Oct. 6—Negotiations began today outside of Cairo between Israel and Hamas, mediated by a team from Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to implement the first phase of the 20-point Trump Peace Plan that would see Hamas release all 48 hostages—living and dead—in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israel, including 250 serving life sentences and would end the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza and have Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdraw to agreed upon positions.
Sources say President Donald Trump wants these negotiations to focus on the hostage/prisoner exchange and halt in fighting, so that this can take place in the days ahead. After that the negotiators can deal with the other elements of the plan that might need clarification or even adjustment, including the composition and function of the International Security Force and the composition of a "technocratic" Palestinian government, to whom Hamas would cede control of Gaza. Hamas also want to discuss what is meant by Hamas agreeing to disarm, and to whom it would yield its weapons. While it has agreed to cede its control over Gaza, it has not agreed to fully disarm.
Hamas also wants to make sure that it is agreed that Palestinians will have the final say over the development of Gaza, and has asked for what the function is of the Board of Peace, that would be chaired by Trump, and who would determine its membership; most Arab and Muslim nations in the region reject the Board membership of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the only person other than Trump that the Plan names, whose lies about Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" led to the invasion of the region by the United States, unleashing a cycle of endless wars, that continue today, and which the Trump Plan says it wants to stop.
Netanyahu’s History of Sabotage and Trump’s Leverage
Sources close to the negotiations and to the White House say that they can proceed rapidly on the first phase if Hamas is serious about its commitment to release the hostage. They say that Hamas has for some time expressed its willingness to go for a total release in exchange for and an end to the war, and the withdrawal of the IDF, but that Israel, meaning Bibi, had rebuffed such offers in favor of partial deal, which Netanyahu would sabotage. These sources say such a deal was in discussion when Bibi abruptly ended in March the three-phase hostage and ceasefire deal Witkoff and Trump had rammed through in January, at the end of the Biden Administration.
Hamas, the sources say, will not agree to anything unless it has assurances from Trump that he will make Bibi adhere to agreed upon terms; the sources confirm that this assurance has already be communicated to them, and demonstrated in fact, by Trump's humiliation of Netanyahu by forcing him to make a public apology to the Prime Minister of Qatar al Thani for Israel's attempt to wipe out the Hamas leadership and negotiators in Doha on Sept. 9. One of those targeted against the wishes of the United States and the other mediators, and without any notice to the United States was Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas' chief negotiator and the political leader of Hamas in Gaza; he survived the attack which killed his son, his chief of staff and a security guard.
Hostage Logistics, Disarmament Debate, and Moral Reckoning
Sources in the region report that Hamas has been able to locate the 20 living hostages, would be able to deliver them within the 72 hour time frame from start of the Plan, once its terms are agreed upon, provided the conditions on the ground make that possible—which means an immediate halt to all Israeli bombardment and other attacks; they will have trouble delivering the dead remains of the other hostages, as Hamas says that many are buried under rubble caused by Israeli bombardment. While Hamas is known to have executed at least 6 hostages when the place they were being held came under attack last June, it has said that Israeli bombardment had caused the deaths of many more, something which Netanyahu denies vehemently.
While Hamas has said it is willing to proceed with the first phase implementation of the Plan, while other issues remain under discussion, sources report that Bibi might try to scuttle everything be demanding that Hamas first agree that it will disarm. Sources report that Hamas has said that is willing to turn over its heavy weapons and munitions, such as rockets, drones, mines, grenades, mortars and RPG launchers, any artillery and related munitions, it is not prepared to lose its small arms, which could include pistols, rifles and automatic weapons and assault rifles. It says that it does not believe that its younger recruits would comply with this.
Sources close to the White House say Trump might not have trouble with this, as there are many armed gangs and civilians in Gaza, and that is going to be an issue that the ISF and ultimately the new Palestinian government will have to deal with. "If Bibi objects, then it is up to the President to make him agree," said a source close to the White House. "The idea is reduce Hamas so as it is no threat to Israel. The IDF says that this is already the case."
The Responsibility for Oct. 7
A source with decades of experience in the regional diplomacy offered some advice both to President Trump and the people of Israel how to make sure the peace deal goes through, as we approach the 2-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre attack on Israel, that Netanyahu used as an excuse to launch a war of extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.
"This will require some deep thinking about what has transpired," said the source. "First, it should be stated, that we know that not all the Hamas leadership supported the idea of the attack. It was the brainchild of Bibi's co-evil twin, the late leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who fully knew that this would unleash the monster Netanyahu on a rampage of slaughter that would kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, including women and children. He would do so, he had told a reporter, because it would expose the Jewish state for the genocidal monster that it is, expose it to the world and boost the Palestinian cause. He told the shocked reporter that he did not care if doing this cost a million or more Palestinian martyrs.
