking over Gaza and remodelling into a so-called “Riviera of the Middle East”.
While the EU retained its diplomatic posturing over Gaza within the two-state framework, stating that there should be no further forced displacement of Palestinians, Trump announced that his plan did not include the Palestinian right of return. While that was evident with his first announcement of a hypothetical Gaza takeover by the US for Israeli interests – Trump said that Gaza would be populated with foreigners – the stark assertion that there is no right of return strikes a dangerous tone, one that exposes the international community’s continuous delay strategy when it comes to Palestine and Palestinian matters.
It is an individual right that cannot be negotiated or taken away by anyone. That’s international law. However, despite affirming the Palestinian right of return in UN Resolution 194, the international community has never addressed the fact that Israel itself is an impediment to that right. It never addressed the fact that Israel was founded upon the illegal ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population, which in turn made Palestinian refugees an unfortunate humanitarian problem.
With Israel’s establishment, a perpetual cycle of refugee creation was set in motion. To protect Israel’s colonial enterprise in Palestine, the world became complicit in the forced displacement of Palestinian refugees. It continued to do so after 1967; with each decision Israel took to appropriate more land from the Palestinian people; with each brutal assault on Gaza; with every settlement built and expanded in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem; with the genocide in Gaza; and with the apartheid regime’s attacks on Jenin. Wherever Israel decided to forcibly displace Palestinians, the international community was right behind it.
But has the EU, for example, advocated overtly for and worked towards the exercise of that right? How about the UN, which fragmented forced displacement from a colonial policy to disconnected human rights violations? The UN which even debated about humanitarian pauses in a genocide and which failed to stop Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza so that they could be massacred in greater numbers? The international community sold out the Palestinians decades ago on the right of return.
Moreover, it has ruined Palestinians by differentiating on forced displacement. It differentiated between 1948 and 1967, and keeps doing so to date. Let us keep in mind that the images we saw of Palestinians returning to their destroyed homes in Gaza is just a tiny sliver of the repercussions from an entire history of Zionist colonial violence.
Diplomatic jargon aside, there is nothing to choose between Trump and the EU, or the rest of the world, with regard to stances on the Palestinian right of return. If Trump can state adamantly that there is no right of return for Palestinians in his plan for Gaza, there is an entire history of stalling supporting his claim. It is only the lack of continuous insistence to look at history that creates a veneer of difference between Trump and the international community on the subject. The road was always paved with silence and the humanitarian paradigm; for Trump, it was like laying out the red carpet.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250213-the-international-community-sold-out-the-palestinians-decades-ago-on-the-right-of-return/
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Trump’s Gaza Plan Undermines Us’ Regional Policy
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
February 13, 2025
It has long been considered a grave breach of international law to deport or displace civilian populations, but in the case of US President Donald Trump’s idea of permanently removing Gazans from Gaza, it also runs counter to his ambitions of creating a peaceful and integrated region and reducing the threats from Iran and its allies. The proposal is already undermining the US’ standing in the region and emboldening its adversaries.
The idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza clearly flies in the face of every rule the international community has safeguarded since the Second World War, particularly that populations should not be forcibly displaced from their homes, temporarily or permanently, within their countries or abroad.
Article 49 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power or to that of any other country, occupied or not.” Article 147 of the same convention considers such acts to be war crimes.
Articles 7 and 8 of the 1998 International Criminal Court Statute also consider such acts to be war crimes and crimes against humanity, depending on whether they are committed during war or in peacetime. And so has nearly every court looking into these matters, starting with Article 6 of the 1945 Nuremberg Charter.
UN Security Council resolutions have forcefully upheld these rules. In UNSC Resolution 1674 of 2006, the council cited “the prohibition of the forcible displacement of civilians in situations of armed conflict under circumstances that are in violation of parties’ obligations under international humanitarian law.” And it reaffirmed “its condemnation in the strongest terms of all acts of violence or abuses committed against civilians in situations of armed conflict in violation of applicable international obligations with respect in particular to … forced displacement.”
