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Israel and Hamas see Gaza ceasefire negotiations as an existential battle

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By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . The Gaza ceasefire negotiations have all but broken down, with Israel and Hamas pursuing mutually exclusive goals. At stake in the negotiations is more than just a ceasefire and a second Hamas-Israeli prisoner swap. Israel and Hamas both see the negotiations as key to whether there will be a post-war credible Israeli-Palestinian peace process and what it would entail. Israel is determined to prevent a ceasefire from constituting a stepping stone for ending the conflict with the establishment of an independent Palestinian stat

Israel and Hamas play whack-a-mole.

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 By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . Despite its devastating human and physical cost, Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas has a whack-a-mole aspect. Even though Israel asserts it has killed 12,000 of Hama’s estimated 40,000 fighters and wounded or captured thousands more, Hamas retains a presence in swaths of Gaza. It has been able to re-establish itself, to varying degrees, in areas Israel says it has largely cleansed of militants of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups. Continued fighting and Israeli strikes across Gaza in areas it has evacu

Biden and Hamas tie Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu up in knots.

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  By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is tying himself up in knots as he grudgingly, and only to a limited degree, bows to US President Joe Biden’s demands . In doing so, Mr. Netanyahu is puncturing Swiss-cheese size holes into Israel’s Gaza narrative, making it easier for Mr. Biden to take him publicly to task. Mr. Biden has demanded that Israel allow the unfettered flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, an immediate ceasefire linked to an exchange of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinians inc

The Greater Middle East is a ticking time bomb.

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  By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . The Greater Middle East is a ticking time bomb. Generations in war-wracked Palestine, Syria, and Yemen have little, if anything, to look forward to. Moreover, discontent is mounting and could explode anytime in countries like Jordan, Egypt, and Iran. Palestine is a pressure cooker. Gazan youth has known little else than two decades of wars and siege. Beyond the trauma of the latest six-month-old war, Gaza’s next generation is likely to experience at least a decade of a slow rebuilding of their lives that were sh

Palestinian security forces are caught between a rock and a hard place.

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By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . Muhammad Manassara walked in late February into a gas station near the West Bank settlement of Eli. Armed with an automatic weapon, Mr. Manassara killed two people before he was shot dead by the owner of a restaurant at the station, the site of the killing last summer of four Israelis. The weapon used by Muhammad Manassara. Credit: YnetNews Three weeks later, Mujahid Barakat Mansour, a father of two small children, opened fire near the Israeli West Bank settlement of Dolev. Mr Mansour killed an Israeli soldier and wou