"Sinwar has achieved his effect, thanks to Bibi," said the source, "and if the war continues and expands to the West Bank, he may yet achieve his one million or more Palestinian martyrs. While not all of Hamas leaders supported this strategy, which also imagined that Hamas could militarily 'defeat' Israel, they did not stop him; so they share in the disgrace and dishonor of Sinwar's strategy. Given that, which should be explained, it is perfectly justifiable to demand that Hamas have nothing to do with the new Gaza and its government. For all their current talk of the 'right of self-determination,' did anyone from Hamas ever ask the Gazans, who they nominally governed—controlled might be a better choice of words—if they agreed to be martyred? Were the parents asked if it was okay that their kids should all die? The Trump Plan fairly deals with Hamas—be gone, you have lost the moral fitness to survive as an organization.
The Need for a State Commission of Inquiry
"Now, for Israel," the source continued. "Netanyahu is a monster who appeals to what is most vile within us. After Oct. 7, this failed, massively corrupt politician and bully, (a man who successfully organized the rage needed to assassinate a courageous Israeli, the late former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who tried to make peace with the just Palestinian cause) this murderer Bibi Netanyahu demanded the extermination of Hamas for what was done on Oct. 7. He then expanded it to all Gazans, because, he said, there are no innocents there, only enablers and supporters.
"But this vile murderer has never been held accountable for what is truly his crime—allowing Oct. 7 to happen on his watch. The intelligence services failed, as they had the plans for the attack a year in advance and dismissed them; the police failed, as regardless of when they received the warning, they stupidly set up all those young people to die or be taken hostage when they allowed the Nova Party Festival to take place a stone's throw from the Gaza border, without demanding army protection; the IDF failed because of bungling the intelligence and making wrong deployment decisions, that left the area of the attack defenseless, and then, while they can launch attacks to assassinate terrorist targets in minutes of receiving information, they somehow took hours to get air cover and army units into the area, allowing the attackers to flee. In one way or another, many of these people have already taken responsibility for what they did and did not do and resigned."
Did Bibi Let Oct. 7 Happen?
"But the man in charge of everything, the Prime Minister, he has accepted no responsibility," said the source. "He should have resigned the next day, but he still rules. Not only that, but he has also fought and blocked the formation of an official State Commission of Inquiry, which should have been established days after Oct. 7. Why? because such a commission would ultimately lay responsibility for what happened and the disaster that has befallen Israel since right at his large feet.
"You can demand his resignation, as many people have, but Bibi won't go," said the source. "What needs to be demanded is State commission of inquiry, to get to the bottom of what happened. And as it must, if it shows malfeasance on the part of Netanyahu, he must resign. I believe it could show much more. Sources in Israel tell me that Netanyahu was told and did know enough to have ordered deployments that could have thwarted the attack but did not. Could it be that Bibi wanted the attack to occur, so he could do what he has done to Gaza, while living in an emergency that kept in office and out of the court dock? It needs to be investigated."
Netanyahu Can't Stop Trump
"What is also required to make the deal work and keep Netanyahu from sabotaging it," said the source, "is a continued escalation of the mass demonstrations in Israel, which this weekend saw some of the largest ever held. Those demos all carried banners with messages asking Trump to make the deal happen and bring the hostages home. That message has reached Trump. It gives him the authority to speak on behalf of the people of Israel in making Bibi toe the line."
Haaretz sage analyst Amos Harel observed today that there has been a change in Trump, and that Bibi has been forced to respond. Trump has shifted "into high gear" and "is completely focused" on making the deal happen. Netanyahu, Harel remarks, has concluded "that he cannot stop him." This has forced the people around Bibi to try to lay claim for what is clearly Trump's success, and say that it was really Netanyahu's who made it happen:
"A big effort is being invested in formulating a new line of public diplomacy to pitch to Netanyahu's voters: It turns out that this is actually a tremendous diplomatic achievement, made possible only thanks to the prime minister's stubbornness. Some of those who are making this argument explained to us just two days ago why it's wrong to sign any agreement with Hamas' leaders, the new Nazis. Maybe an expert should be consulted, but the feeling is that this is what the newspapers of the Communist parties in the Eastern Bloc countries looked like on the eve of the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989."
More, Bigger Demos to Appeal to Trump
He further observes that "the president is very much influenced by the huge Israeli demonstrations supporting a deal. And on Sunday, he posted photos of them on his social media accounts. He's now leveraging public pressure in Israel to promote a deal, as many had hoped he would do in January...