Similar provisions can be found in numerous other resolutions, including 1556 on Sudan, Resolutions 752, 819, 1009, 1019 and 1034 related to the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, and Resolution 918 on Rwanda.
This is to say that the prohibition of forced displacement and deportation is among the most respected rules of international law. Therefore, for any country to call for the removal of the entire population of the Gaza Strip is incomprehensible.
President Trump has made it clear that, according to his proposal, Gazans may not be allowed to return, another serious violation of international law, which prohibits denying people the right to return to their country.
The idea has been widely condemned, not only by Palestinians but by nearly every country and international organization, including the US’ close allies and partners around the world. The idea has also been rejected by many in the US, including Republican leaders. In Israel, only extremists have publicly voiced support for Trump’s idea.
The president has cited several grounds for his outlandish proposal, but none of them stand up to scrutiny. One such justification is that Gaza has been totally destroyed. He said on Tuesday: “I’ve watched it so long, all the death and destruction of Gaza. A civilization’s been wiped out in Gaza.” According to Trump, rebuilding is only possible if the population is moved elsewhere. Another reason he advanced is that Gaza would be better rebuilt into a great beach community that is open for “all people of the Middle East,” but not for the Gazans themselves. A third reason is that by removing Palestinians from Gaza, it would be safer for Israel, as Hamas would be denied a place to regroup.
But reconstruction could take place while the population is still there; they could provide the workforce instead of importing workers from outside. They could also fill the jobs available after reconstruction. Their gainful employment would reduce the need for outside assistance and make them less vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups.
As for security, the best way to provide it is by reunifying Gaza with the West Bank and allowing the Palestinian Authority to resume governing the Strip. Stability will return only if Palestinians can exercise their inalienable right to govern themselves in their own independent and unified state. Displacing 2 million people would destabilize the entire region and only increase Israel’s insecurity.
The proposal has already weakened the US’ standing in the region and shored up its adversaries, who have long said that the war in Gaza was against the Palestinians as a whole and not Hamas, accusing Israel of harbouring ideas of driving the Gazans out and reoccupying the Strip.
It is also undermining the Trump administration’s regional policies. The idea of normalization between countries in the region is now in the distant background, if not totally forgotten. Even more distant is the idea of regional integration, which has been another of Trump’s goals since his first administration. Similarly, the hope of a unified front against Iran’s regional hegemony or its nuclear and missile programs is fading.
Though still fragile, the ceasefire in Gaza has quieted the Red Sea front, as the Houthis of Yemen have ceased their attacks against international shipping. By proposing to deport Gaza’s population, Trump is giving the Houthis another lease of life. They are now agitating to resume attacks on ships, while also threatening to attack government-held areas in Yemen itself.
The deportation idea will certainly embolden other nefarious groups. Hezbollah will have a new pretext to resume operations, Daesh will have a new drum to beat and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq will rally behind a new call for action against the displacement of Gazans.
If the US tries to go ahead with this plan, it could expose American officials and troops to new threats, including the risk of legal action, according to experts. Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, America’s largest human rights organization, said: “Just because Trump endorses a war crime — forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza — doesn’t make it any less a war crime. To the contrary, if Trump played a major role, he could be charged by the (International Criminal Court) with aiding and abetting this war crime.” That goes for lesser officials as well.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2590087
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Saudi Arabia’s Political Messages In Response To Netanyahu
Hassan Al-Mustafa
February 13, 2025
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Sunday in response to remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview with Israel’s Channel 14. Netanyahu had stated: “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”
The Saudi statement, despite its clarity and careful choice of words, which included precise and strong descriptions, intentionally refrained from granting Benjamin Netanyahu undue prominence. It did not commence with a direct response to him; rather, it began by expressing gratitude to “brotherly countries” for their “condemnation, disapproval and complete rejection” of Netanyahu’s remarks. Furthermore, it emphasized that “the Kingdom values the positions that emphasize the centrality of the Palestinian issue among Arab and Muslim nations.”
