Middle East Madness > Jordan proposes exiling Hamas Leaders from Gaza; Hundreds of Gazans protest against Hamas; 1900 Arrests in Turkey

 

Jordan proposes exiling Hamas leaders from Gaza – media

The fighting between Israel and the Palestinian armed group resumed on March 18

Palestinians inspect the rubbles of the houses in Khan Yunis, Gaza, March 18, 2025. ©  Abed Rahim Khatib / Anadolu / Getty Images

Jordan has proposed the expulsion of 3,000 military and political operatives of Hamas from Gaza, the Middle East Eye reported on Sunday, citing US and Palestinian sources briefed on the matter.

The plan reportedly calls for further disarmament of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, paving the way for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to assume control of the embattled enclave.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed earlier this month, with both sides accusing each other of stalling negotiations that would have led to the implementation of the second phase of the truce.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed airstrikes in Gaza on March 18 and have since reoccupied strategic areas in the central part of the strip. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to annex parts of the Palestinian enclave if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages. 

Lebanon at risk of ‘new war’ – PM

In February, US President Donald Trump proposed resettling the Palestinian population elsewhere and transforming Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East” owned by the United States. Arab states rejected Trump’s idea and instead backed Egypt’s counterproposal of the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing its residents.

Lebanese media reported that Egypt floated the idea of temporarily relocating half a million Palestinians from Gaza to northern Sinai. Cairo has denied that it was discussing any resettlement plans.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military operation in response to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

According to Hamas, which are prolific liars and exaggerators.

During the ceasefire, which took effect on January 19, Hamas released 25 hostages and handed over the remains of eight others in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons, according to AP.

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Is this the beginning of the end of the Gaza war? Have the desperately stupid Gazans finally woken up to the realization that it is Hamas that is killing them and destroying their homes? We can always hope and pray.

Hundreds of Palestinians rally against Hamas in Gaza, demanding end to war with Israel

Middle East

Hundreds of Palestinians protested in northern Gaza on Tuesday, demanding an end to the war with Israel and chanting anti-Hamas slogans, witnesses said. The crowd, mostly men, shouted "Hamas out!" and "Hamas terrorists" in Beit Lahia.

Hundreds of Palestinians shouted anti-Hamas slogans at a protest in northern Gaza on Tuesday calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.

The mostly male demonstrators chanted "Hamas out!" and "Hamas terrorists" in Beit Lahia, where the crowd had gathered a week after the Israeli army resumed its intense bombing of Gaza following nearly two months of a truce.

On the social media network Telegram, at least one appeal to protest had circulated on Tuesday.

"I don't know who organised the protest," said Mohammed, a demonstrator who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals.

"I took part to send a message on behalf of the people: Enough with the war," he said, adding that he had seen "members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothing breaking up the protest".

Majdi, another protester who did not wish to give his full name, said the "people are tired".

"If Hamas leaving power in Gaza is the solution, why doesn't Hamas give up power to protect the people?" he asked.

As of Tuesday evening, Telegram messages from unknown sources were calling on people to reprise the demonstration in various parts of Gaza on Wednesday.

'Step aside' 

Israel regularly calls for Gazans to mobilise against the Islamist movement that has been in power in the territory since 2007.

Levels of discontent towards Hamas in Gaza are difficult to gauge.

The last available survey was conducted in September by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).

It estimated that 35 percent of Palestinians in Gaza said they supported Hamas, and 26 percent said they supported its rival Fatah, the party of Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah's spokesman in Gaza, Monther al-Hayek, called on Hamas Saturday to "step aside from governing" to safeguard the "existence" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip has been devastated by more than 17 months of war between Israel and Hamas, with the humanitarian situation again deteriorating after Israel blocked the passage of aid into the territory on March 2 in an attempt to force the militants to release Israeli hostages.

Since Israel resumed its military operations in Gaza, at least 792 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

The war was sparked by the militant group's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,021 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the (Hamas) health ministry.

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Turkey detains nearly 1,900 people in protests over jailed mayor, rejects international criticism

Turkey said on Thursday it rejected "prejudiced" international statements over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and the nationwide protests triggered by it, as authorities detained nearly 1,900 people taking part in the demonstrations. 

Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rival who leads him in some polls, was jailed pending trial for graft on Sunday. His arrest prompted the largest anti-government protests in a decade and led to mass arrests across the country.

Middle East Madness > "Oct 7th, the Way of Jihad" - Hamas; Egypt open to taking Gazans; Iran celebrates Int'l Women's Day - sends pregnant Christian to prison for 40 years

 

Hamas top dog Mashal: ‘Without October 7, we will not take Palestine back. It is the path of jihad.’

Mar 21, 2025 5:00 pm By Robert Spencer

He means that they’re determined to murder more Israelis, and will do so as soon as they get the chance.

Head Of Hamas Abroad Khaled Mashal: Only Jihad Will Restore Our Rights; A Small Number Of Our Prisoners Were Freed By The Oslo Accords – But This Ceasefire Deal Freed Thousands; Palestinians Will Not Leave Gaza Or The West Bank For An ‘Alternative Homeland’; The Future Will Be Decided On The Battlefield, Not In The Capitals Of The West Or East

MEMRI, March 10, 2025:

Head of Hamas abroad Khaled Mashal rejected Trump’s Gaza relocation plan at an event for released Hamas prisoners in Egypt and uploaded to Hamas’s Telegram channel on March 10, 2025. He said that it is the “path of jihad and resistance” that will take back people’s homeland, restore honor, and liberate the prisoners. Mashal stressed that Palestinian rights will be drawn up on the battlefield, not determined in foreign capital cities. He rejected the notion that Palestinians would find an “alternative” homeland, have a political regime imposed upon them, or surrender their weapons.

Khaled Mashal: “The danger is no longer limited to Gaza and the West Bank – Egypt is in danger, and so are Jordan and Saudi Arabia. After all, some leaders in the region or in the world are thinking about the deportation of the Palestinians to some of these countries. 

Is he saying that Palestinians are a threat to whatever country they are in?

“Without October 6 [1973], Sinai would not have returned [to Egypt], and without October 7 [2023], we will not take Palestine back. It is the path of Jihad and resistance that can take one’s homeland back, restore honor and freedom, and liberate the prisoners. The Oslo Accords brought about the release of a small number of prisoners, but the [ceasefire] deal and the Al-Aqsa Flood have brought back thousands of our people’s prisoners, with the help of Allah.

“The world, in its big capitals, respects only the strong, so we want our nation’s leaders to be strong.

[…]

“Therefore, I would like to make it clear that Gaza will only belong to its people. No one will leave Gaza or the West Bank to an ‘alternative’ homeland.

[…]

“The people of Palestine will only be governed by themselves. No political regime will be imposed upon the people of Palestine. The weapons of the people will not be taken from them, so long as they are under occupation. The future will not be drawn up in the capital cities of the West or East. The [people’s] rights will be drawn up on the battlefield. These rights will not be restored in the Security Council, but in the recruitment office. Two thousand verbal shells are not worth one made of steel.”

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Egypt Now Willing to Take in Half a Million Gazans

Mar 22, 2025 4:00 pm By Hugh Fitzgerald

While both Egypt and Jordan initially rejected President Trump’s plan for Gaza, according to which both countries would take in more than two million residents of Gaza who would leave the Strip while its reconstruction was going on, it seems that Egypt is now willing to take in half a million Gazans “temporarily.” More on this offer, and why it was made, can be found here:

Egypt willing to temporarily absorb half a million evacuated Gazans – Lebanese report

Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2025:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that his country was ready to temporarily host half a million Gazans who would be evacuated from the Gaza Strip, according to a Friday report by Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

According to the report, the Gazans would be allocated a city in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.

Does this mean these Gazans would be housed in a city that is already in existence, or would a new city be built to accommodate them? Would new housing be built for them, or would a brand-new city be constructed for them in northern Sinai, as Egypt has managed to do in building New Cairo in the Western Desert?

The comment reportedly came during a conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the situation in the Middle East, in which the Egyptian leader was present, among other attendees.

According to the report, the temporary relocation offer has raised concerns with Jordan, which has previously taken a strong stance against such a move….

