CNN March 7, 2025
Since the October 7 terror attack, Israel has refused to hold direct talks with Hamas and vowed to eliminate the group.

Following news of the talks between and U.S. and the militant group, Israel said it “expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas” without saying what its position was.

Masri said that Hamas wanted to resolve the issue of American-Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the start of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, in which the remaining live hostages would be released in return for a sustainable end to the fighting.

Only one living American hostage, Edan Alexander, is believed to remain in Gaza. The group also holds four dead Americans.
At least 12 dual U.S.-Israelis are thought to have been captured on October 7

He said that Trump “speaks about Israeli prisoners, who are only a few dozen, while ignoring the nearly 10,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.”
1. Israeli prisoners -- innocent civilians
2. Palestinian detainees -- terrorists

Israel has been pushing Hamas to extend the initial phase of the ceasefire and release more hostages without providing any firm commitment to withdraw its forces and move to ending the war.

CNN March 7, 2025

Despite the talks between Hamas and the U.S. there has been no letup in Trump’s threats to Hamas.
Wow! terrorists audience with U.S.

On Thursday it was posted on his Truth Social site account that Hamas should release all hostages now or there would be “hell to pay.”

The U.S. envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, raised the specter Thursday of American military action in Gaza, telling reporters at the White House that it was “unclear” what would happen if Hamas does not comply with American demands to release hostages.

“I think there’s going to be some action taken,” he said. “It could be jointly with the Israelis.

It’s unclear right now. But I think Hamas has an opportunity to act reasonably. To do what’s right. And then walk out.”

CNN March 7, 2025

Masri, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council representing North Gaza, said Trump’s recent threats were “designed to provide a safe cover for the occupation to commit further acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.”

He urged the Trump administration not to become a “replica” of the Biden administration in its support for Israel.

Masri told CNN: “It is fundamental that a mediator remains neutral, stands in the middle, and works to bridge the gap between the parties…
Unfortunately, this is not what we see from the U.S. administration.”

He claimed that “the U.S. administration, through its blatant bias toward Israel, positions itself as a party to the conflict rather than a mediator.”
Then why talk to U.S.

He added “Threats and intimidation will not be effective. Attempts to forcibly displace the people of Gaza are futile,”

Trump has repeatedly said that the Palestinian population in Gaza must leave the territory so
1. the U.S. can take ownership of it
2. and build a Middle Eastern “Riviera.”

Haaretz March 8, 2025
In Iran, Like in Gaza, Trump Wields a Sledgehammer but Lacks a Solid Plan

The U.S. President's dismissal of the Egyptian proposal for postwar Gaza shows he's given Netanyahu the reins, while his aggressive foreign policy against Iran and Ukraine does not seem to be backed by a coherent plan.

The Egyptian proposal for reconstructing the Gaza Strip, which the Arab League summit in Cairo adopted this week, is still far from implementation.

NOS News
•
today, 16:56
More than 600 dead reported after violence erupts in northwestern Syria

The death toll from the renewed violence in northwestern Syria has risen to over 600, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SHOR), which is based in England. Last night, there was talk of 150 fatalities. There are no official figures.

The violence is taking place in the coastal area of ??Syria, where many Alawites live, where troops of the new rulers and supporters of the ousted president Assad are facing each other.

Assad fled the country in early December, he belongs to the Alawite community. The new rulers belong to the Sunni group HTS. The government says it is countering attacks by remnants of Assad's troops. Sunni fighters loyal to HTS are said to hold Alawites partly responsible for the repression under Assad and are seeking revenge.

Massacres
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through a network of informants, says that massacres were committed in at least 21 places yesterday. More than 400 Alawites are said to have been killed in the violence. Independent reporting from the area is scarce, because there are hardly any journalists present.

According to the SOHR, 60 people were executed in the city of Banias alone. Residents told the AP news agency about massacres, with bodies left in the streets. In the village of Tuweim, residents said 31 bodies were buried in a mass grave this morning. Nine children and four women were among the dead.