This introduction highlights the supportive stances that emerged from several Arab and Islamic countries, including those that have treaties with Israel, such as the UAE, Egypt and Jordan. Despite their diplomatic relations, these nations issued clear statements condemning the extreme Israeli remarks and expressing their rejection of any actions that threaten the security and stability of Saudi Arabia, as well as the resolution of the Palestinian issue.
The Saudi statement regarded Netanyahu’s remarks as an attempt “to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza,” characterizing these actions as “ethnic cleansing.”
Saudi Arabia is aware of the cunning policies employed by the Israeli prime minister, who is accused by his opponents within Israel of engaging in deceit and manipulation. Consequently, the Kingdom has chosen not to fulfil Netanyahu’s objectives, which aim to draw Saudi Arabia into trivial and pointless disputes. Thus, the Kingdom has declined to participate in verbal confrontations and has preferred to reaffirm its national principles regarding the Palestinian issue.
Returning to the beginning of the statement, Saudi Arabia’s expression of gratitude toward “brotherly nations” serves a dual purpose. It aims to foster a unified Arab public opinion regarding the rights of the Palestinian people, opposing their displacement from their homeland and emphasizing the importance of establishing an independent state. This Arab consensus is envisioned as the foundation for a broader Islamic stance, which would facilitate international support from influential capitals in the EU and other parts of the world.
Notably, Riyadh is spearheading ongoing efforts by leading the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, as announced by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan at the UN General Assembly last September. This initiative is in collaboration with Arab and Islamic countries, as well as the EU and Norway. The objective is to develop a “practical plan to achieve shared goals for the desired peace,” as stated by Prince Faisal, who affirmed that “we will exert our utmost efforts to establish a reliable and irreversible path toward a just and comprehensive peace.”
This Saudi-international effort is one that the extremist Israeli government seeks to undermine, as it serves as a means of isolation that diminishes the impact of Israeli arguments and weakens its diplomatic strength in international forums. Notably, Tel Aviv cannot accuse Riyadh of supporting violence or terrorism, especially given the Arab Peace Initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia at the Arab League Summit in Beirut in 2002, which received backing from several international capitals. Nevertheless, Israel continues to reject this initiative to this day, insisting on the continuation of its occupation and the perpetration of genocide against the Palestinians.
The Saudi statement highlighted the flaws in Israel’s policies, asserting that “this extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means to the brotherly people of Palestine and their emotional, historical and legal ties to this land.” This indicates that the core issue lies in “extremism,” which, according to the statement, has “prevented Israel from accepting peace by refusing peaceful coexistence, rejecting the peace initiatives adopted by the Arab countries and systematically practicing injustice toward the Palestinian people for more than 75 years.”
Talking about the timeframe and systematic policies serves as a clear indication from Saudi Arabia that the primary reason for the stagnation of the peace process is not the Palestinians, but rather Israel’s extremism, which has provoked angry reactions due to its deprivation of their right to a dignified and secure life.
There is a fundamental message in the statement, which emphasizes that “lasting peace can only be achieved by returning to the logic of reason and accepting the principle of peaceful coexistence through the two-state solution.”
The term “logic of reason” here serves as a metaphor for diplomatic action, which implies a return to politics in its dialogical and communicative sense, distancing itself from violence and the use of brute force to impose realities on the ground.
The Saudi call for prioritizing “reason” is being met with increased obstinacy from Israel, which has been bolstered by the significant military and destructive outcomes it has achieved in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Additionally, the extensive political support for Israel, as exemplified by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his administration’s intention to annex Gaza and relocate its inhabitants to Egypt, Jordan and other countries during its reconstruction, has taken the world by surprise.
This major development has invigorated those on the far right in Israel, propelling them further toward their aspirations of displacing Palestinians from Gaza and fully reoccupying the territory. Such a course of action would effectively terminate the prospect of a Palestinian state and, if pursued with determination, could lead to increased violence and chaos in the Middle East.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2590076
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