This past July, I bought eggplants at the farmers' market, intending to make my grandmother's signature maqlubeh: the cinnamon-and-allspice-scented rice dish layered with fried eggplants and chicken, cooked in a pot, then flipped onto a serving platter, forming a golden dome. Before I had the chance to peel the eggplants, stripe by stripe, and drop them into hot oil, a WhatsApp message came in from my mother-a single, waving-hand emoji at an unusual hour.
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan hasn't just taken the mask off; he's taunting those who were ever fooled by it. While the civilized world is celebrating the peace deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by President Donald Trump, Hasan is worried about it. Why? Because Hamas is set to give away its leverage, which happens to exist in the form of Jewish lives.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza, paving the way for a pause in the fighting and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians greeted the news cautiously Thursday as a possible breakthrough in ending the devastating 2-year-old war. Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan advanced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump - such as whether and how Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza.
George Mitchell, the great US advocate for the Northern Ireland peace agreement, described diplomacy as 700 days of failure and one of success. In Gaza, tragically, there have been 730 days of failure and none of success. Indeed, the destruction, the death toll and the spillover of the conflict into other countries is a monument to shame diplomacy and what remains of international law. Arguably, it is the profession's lowest point since 1939.
Being an eternal optimist, I hoped that the events of 7 October 2023 Hamas's attack on southern Israel and breaking of the Israeli siege of Gaza might precipitate a reappraisal of Israeli strategy towards the Palestinians. I hoped Israeli leaders would come to realise the futility of protecting their country by building walls, however impregnable. Instead, the attack did the opposite.
Egypt and Qatar are working to convince Hamas to accept Donald Trump's ultimatum to end the war in Gaza, Egypt's foreign minister has said, as Trump gave a Sunday deadline to reply. Badr Abdelatty said the time had come for Hamas to disarm, and that Israel should be given no excuse to continue its offensive in Gaza, where it killed another 28 Palestinians on Friday.
Even for a man prone to hyperbole, President Donald Trump soared into the stratosphere this week by heralding the announcement of his new peace plan for the Middle East as "potentially one of the great days ever in civilization." The twenty-point plan is ambitiously, if vaguely, designed to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza; bring home all the hostages, both dead and alive; create a committee to govern the territory; demilitarize Hamas; and eventually eliminate "any danger posed in the region."
Netanyahu delivered his speech to a sparse audience because many delegates left the General Assembly hall in protest as he made his way towards the stage. The Israeli leader insisted that, despite the growing international pressure and condemnation of genocide, Israel must finish the job against Hamas in Gaza. Western leaders may have buckled under the pressure, he said. And I guarantee you one thing: Israel won't.
France has recognised a Palestinian state, joining several Western countries in doing so, ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York. France today recognises a State of Palestine, Macron told the UN summit as the Palestinian delegation led an ovation, saying he was supporting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people. list of 2 itemsend of list The Palestinian Authority on hailed the French move as a historic and courageous decision.
The conservative German chancellor insisted that Germany stood "firmly" with Israel but described its military response in Gaza as "disproportionate". "Criticism of the Israeli government must be possible, but we must never allow it to be used to incite hatred against Jews," he said, adding that he and Sanchez agreed on this point. But unlike Sanchez, Merz avoided calling the Israeli offensive in Gaza a "genocide" and made clear that Germany currently had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state, as Spain has done.
Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield, whose name helped shape the popular ice cream brand, has quit the company, as its rift with parent Unilever ULVR.L deepened over its stance on the Gaza conflict. In an open letter addressing the Ben & Jerry's community that was shared by his partner Ben Cohen on social media platform X on Wednesday, Greenfield said that the Vermont-based company has lost its independence since Unilever curtailed its social activism.
Sally Rooney, Deborah Levy, Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux and Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen are among 20 authors urging French president Emmanuel Macron to resume a lifeline programme for evacuating Palestinian writers, scholars and artists from Gaza. The Pause programme for writers and artists in emergency situations, as well as a student evacuation programme, were abruptly suspended by the French government at the beginning of August over a Palestinian student's allegedly antisemitic online remarks, a decision that the letter-writing authors said amounted to a collective
US political analyst John Mearsheimer argues that Israel attacked Qatar to preclude any closure to the war on Gaza. In the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Qatar targeting the leadership of Hamas, American political scientist John Mearsheimer argues, The Israelis are interested in making sure there are no negotiations that settle the conflict in Gaza. Mearsheimer tells host Steve Clemons that the United States and Israel basically act as a tag team, and despite a mild rebuke by President Donald Trump, the US supports Israel unconditionally.
A Palestinian sits near the site of Israeli air strikes on houses, at al-Shati refugee camp Photograph: Ebrahim Hajjaj/Reuters Somali students at the Dadaab refugee camp. Humanitarian agencies are warning of the severe impact of global aid reductions on vulnerable populations Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters A mural honouring US conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, after he was shot dead while speaking at Utah Valley university on 10 September 2025 Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA
Layne Smith, left, clears vegetation to prevent flames from spreading to his home as a fire burns through the Chinese Camp community of Tuolumne County. Multiple structures have burned in the historic Gold Rush town after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the dry rural foothills of the eastern Sierra. Chinese Camp, named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures and home to roughly 60 residents. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP
I'd spent a year getting pregnant, then unpregnant. I'd wake in the middle of the night and remember: heartbeat, heartbeat. At times, I felt absurd for my grief. I couldn't ascertain what the metric of a mother was, what goalpost had to be met. Had I met it? Surely grief like this love like this had to be more deeply earned?
But in my opinion, it's not acceptable and we can't last longer if we want to increase our credibility when it comes to other crises, such as the one we face in Ukraine. The roots of these wars are completely different but, at the end of the day, the world is looking at the EU and also at western society and asking: Why are you doing double standards when it comes to Ukraine and when it comes to Gaza?
We call upon the American administration to reverse its decision. This decision will only increase tension and escalation, Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh told The Associated Press in Ramallah on Saturday. We have been in contact since yesterday with Arab and foreign countries, especially those directly concerned with this issue. This effort will continue around the clock, he said.