Looting
Alawite homes were reportedly looted and then set on fire. The testimonies also mention thousands of people fleeing to nearby mountains.

A Syrian MP says people have also gone to Lebanon or sought refuge at the Russian air base near the Syrian port of Latakia.

An unnamed Defense Ministry official told state news agency Sana that government forces had regained control of the region from Assad supporters. He also said authorities had closed all roads to the coastal region.

From: The Jerusalem Post March 8, 2025

Iran rejects Arab plan, calls for one-state solution in Gaza conflict
Iran says a two-state solution won’t secure Palestinian rights.

Iran has said that it prefers a one-state solution to the conflict in Gaza rather than the recent plan that Arab states have proposed.

The Arab initiative came out of a meeting in Cairo last week.
Iran has now spoken out at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) where foreign ministers from various Muslim countries have gathered.

1. This is a pivotal time in the region.
2. There is still a ceasefire in Gaza,
3. and Hamas has rejected Israel’s attempt to extend the first phase of a hostage deal.

The Trump administration is now open to direct talks with Hamas.

Iran and the Arab states oppose the Trump plan for re-settling Gazans.
The Arab League backs a plan for reconstruction that Egypt has been pushing for Gaza.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said at the OIC that the two-state solution “will not secure Palestinian rights, emphasizing Tehran’s support for the establishment of one state representing all the original inhabitants of Palestine.”

From: BBC March 8, 2025

Leading European nations have said, they:
1. support an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion (£41 billion)
2. and avoid displacing Palestinians from the territory.

On Saturday the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain welcomed the plan, which calls for Gaza to be rebuilt over five years, as "realistic".
In a statement, they said the proposal promised "swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions" for the people of Gaza.

The plan calls for:
1. Gaza to be governed temporarily by a committee of independent experts
2. and for international peacekeepers to be deployed to the territory.

The committee would be responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid and temporarily managing Gaza's affairs under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.

The proposal is an alternative to Trump's idea for the US to take over Gaza and resettle its population.
It was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas after it was presented by Egypt at an emergency Arab League summit on Tuesday.

The statement issued by the four European countries on Saturday said:
1. they were "committed to working with the Arab initiative"
2. and they appreciated the "important signal" the Arab states had sent by developing it.

The statement said:
1. Hamas "must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more" and Hamas said of course! Done!!
2. and that the four countries "support the central role for the Palestinian Authority
3. and the implementation of its reform agenda".

The proposal was drawn up amid growing concern that Gaza's fragile ceasefire deal could collapse after the six-week first phase expired on 1 March.

The plan, drawn up by Egypt and endorsed by Arab leaders, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald Trump, who presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a "Middle East Riviera".

Both the White House and Israeli foreign ministry said it failed to address realities in Gaza.

Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for Trump's National Security Council, said late on Tuesday:
1. "Residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance,"
2. "President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas,"

Israel has blocked aid from entering the territory to pressure Hamas to accept a new US proposal for a temporary extension of the truce, during which more hostages held in Gaza would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has insisted:
1. the second phase should begin as agreed,
2. leading to an end of the war
3. and a full Israeli troop withdrawal.

Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have had to leave their homes since the start of hostilities.
Israel began military operations after Hamas's October 2023 attack which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 more taken hostage.

Gaza has suffered vast destruction with a huge humanitarian impact.

More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's military action, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and much infrastructure across the strip has been levelled by air strikes.

Iran
Ayatollah Khamenei lashes out at countries that 'impose their will' on Iran after Trump letter

Iranian religious leader and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lashed out at "some bullying countries that say they want to have talks, but they don't want to do it to find solutions but to impose their will."

Iran will definitely not meet their demands, the ayatollah said. For example, he said Iran will never meet demands about limiting the country's missile program.

Khamenei is likely referring to the United States. On Friday, President Donald Trump said he had written a letter to the Iranian leader urging dialogue.