"The bottom line is clear. After months of evasion, Netanyahu gave in to Trump's pressure: a full cease-fire will be declared and the captives will be released (in exchange for freeing about 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 convicted murderers) without Hamas actually having to disarm and without Netanyahu living up to his promise to completely wipe out the organization as part of Israel's total victory."
Writing in Haaretz daily newsletter today, Washington correspondent Ben Samuels observes that same thing: "Should anyone doubt that the message has landed with Trump, one only needs to read back his comments alongside Netanyahu at the White House. "I noticed that they have large crowds gathering in Israel all the time, and they have my name up. They like me. For whatever reason, maybe, I don't know, but they do like me. But they say two things, please get the hostages back and please end the war. They've had it. They've had it," he said. Putting a fine point on the matter, Trump shared a photo of such a demonstration days later once he "secured" acceptance for the deal.
"A lot can still go wrong in the coming days, with all parties involved demonstrating an unparalleled ability to play spoiler whenever this horrid war finally seems to be at its end. If people really want to make sure Trump's deal is secured, the most important act to be taken in the coming hours and days will likely be directly related to playing to his ego."
Meanwhile, over at the mass demo of more than 100,000 people in Hostage Square Oct. 5, the people understood what they were doing, and who they were trying to reach, "There's no point in talking to Netanyahu. He will never get it. But the White House is listening,"
Sources say that Hamas may also understand this principle. They report that Hamas will offer to turn the hostages over to Trump or his representative Witkoff directly and they and the Red Cross can bring them to Israel and Netanyahu.
"That would be simply delicious," said one source.
Oct. 5—Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Presidential son-in-law, has arrived in Cairo for talks that will implement the first phase of President Donald Trump's plan to end Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and gain the release of all 48 hostages, living and dead, held by Hamas.
He will join delegations of mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as negotiators from Hamas who have arrived from Doha, and from Israel led by Netanyahu's right-hand man, Security Minister Ron Dermer, for talks that Trump wants to quickly resolve the technical issues involved in the release of the hostages by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. This will include a total ceasefire and an end to military operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their withdrawal to positions held in August, as indicated by a yellow line on maps that have already been provided to Hamas by Israel.
Next Steps: Withdrawal, Disarmament, and Governance
The negotiations are then to proceed to clarify other terms and timetables in the plan, and will tackle the issue of phased withdrawal from Gaza of the IDF to positions near the Israeli border, the disarmament of Hamas and the offer of amnesty to its members, who could choose to stay disarmed in Gaza or go into exile; the creation of an International Security Force (ISF), from Arab nations that would keep the peace in Gaza; and the creation of a provisional government of Palestinians, who would rule in Gaza until such time that the Palestinian Authority, which rules in the other Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is deemed ready to take over in Gaza.
Clarifications Demanded
None of the above points in the plan have been offered with any but vague detail, and Hamas has said they want them clarified and negotiated. Trump has said that he wants these issues resolved quickly and he does not want any delay in the release of the hostages and prisoners.
Sources close to the White House as well as others in the region close to the negotiations say that, while the plan is to be considered in its entirety, the hostage/prisoner exchange could take place once its terms are worked out and the IDF and Hamas cease all attacks, and the IDF withdraws to the yellow line, and is not contingent on resolving all the issues.
Assurances and Humanitarian Demands
"That said," a source with regional connections reported, "Hamas wants an assurance that Israel will not restart the war once it has the hostages. That assurance has already been communicated from Trump to Hamas, prior to the talks. Hamas has also asked that the immediate free flow of humanitarian supplies and the UN and Red Crescent agencies to distribute them be linked to this first phase of the deal. Trump has agreed to this, but Israel has not yet agreed. Again, Trump has communicated to Hamas that he will make sure this happens."
Trump said in an interview with CNN this morning that he believes Hamas is committed to the peace deal and wants peace, but we will see very shortly if this is true, referring to the talks which will begin tomorrow.
Concerns Over Netanyahu’s Compliance
While Trump publicly expresses worry about Hamas complying with the deal, White House sources remain worried about whether Netanyahu, the Butcher of Gaza, will comply. These sources report that Israel continues to bombard Gaza from the air and with drones, and has killed nearly 150 people, mostly innocent civilians and many women and children, since Trump announced that he had demanded Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza on Oct. 3.
Sources report that he had chosen the word "bombardment" precisely, because he had already received assurances from IDF and its chief, Lt. General Eyal Zamir, an outspoken advocate of a peace deal in Gaza, that the IDF would halt its drive to Gaza City and standoff, and that its commanders were told to only authorize the use of force in defense. However, the Israeli Air Force is headed by people who are close to Bibi, so what Trump was saying was, "Bibi cut the shit out. No more air attacks," sources report.
