In presenting four obstacles in the way of ending the Hamas-Israel war, Sen. Chuck Schumer omits six basic obstacles that remain in the negotiating pathway to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The inquiry team determined that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri; the bravery of the Be’eri residents and the members of the kibbutz’s civilian rapid response team are commended for preventing the attack from spreading. In the October 7, 2024 Hamas attack on the kibbutz, 101 civilians were killed, and 30 hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri and two additional hostages were abducted and taken into Gaza.
In a 52 minute speech, Netanyahu explained Israel’s absolute need for total victory in the Gaza war because Hamas and Iran were both enemies of the United States and Israel. With bi-partisan emphasis, he thanked Presidents Biden and Trump for their unwavering current and past support. Dozens of congressional members did not attend his speech, noting disagreements with the Prime Minister’s policies.
Netanyahu’s speech reflected on the needed elimination of Hezbollah as an enemy of Israel, a powerful militia fighting in Lebanon against Israel for four decades. On the day of Netanyahu’s speech, the Israeli Air Force killed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader in his Beirut offices along with other Hezbollah officials.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a synopsis of Iran’s hatred of Israel and the United States, provides deep insight into his unwavering commitment to destroying Israel, and mourns for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The details of the three-stage Hamas-Israel cease-fire that went into effect January 19, 2025, along with unanswered questions, insightful analyses and the relevant U.N. resolution from June 2024.
Amid a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to visit the White House during the second Trump administration, and President Donald Trump uses the occasion to declare his intention to take over and redevelop Gaza.
Abdullah II remains studiously noncommittal in support of Donald Trump’s idea for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip, rebuild it and relocate its Palestinian residents to other countries. With Jordan’s strong economic, strategic and defense ties to Washington, no one expected the king to be effusive for Trump’s suggestions for Gaza’s future. Jordan lacks the economic and demographic absorptive capacities and the political interest to take another wave of Palestinians into its territory.
Meeting in Cairo in early March 2025, the Arab League of States endorsed an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that was, above all else, a cleverly worded statement. The contents did not break new diplomatic ground and made no mention of Hamas or its political future. As a consensus document, it aimed at satisfying as many Arab interests and foreign ears as possible.
Benjamin Netanyahu makes his second White House visit of Donald Trump’s second term, but the discussion this time expands beyond Gaza and regional peace to include bilateral trade after a Trump announcement of new tariffs on Israeli goods.
May 13, 2025 President Donald Trump’s address laying out a vision for Middle East peace and prosperity and ending sanctions on Syria at the 2025 Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, https://www.youtube.com/live/wj1QOz3iuCE?si=qQRR2GcqZhtt1F5o Well, thank…
Visiting Qatar after Saudi Arabia and before the United Arab Emirates in a Middle East trip that excluded Israel, President Donald Trump praises and pledges to defend Qatar and indicates a deal on Iran’s nuclear program is close.
PA President Abbas makes requests and gives promises to the French president for the establishment of a Palestinian
state. His commitments were not negotiated with Israel. They are meant to seek support for the end of the Gaza war,
the affirmation of Abbas and the PA as the sole Palestinian political address, and international support for a Palestinian state.
As in the past, the PA and Abbas seek international support to pressure Israel into undesirable political actions.
Speaking in English, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, targeting nuclear enrichment, nuclear weaponization, nuclear scientists, the Natanz nuclear facility and ballistic missile infrastructure. Netanyahu says the attack is for the world, not just for Israel.
President Trump announces precision U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites, citing Iran’s four-decade-long hatred of the U.S. and killing of Americans and others. He thanks the U.S. military, the Israeli military and Prime Minister Netanyahu, warning Iran to pursue peace because more targets remain.
Before a White House dinner, President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk about Gaza, Iran, Syria and Middle East peace.
Seized by the severity of the Gaza war and nonmovement on a Palestinian-Israeli negotiating process, the U.N. offers a diplomatic road map to end the war and start negotiations. Led by France and Saudi Arabia, it asserts PA primacy as the legitimate Palestinian political representative, addresses possible Palestinian governance reform, seeks to empower a sovereign and economically viable state of Palestine living side by side in security with Israel, and contains other vague PA promises. Israel and the U.S. reject the Declaration. The Israeli government refuses to have outside parties determine the outlines or pace of negotiations with any country because negotiations impact Israeli security today and tomorrow.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel was primarily prompted by American criticism of Israel’s airstrike on September 9, targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the Qatari capital. Rubio arrived in Doha at the end of an emergency Arab-Islamic leaders summit that roundly condemned Israel’s attack. In Doha, he affirmed US interests in Qatar, with particular knowledge that it hosts America’s largest air base in the Middle East and the forward headquarters for the US Central Command. The US was seeking to balance its relationship with Israel and Qatar.
President Macron’s speech links the end of Hamas-Israeli conflict to the evolution of a of two-state solution. He acknowledges that Israel has the power to end the war and evolve a Palestinian state, asserting that if Israel does neither to the satisfaction of France and her European partners, Israel could pay an undisclosed price. He offers no such penalties to be placed on the PA for its failure to meet its commitments. Once again the Palestinian Arab national movement uses the international community to pressure Israel into concessions. On the same day, Israeli
Prime Minister Netanyahu emphatically rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The Israeli
parliament in June 2004 rejected any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by a 68-9 vote.
A comprehensive U.S. plan to end the Hamas-Israel war is unveiled eight days before the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu explain their expansive vision for a peaceful Middle East through the implementation of a 20-point U.S. plan to end the Gaza war with the support of many Arab and Muslim countries.
President Trump issued a presidential order placing Qatar under the military protection of the United States. He did not submit his policy for U.S. Senate ratification, as would be necessary for the staying power of a treaty. The U.S. had never offered such protection to an Arab country, let alone one that sits across the Persian Gulf from Iran. The action was viewed as a direct response to Israel’s intrusion into Qatar’s sovereignty three weeks earlier in a failed attack on Hamas leaders in Doha. But the order might have been a step toward including Qatar in the Abraham Accords. And Qatar is potentially a key funder in rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
Amid praise for the end of the war in Gaza and hopes for long-term peace, humanitarian aid and freed hostages, world leaders barely acknowledge Hamas exists, let alone that it bears any responsibility for the status of the Strip.
A memo obtained by multiple news organizations in early October 2025 explains the implementation plan for the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire.