Israeli F-15 fighter jets escorted an American B-52 bomber as it made its way through Israeli airspace en route to the Persian Gulf on Monday in an apparent show of force to Iran amid lingering tensions in the region.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-jets-again-escort-us-bomber-to-gulf-in-show-of-force-to-iran/

BBC issues a grovelling apology over 'propaganda' Gaza documentary and says boy's father is Hamas leader

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...documentary-boy-father-hamas-leader.html

Haaretz March 9, 2025

Hamas Says It Held Several Meetings With U.S. Over Gaza Cease-fire, Hostage Deal
Wow! terrorists audience with U.S.

Taher Al-Nono, the political advisor of the Hamas chief confirmed to Reuters.
Several meetings had taken place between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler

A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Hazem Qassem, said that the organization "has no problem" meeting with U.S. administration representatives."
This, he said, "is because we understand that it has the power to pressure Israel."

Qassem added that "discussions are underway with the mediators to begin the second stage of the negotiations.

We have set three conditions for the negotiations: Terrorists calling the shots
1. an exchange (of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners),
2. a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,
3. and a commitment not to return to aggression.

He noted that
1. "Israel must show seriousness towards the mediators in order to continue the stages of the agreement.
2. We have made it clear to the mediators that we reject the extension of the first stage of the cease-fire agreement."
3. "we are ready to conduct a prisoner exchange with new keys in the second stage of the agreement.
4. We do not oppose the release of Israeli prisoners who hold American citizenship, but within the framework of a comprehensive agreement."

CBN News March 9, 2025
human rights, peace activist tears apart the anti Israel lies

Arab Gaza Hypocrisy Called Out at UN Be a better Arab Be a better Muslim

"I want to testify before God and you. Israel is not the problem."

In this week’s commentary, Global Lane features remarks by Lebanese-Syrian / German human rights, activist Rawan Osman at the UN

She argues that Middle East leaders publicly, “defiantly shout, ' Down with the Zionists' and 'Free Palestine!’
Yet, privately, they despise the Palestinians and arrogantly whisper, 'not in my neighborhood!'"

During this week's UN session the remarks of peace activist Rawan Osman
1. spoke about the war in Gaza
2. and took on Arab governments
3. contending Israel is not the problem

Last week Israel buried Shiri Bibas and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them during the October 7, 2023 attack. Forensic reports show they were choked to death in Gaza

Hamas abuses dead bodies

CBN News March 9, 2025

Lebanese-Syrian / German human rights, peace activist Rawan Osman at the UN
"Many who point fingers at Israel might do better to look in the mirror"

I, ask Qatar:
1. why didn't you arrest the Hamas Chiefs in Doha and demand the release of the hostages
2. why did you finance Terror

I, ask Iran:
why do you send billions to Hamas and Hezbollah instead of liberating your own people who are suffering oppression and poverty

I, ask Egypt:
1. you charged Gazans thousands of dollars to escape the war
2. how can you lecture about the morality of displacing Gazans

I, ask Jordan:
why have you refused to accept any Gazans “they are not your own people”

I, ask Lebanon:
instead of discussing Hezbollah's political role, ban the party

I, ask Syria:
if the new president is sincere about his transformation, return the body of Ellie Cohen
Cohen was an Israeli spy, hanged in Damascus in 1965 It's been six decades and allow his wife, to bury him before she dies

returning his body would be a grateful gesture toward Israel, the Syrian neighbor that al-Sharaa credits with helping him, to eliminate the threat and influence of Hezbollah and Iran

CBN News March 9, 2025

As for Gaza and the hypocrisy of Arab leaders regarding a solution
1. publicly they defiantly shout down with the Zionist and free Palestine
2. privately they despise the Palestinians and arrogantly whisper not in my neighborhood

"Their approach is to pay the money to fight and oppose the Jews -- that way they won't come to their countries and cause unrest"

Post-war plans for Gaza must be negotiated soon
There must be the same sense of urgency as there is for ending the war in Ukraine