That this has not happened, sources report, has prompted Trump to make "the appropriate" call into Israel. "Trump is fully aware that Bibi does not like this deal, and that he is being forced by Trump to swallow it," said the source. "Bibi is on a short leash here, especially after Trump praised the Israelis in a post yesterday for halting military operations in Gaza."
Trump’s Pressure and Regional Diplomacy
The President implied as much in an interview yesterday with Israel's TV channel 12, which is pro-Bibi in general. He reported that after he had, to Netanyahu's surprise, accepted the Hamas offer Oct. 3, and there was no immediate response from Bibi, he decided to call him. He told channel 12 that Netanyahu had no choice but to follow his lead and accept the deal in progress.
“Netanyahu had reservations, but I told him that this is his opportunity for victory,” Trump told reporter Barak Ravid in a phone call Oct. 4. “He accepted it. There is no other choice, with me you have to be okay.”
“Bibi went too far in Gaza and Israel lost a lot of support in the world,” Trump added. “Now I will bring back all that support.”
This morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Israel against continuing its military operations in Gaza, stating that Trump had ordered they halt and they had better listen to the President. Rubio, doing the rounds of Sunday morning TV interview shows, said on ABC's This Week, "But ultimately, you cannot have an exchange and if there's active combat ongoing, you just can't do it. I mean, for the safety of the hostages and for the Red Cross or whoever it is that's going to go in there and be a part of this exchange. You have to set the conditions. The Israelis have said that they would only deal with imminent threats..."
Turkey and Qatar’s Role in Securing Hamas Agreement
There are some new players in this round of talks, most notably Turkey. The Turks and their President Tayyip Erdogan, sources report, played a critical role in getting Hamas to accept the Trump plan. Hamas was told that if they rejected the plan, Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world would hold them personally responsible for the slaughter that ensues. They would be the Butcher of Gaza's accomplices, Hamas was told, and they would be treated accordingly: You can't fight for the freedom of dead people that you are dooming to be murdered.
In an interview with Axios yesterday, Trump repeated the same points he had made about his discussion with Bibi, but added praise for the role of Turkey in securing the deal. Erdoğan was “very helpful” in pressing Hamas to agree to release hostages.
“Erdoğan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great,” Trump said.
But sources say that it was Qatar, in close coordination with Steve Witkoff, who was most crucial in bringing about Hamas agreement. A source close to the White House reported that the Qataris had changed Hamas thinking about the hostages. Hamas leaders had long viewed the hostages as their key bargaining chip and something they could use to bring about a deal more favorable to them. The Qatari mediators told Hamas that the opposite was now true. The hostages were the only thing really that gave Israel and Bibi the justification for continuing the war. The situation had flipped—if you release the hostages, then you will bring the war to an end. Netanyahu cannot justify continuing it, especially if you agree to cede authority over Gaza.
"And that is precisely what the Trump plan offers you," said a White House source on how Qatar and its Prime Minister al Thani reasoned with Hamas. "It offers you a deal guaranteed by the only man who can bring the hammer to Netanyahu, Donald Trump, whom Bibi needs, that trades the hostages and your control over Gaza for peace. They now accept this idea. Almost a miracle."
Public Sentiment and the Road Ahead
The sage analyst Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz yesterday, "Ironically, there are now similarities in the circumstances of both Israel and Hamas. Public opinion among Israelis and among Palestinians in Gaza appears to have widespread support for a deal that would end the bloodshed, at least temporarily. But both in Israel and Gaza, leadership is wary of a deal that could hurt domestic standing and would require it to be accountable for its actions. And it's here that a force of nature called Donald Trump comes into action. After the events of the last week, it's quite clear that the president wants to end the war – details be damned."
There is a long way to go before Trump's vision for peace in Gaza and the region is realized. It will require a broader development initiative than a mere development of Gaza. But that is necessary to make a Palestinian state economically viable, which it is not today—something that appears to be lost on even its most vocal advocates. But, with the talks beginning tomorrow outside Cairo, there is now more than just hope for success, as Trump stated in a post on Truth Social last night announcing the IDF first phase withdrawal line: "After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, STAY TUNED!"
Oct. 4—President Donald Trump, working closely with his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his Arab allies and mediators, yesterday outflanked the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and got the first phase of his 20-point Peace Plan to end Bibi's slaughter in Gaza and release the 48 hostages held by Hamas—living and dead—in motion.
