In this episode of Palestine This Week, we begin with Jared Kushner’s meetings with Hamas political leader Khalil Al-Hayya and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking what the talks mean for the future of the Gaza ceasefire.
We revisit the long-debunked claim that Palestine was sparsely populated before early Jewish settlement and ask why this version of history continues to resurface. We also look at changes to Saudi school textbooks, including the removal of the phrase “Muslims will never give up Jerusalem”.
The episode also looks at settler violence in the occupied West Bank and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s decision to describe Israeli settlers as “terrorists” after American citizens were besieged by Israeli settlers.
Finally, we discuss a false quotation attributed to an Iranian commander that travelled from social media into Israeli media, Benjamin Netanyahu’s rhetoric and ultimately political debate in Washington. What does the episode tell us about the use of manufactured intelligence to build the case against Iran? And as Israel becomes increasingly isolated in parts of Europe and the US, why is Netanyahu’s government building closer ties with far-right governments and movements across Latin America and elsewhere?

01:33 Kushner’s Gaza talks with Hamas and Netanyahu
12:41 Revisiting claims about early Jewish settlement in Palestine
21:50 Saudi Arabia removes Jerusalem pledge from school textbooks
30:24 Huckabee calls Israeli settlers “terrorists”
33:52 Israel accused of laundering false intelligence on Iran
39:36 Iran MOU expires as US regional goals fall short
44:08 Israel deepens ties with the global far right

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we begin with Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan and the growing power of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. We also discuss the emerging Saudi-Turkiye-Pakistan security alignment, shifting Gulf politics and Israel’s efforts to manufacture evidence against Iran with the aim of inciting US bombing of the Islamic Republic. The conversation then turns to how Washington’s longstanding alliance with Israel continues to shape US policy in the Middle East, the role of Islamophobia in sustaining that relationship.

1:15 Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan: Is Hamas a politically useful bogeyman?
08:11 Why is Trump allowing Netanyahu to defy and undermine him?
13:55 Has Israel lost control of its settlers in the occupied West Bank?
20:09 Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye: Is a new Muslim strategic bloc emerging?
22:46 Has Saudi Arabia accepted the limits of US power after the Iran war?
27:15 Are new fault lines emerging between Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords states?32:25 How Israel manufactured evidence of an Iranian nuclear threat
37:44 Robert Kagan, US Islamophobia and the blowback from America’s support for Israel

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we are joined by Palestinian political analyst Muhammad Shehada to examine the major developments of the past seven days.

The episode covers the latest Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations, the role of Gaza in exposing dark money and foreign influence in US politics, Israeli-funded efforts to “poison” AI-generated information and important legal victories protecting anti-Zionist speech in the UK and Germany.

We also discuss why Israel and the US are being mentioned in connection with the Ceuta migration crisis, as well as the debate sparked by Green Party plans to twin Greater Manchester with Ramallah and the history of terrorism in Palestine.

1. Latest developments in the Hamas-Israel ceasefire negotiations
2. Gaza is the "ultimate revealer"
3. Israeli-funded efforts to “poison” AI-generated information
4. Legal victories in the UK and Germany
5. Israel, the US and the Ceuta migration crisis
6. Green Party plans to twin Greater Manchester with Ramallah and the origins of terrorism in Palestine

In this week’s episode, we begin with the growing normalisation of rhetoric aimed at erasing Palestinian identity and ask how Israel’s war on Gaza could reshape the global politics of genocide. We also explore the deepening crisis within Zionism, the surge in settler violence across the occupied West Bank and the future of the International Criminal Court following the removal of its chief prosecutor. The discussion also considers Zohran Mamdani’s call for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest, Washington’s escalating hostility towards international institutions that challenge Israel and the strategic calculations surrounding a Saudi-US nuclear deal tied to normalisation with Israel.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

00:46 The Normalisation of Calls to Erase Palestinian Identity

10:55 How Gaza Could Redefine the Global Politics of Genocide

17:48 Has Zionism Reached the Edge of the Abyss?