Israel is no longer limited by an American Administration that was more sympathetic to Hamas terrorists than to its closest Middle Eastern Ally
There's a new sheriff in town president Trump and a new Gaza of beautiful Seaside hotels, homes and businesses

Most Israelis only want to see
1. the remaining hostages returned
2. and the Gaza Strip free of Hamas

From: The Times of Israel March 9, 2025
Trump envoy defends his direct talks with Hamas, says US ‘not an agent of Israel’

In flurry of interviews, Adam Boehler says, he hopes for deal to free hostages within weeks and he believes:
1. Hamas will ultimately lay down its weapons,
2. forgo political power;
when Pigs fly...

US hostage envoy Adam Boehler on Sunday defended his direct talks with officials in the Hamas terror group, pushing back against private but intense criticism from Jerusalem, in a spate of interviews to American and Israeli media.

Some of Boehler’s remarks further annoyed senior Israeli officials, who told The Times of Israel they were surprised to hear the envoy comment that the US is “not an agent of Israel.”

The direct US-Hamas talks, held in parallel to indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt, focused on releasing the American hostages still captive in Gaza, though Boehler stressed that the ultimate goal was the release of all the hostages.

“We weren’t prepared to just sit back for two weeks,” Boehler told Israel’s Channel 12 refusing to specify:
1. when his meetings with Hamas began or
2. how many took place.

“You’ve got a real chance for some movement and seeing hostages home, in the next few weeks,” he continued.

Asked by Channel 12 whether he “realistically” thinks “that Hamas would eventually agree to lay down its weapons and not be part of Gaza’s political future,” he answered: “I do believe that.”

While his meetings focused on the sole living American hostage Edan Alexander, along with the bodies of four slain Amercan hostages, Boehler stressed that the talks were meant to lead to a wider deal for all the hostages.

“You do not need to have fear that the president of the United States, or I, or anyone in our administration will forget you,” he said, addressing the Israeli public.

Talks with Hamas focused on all hostages, not just Americans, Trump envoy says

Speaking to Kan news, Boehler described what he called a Hamas proposal that would see a five-to ten-year truce with Israel, during which the terror group would disarm and forego political power in Gaza.

Hamas “suggested exchanging all prisoners… and a 5-year to 10-year truce: Why not permanent?
1. Hamas would lay down all weapons
2. and where the US as well as other countries, would ensure that there are no tunnels,
3. there’s nothing taken on the military side,
4. and that Hamas is not involved in politics going forward.”

He called the proposal “not a bad first offer.” for whom?

Amid concerns that the White House is prioritizing the release of American hostages over Israeli ones, the US envoy reassured the Israeli public that the Trump administration intends to get both “Americans and Israelis out, our commitment is full.”

Boehler told CNN in an interview earlier in the day that a “long-term truce” could be on the horizon, in which:
1. “we forgive prisoners,
2. where Hamas lays down their arms,
3. where they agree that they’re not part of the political party going forward.”

Yet... Hamas to date has not pledged to lay down its arms or surrender political power.

Asked on Channel 12 about a reported proposal by mediators for an expanded two-month ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages, he declined to confirm anything but said, “It’s a possible solution.”

Israel was set to send a negotiating team to Qatar on Monday for talks regarding the future of the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

Boehler told Channel 12 that the state of negotiations “is very well set up for the Israelis to do well” in the talks.
Like Macron and Starmer "set up" for Zelensky...

"I think it was a very helpful meeting." "I think something could come together within weeks" in US negotiations with Hamas.

The direct US-Hamas discussions broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US has designated terrorist organizations. Hamas has been proscribed as such since 1997

Boehler told CNN that US President Donald Trump had signed off on his talks with Hamas ahead of time, but then appeared to walk the claim back, clarifying to Channel 12 that the pre-approval came from “a group of folks” in the White House.

Sitting with people like Hamas, he went on, when “you know what they’ve done, it’s hard not to think of it.”