This offer by Egypt raises many questions. For Jordan, it is alarming, because it increases pressure on it to do the same, and to admit large numbers of Gazans whose increased presence would make the Palestinians, already more than 60% of Jordan’s population, rise to 70-75% of the total. This could threaten the rule of the Hashemite King Abdullah, who remembers how his father King Hussein had been challenged by Palestinians before, by the terrorists of Black September who tried to overthrow him in 1970.

It is also not clear what this offer means by “temporary” resettlement. Would it last the entire time that the reconstruction of Gaza is going on, or would the Gazans be expected to go back before then? Trump’s plan mentions a period of five years during which the Gazans would be expected to remain outside the Strip. For what period does El Sisi plan to house those half-million Gazans?

Was the offer made in good faith, or merely as a way for Egypt to curry favor with President Trump, with El-Sisi expecting no more than a handful of Gazans — certainly not half-a-million — to take up his offer?

Did the Trump administration put pressure on El-Sisi to make the offer, by threatening to cut off all aid to Egypt? Has it done the same with Jordan, or does it recognize that King Abdullah is in a different situation from El-Sisi, and worries about a still larger Palestinian population overwhelming the Jordanians in his kingdom?

Who would pay for the new housing in the northern Sinai? One assumes that the rich oil states of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, would be called on, rather than the United States. Trump has no interest in committing tens of billions of dollars to such a project. Has such a commitment from those states to provide necessary funds to Egypt been received?

Many questions remain. But it’s a sign that Trump’s plan for Gaza, though widely ridiculed when first proposed, is having a salutary effect.

Islamic Republic of Iran sentences three converts to Christianity, including pregnant woman, to years in prison

Mar 19, 2025 9:00 am By Robert Spencer

Shi’ite Islam, like Sunni Islam, prescribes the death penalty for apostasy:

Shaykh al-Kulayni narrates a sahíh (correct) hadith from `Ammãr as-Sãbãti who said: I heard (Imam) Abu `Abdullãh (as-Sãdiq) (a.s.) saying, “A Muslim from among the Muslims who renounces Islam and rejects the prophethood of Muhammad and considers him untrue, then verily his blood is lawful (mubãh) for anyone who hears that from him, his wife is to be separated from him the day he became murtad [apostate], his wealth will be divided among his heirs, and his wife will observe the `idda of a widow (i.e., four months). The Imam is obliged to kill him, and not ask him to seek forgiveness.” (Furu al-Kãfi, vol. 7, p. 257)

The Islamic Republic of Iran might not carry out this sentence in the absence of the Imam, but they’re not likely to be lenient and kind to the converts, either.

Three Christians including pregnant woman sentenced to over 40 years in prison

Article 18, March 10, 2025:

Three Christian converts including a woman pregnant with her first child have been sentenced to over 40 years in prison on charges related to their religious beliefs and worship meetings.

Abbas Soori, Mehran Shamloui and Narges Nasri, who is approximately halfway through her pregnancy, were sentenced by notorious Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari on 8 March – International Women’s Day.

Narges, who is 37 years old, received the stiffest sentence – 10 years for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law”, five for membership of an “opposition group” (house-church) and an additional one year for “propaganda against the state” – for having posted on social media in support of the Women, Life, Freedom movement.

Abbas, 48, received a total of 15 years in prison – 10 years for “propaganda activities” and five for membership of an “opposition group” – while Mehran, 37, received an eight-year sentence for the first charge and two years and eight months for the second.

All three were also sentenced to years of deprivation of social rights, such as to health, employment or education – 15 years each for Narges and Abbas, and 11 years for Mehran – while Narges and Abbas were fined 330 million tomans ($3,500) each, and Mehran 250 million ($2,750). Narges and Abbas were also banned from membership of any group, residing in their home province of Tehran or leaving Iran for two years after their release.

The three Christians were arrested on 3 November 2024 during concurrent raids by intelligence agents on their homes in Tehran, during which personal belongings including Bibles, crosses and musical instruments were confiscated. (Mehran is a musician, and the equipment the agents confiscated from him was worth around $5,500.)

The Christians were then transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.

They were released on bail equivalent to more than $20,000 each a month later, following a series of lengthy and intensive interrogations.

Their court hearing took place on 15 February at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, where they were officially charged with “membership of opposition groups”, “propaganda against the system” and “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law through foreign relations,” under Articles 499, 500 and 500 bis, respectively….