28:08 Settler Violence Surges Across the Occupied West Bank

33:55 Karim Khan’s Removal and the Future of the ICC

42:51 Zohran Mamdani’s Bid to Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu

47:36 The US Targets International Institutions Challenging Israel

52:05 The Saudi-US Nuclear Deal and Normalisation with Israel

In this episode, we examine Trump’s drastically reduced Gaza recovery plan, growing criticism within Hamas over the consequences of 7 October and Israel’s covert efforts to downplay the scale of death, starvation and destruction in Gaza. We also discuss the failure of a major pro-Israel influence campaign in the US, rising congressional resistance to military aid, Mahmoud Abbas’s proposed Palestinian elections, legal challenges to US sanctions on the International Criminal Court and Mahmoud Khalil’s case against Trump administration officials and pro-Israel groups. The episode also explores Palestinian claims to ownership of land designated for a new US embassy in Jerusalem, reports that Trump urged Israel to withdraw from Syria and Lebanon and FIFA corruption.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

01:11 Trump’s Board of Peace scales back Gaza recovery plan

10:36 Disagreement within Hamas over 7 October

15:25 Israeli-linked Arabic media campaign targeting Arab audiences

19:39 Israel’s failed US influencer campaign and shifting political support

25:39 Mahmoud Abbas announces decree allocating seats to Christian Palestinians

29:56 US groups challenge Trump’s ICC sanctions

37:24 Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump officials and pro-Israel groups

44:07 Palestinian families challenge planned US Embassy site in Jerusalem

49:00 Trump reportedly asks Netanyahu to withdraw from Syria and Lebanon

52:59 Argentina, Lionel Messi and FIFA corruption

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine the EU’s new Gaza initiative, claims that Gaza’s authorities obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid, the escalating campaign against UNRWA and Washington’s attack on the International Criminal Court. We also discuss Ro Khanna’s detention by Israeli settlers, shifting US and UK political attitudes towards Palestine, Lindsey Graham’s legacy, the renewed Iran conflict and reports of an alleged Israeli plan involving Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine Hamas’s decision to dissolve its government and the wider implications of Trump’s so called peace plan, as Israel moves ahead with proposals for “controlled humanitarian zones”.

We also discuss whether Hamas remains a major threat or has become a convenient justification for continued Israeli domination, before turning to new claims about 7 October, debates over just war theory, Zionism’s erasure of Palestinians, Mike Huckabee’s remarks in Jerusalem and reports that US officials feared Israel was plotting to kill Iranian negotiators.

This episode of Palestine This Week opens with Israel’s renewed push to promote the so-called “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, asking whether ethnic cleansing is now being pursued without even the pretence of concealment. We also look at Trump’s proposed Gaza board and warnings that it could create a legal black hole for officials and contractors, before turning to the unprecedented lawsuit filed by ICC judges against US sanctions they describe as an attempt to punish and coerce the court.

The episode also explores growing threats to journalism, from the UK’s State Threats Bill to double standards in how the media defines press freedom, alongside new revelations about the Hannibal Directive during the events of 7 October. We then assess whether Israel’s confrontation with Iran has punctured the myth of Israeli military invincibility, and close with Lebanon, where Israeli media figures speak openly about pushing the country towards civil war as part of a wider regional strategy.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

00:20 Israel revives plans for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza

06:24 Trump’s Gaza board and the creation of a legal black hole

12:11 ICC judges sue the Trump administration over sanctions

21:25 UK State Threats Bill raises alarm over press freedom and journalism

31:11 New Hannibal Directive revelations from 7 October

38:18 Iran, Gaza and the crisis of Israeli military invincibility

45:43 Israel’s strategy for Lebanon: escalation, fragmentation and civil conflict

This week, we begin with Hannah Arendt, the Jewish intellectual who warned that a state built without Palestinian consent would be condemned to permanent war. Her warning now feels less like abstract history and more like a description of Israel today: a militarised society, trapped in endless war and dependent on propaganda to justify the violence needed to sustain its project.

We also look at the casual anti-Muslim racism used by Israel advocates to dismiss equality for Palestinian, the UN Human Rights Council’s findings on Israel’s targeting of children in Gaza, and the rise of settler violence in Hebron and around Al-Aqsa Mosque. The episode ends with Trump’s U-turn on Iran, Lebanon’s central role in US-Iran diplomacy and the pro-war commentators already trying to explain away another Middle East disaster.

Get your copy of ‘Gaza Apocalypse’ by Mouin Rabbani: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction & Overview

01:13 Hannah Arendt’s warning: Was Zionism destined for permanent war?

10:14 The casual anti-Muslim racism of Israel advocates

18:41 Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in Gaza

26:50 Hebron, Smotrich and the collapse of the Hebron agreement

36:51 Trump’s U-turn on the Iran war: What explains the shift?

40:57 Lebanon as the make-or-break arena for US-Iran diplomacy

46:59 Iran war cheerleaders and the making of another American debacle