However, that was not “the most productive” approach, he said. “The most productive [approach] is to realize that every piece of a person is a human and to identify with the human elements of those people and then build from there.

But it definitely feels a little odd knowing what they really are.”

Asked if he’d meet Hamas officials again, Boehler responded, “You never know. Sometimes you’re in the area, and you drop by.”

Why so blasé? Is there a method to this madness...

In yet another interview, with Israel’s Channel 13 news, Boehler was more combative toward Israel’s disapproval, saying he didn’t “really care” about Dermer’s objections to his direct talks with Hamas, while referring to Palestinian prisoners as “hostages” and criticizing Israel’s release of large numbers of them.

“I don’t really care about that that much — no offense to Dermer,” Boehler said.
“If it was a big deal every time Dermer got a little bit upset… Ron might have a lot of big deals every day.

“I love Ron. We’ll work together again. It was great. I take no offense because he was doing what he was supposed to do,” he said.

“I don’t mean to injure Ron or anyone else… Dermer runs a country with Bibi that is on its own, where they are exchanging massive amounts of hostages [terrorists] for one person. We wouldn’t do that deal in the United States

Boehler contined "And I will say, it’s a lot of hostages" True Then again, including Yahya Sinwar:
“I respect and understand his position.
However, we also have our own interests in the US and I believe and hope that some of those interactions [with Hamas] can speed things up,” he added.

The senior American official, who has repeatedly referred to Israeli hostages as “prisoners,” appeared to be using the term “hostages” to describe Palestinian prisoners, adopting rhetoric common with Hamas but considered offensive in Israel and among many Americans.

Hamas has referred to civilians kidnapped on October 7 including children and the elderly, as prisoners who were “arrested.”

I reckon no Trump staff blinks without him knowing, without his permission...

'Listen to your boss' ex-ambassador Friedman tells Boehler
Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Israel David Friedman was critical of Boehler’s efforts on Sunday.

“This past week, President Trump brilliantly presented Hamas with a binary choice:
1. release all the hostages and surrender,
2. or be destroyed.

It is the only path to ending the war,” Friedman wrote on X

“If I heard [Boehler] correctly on the Sunday news shows, he took the unprecedented step to meet with Hamas to consider a third way — whether a deal could be struck where Hamas ‘would not be involved in governing Gaza,'” he continued.

But Friedman called any agreement with Hamas “a waste of time” that “will never be kept.” True

“Attempting one is beneath the dignity of the United States,” Friedman wrote.
“Adam, I know you mean well but listen to your boss. The choice must remain binary.”

From: Haaretz March 9, 2025

US hostage envoy says Hamas suggested truce
1. that would see it disarm,
2. disengage from politics

Adam Boehler, the US special envoy for hostage affairs, said Hamas negotiators had:
1. proposed a 5-to-10-year truce with Israel that would see the group disarm
2. and cease playing a political role.

10 years to regroup and come back bigger, better and more lethal...

In an interview with Israel's Kan public broadcaster, Boehler said, "they suggested a 5 year to 10 year truce, where Hamas would lay down all weapons."
You believed that story? You believed that?

As part of the truce:
1. "the US would help, as well as other countries, to ensure there are no tunnels,
2. there's nothing taken on the military side
3. and that Hamas is not involved in politics going forward,"

Boehler said, adding that he thought "that was not a bad first offer." for whom?

From: Haaretz March 9, 2025
How Trump Is Bulldozing Netanyahu on a Gaza Deal

Benjamin Netanyahu is both petrified and deeply jealous of Donald Trump, who has taken ownership of the hostage issue.
But above all, he can't say no to the US President

according to a report by Saudi news channel Al Hadath:
Hamas has agreed to release living hostages in exchange for extending the first stage of the cease-fire deal, by two months

1. Isn't this what Israel been wanting?
2. Has Boehler played Hamas and won?

Several meetings had also taken place between Hamas leaders and US hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler, an official told Reuters.

From: Haaretz March 9, 2025
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned intoxicated from his trip to Washington, convinced he controls President Trump, the Qataris made their move.

It's impossible not to appreciate the Qataris' brilliant diplomatic move last week.
All roads lead to Doha and bypass Netanyahu: Qatar's brilliant move on hostage talks

They're sick of Israel, a wrench in the works of their regional plan: Hamas is not?
so they simply eliminated the middleman.

Qatar called up Trump's special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, and offered a dream deal:
Get your five American hostages, including Edan Alexander, who is alive, almost for free.

Who says you need Israel? Let US and Hamas talk to each other directly.

This move, first revealed by journalist Barak Ravid, nudged:
1. Netanyahu out of his complacency
2. and gave a serious push to the negotiations on the hostage deal's second stage.

Ravid's report presented Netanyahu as someone who doesn't matter in Washington ouch...

Ultimately, the US has its own objectives – and it will achieve them by any means:
1. freeing the hostages,
2. ending the war,
3. regional peace,
4. Saudi capital –

Is this guy for real -- unless there is a method to this madness... all a strategy ploy, by the Trump administration

From: The Times of Israel March 10, 2025
Meet Adam Boehler, Trump’s complacent, confused and dangerously naive hostage envoy

Hamas leaders must be laughing in disbelief after their interactions with a man who says he tries to identify their ‘human elements’;
nobody’s laughing in Israel, least of all the families of the hostages

Meet Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostages.

1. Hamas already has, in one or more recent negotiating sessions (Boehler won’t say how many).
2. Hamas Says It Held Several Meetings With US Over Gaza Cease-fire, Hostage Deal
3. though US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the direct talks were a “one-off” that so far “haven’t borne fruit.”

on Sunday, Israelis got to see him at length too, in a veritable flood of television interviews — at least 2 to American networks, and at least 4 to Israeli outlets.

There may have been more. It got hard to keep up. It was harder still to make sense of what he was saying.

He calls Palestinian security prisoners “hostages”

Boehler, who also worked for Trump, in the first administration, sometimes refers to Palestinian security prisoners, who include mass-murdering terrorists, as hostages. “They are exchanging massive amounts of hostages for one person,” he said, for example, in one of his Israeli interviews, with Channel 13

He calls Israeli hostages “prisoners”

Boehler also sometimes refers to the (mostly civilian) Israeli hostages — who were abducted by Hamas and other terrorist groups during the Hamas-led massacre, in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and whose release he has been charged with helping to expedite — as prisoners.

“I think there is a deal where they can get all of the prisoners out, not just the Americans,” he told CNN for instance.

The purpose of his direct talks with Hamas, he told Israel’s Channel 12 a few hours later, “was to lead and to really enter into broader talks on all of the prisoners because the President made very clear that we’re focused on not just Americans here, American-Israelis, but Israelis overall…”

Many of us make little errors of language when we speak, but those two words “hostages” and “prisoners” are among the basic building blocks of his actual job.
You’d think he’d know and take care to keep track of the difference between the two.

Not incidentally, Boehler on Sunday also twice misnamed the only living hostage with American citizenship, Edan Alexander, referring to him as “Adi.”
(That’s Edan’s father’s name.)

He tries to ‘identify with the human elements’ of the Hamas leaders he meets:

Boehler told CNN that his strategy, in negotiating with the Hamas representatives — Sigmund Freud theory! — is:
1. “to identify with the human elements of those people
2. and then build from there"

the leaders, that is — of an [terrorist] organization:
1. avowedly committed to destroying Israel,
2. who massacred 1,200 people in southern Israel,
3. burning people in their homes, raping and brutalizing,
4. and have vowed to do so again if given the chance

Asked by interviewer Jake Tapper what it was like for him, as a Jewish American, to sit down with “antisemitic murderers,” he allowed that when “you know what they’ve done, it’s hard not to think of it.”

But the “most productive” approach, he went on, “is to realize that every piece of a person is a human.”