In a rapid-fire series of events yesterday afternoon, Hamas signaled its willingness to work within the framework of the plan and, as quickly as possible, release all 48 hostages once conditions on the ground allowed that. In a statement released by its leadership in Doha, Hamas also said it would agree to turn over control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians, and would seek clarification on other points, including its disarmament, while requiring clear assurances of full withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from Gaza. In so doing, it also acknowledged the efforts of Trump to secure peace and would engage in serious negotiations on this immediately. It made no such reference to the Netanyahu government, which Trump had successfully forced to agree to the plan earlier in the week, pending Hamas' approval.
Trump Responds, Calls for Immediate Ceasefire
Within minutes of receiving this reply, Trump expressed his support for Hamas' acceptance of the principles of the plan, stating that the organization clearly wants "PEACE" in a post on social media. In that statement, referencing the first point of his plan which calls for the cessation of all hostilities, Trump said that the Israelis must "immediately" cease their bombardment of Gaza to allow for the release of the hostages and the release by the Israelis of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Sometime later, word came from the Office of the Prime Minister—but not from Netanyahu—that Israel would begin to take the steps necessary to implement the first phase of the plan, which involved the release of all the hostages. There was no mention of a halt to military activities, with the IDF set to launch its full-bore assault on Gaza City that would slaughter thousands more innocent civilians in Bibi's insane drive to exterminate Hamas in their last stronghold. That news came later from Israeli Army radio, which announced that the army would not move into Gaza City and would stand off; it was not clear if the order to do this came from Netanyahu or from the IDF leadership, which Trump's people have kept briefed on the state of negotiations with Hamas and which leadership is on record—unlike Bibi—calling for a negotiated peace deal rather than continuing a senseless and now totally useless, from a military standpoint, war.
After this, Trump released a video statement recorded earlier with him sitting behind the Resolution Desk in the Oval Office, declaring that this was a "historic day" in which we finally have begun to end the slaughter and terrible conditions in Gaza, profusely thanking his Arab partners and especially the mediators for the hard work they have done to make this possible. He also spoke of the families of hostages, whom he embraces, and who will get their loved ones returned. He expressed hope that the peace plan can be fully realized. One of the last points of that plan is that Palestinians would finally be able to get what they desire in self-determination and aspiration—a Palestinian state, something which Netanyahu has said as recently as last week at the UNGA that he would never allow to happen.
Bibi’s Reluctance and Strategic Calculations
How did we reach this point?
First, it should be stated and known that Bibi Netanyahu does not really support the Trump Peace Plan or any peace plan because he wants the war to continue so that, on all fronts—including the West Bank—he can slaughter as many Palestinians as possible in a genocide worthy of a Hitler, whom his Zionist idol Jabotinsky admired. For Bibi, who sees himself as an unworshipped and misunderstood messiah saving Israel, it is all a matter of math—there are too many Palestinians, both in Israel, in the illegally still occupied territories, but especially in the diaspora. If those latter should come home to a new Palestinian state, they would overwhelm the Jews and extinguish the Jewish state. So, their numbers must be reduced, and war provides the cover for that, even if it means turning the IDF into a version of Hitler's Waffen SS.
So, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to sign on to the Trump plan. Sources have now reported that Netanyahu was told by an angry Trump on Sunday night, the day before the revealing of the 20-point plan, that he would sign or Trump would publicly walk away from him and Israel. When he objected that this would force the collapse of his ruling coalition, he was told he needed to choose—Trump or his lunatic right-wing ministers. He chose Trump, which now meant he had to try to subvert the plan's implementation while watering down some of its terms that might make it unacceptable to Hamas.
Arab Mediators Apply Pressure on Hamas
Meanwhile, with Witkoff involved at a distance, the mediators led by Qatar and Egypt, but also involving the UAE and Turkey, hammered Hamas, stating that this deal—first proposed in discussions with most Arab and Muslim nations at a meeting with Trump, Witkoff, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner on the UNGA sidelines—was the best that they were going to get, and that if they rejected it, Bibi could blame them for the slaughter he still intended to inflict on the innocent Palestinians whom Hamas claimed to represent. Hamas, sources told them, could not accept all the terms, as this would be surrender and lead to rebellion in its military wing in Gaza, which is highly decentralized and hardly in their control, containing many wild teenage recruits, many of whom joined so they could be fed and paid, unlike the rest of the starving Gazans.
The mediators were also told by Hamas that, while they might believe Trump wanted peace, there was no evidence that he would stand up to Bibi. Communicated to Trump directly, this led to Trump humiliating Bibi by forcing him to publicly apologize to the Qatari Prime Minister Al-Thani for the Sept. 9 attack on Hamas negotiators and leaders in Doha and say that this would never happen again, with Trump releasing the transcript of the call. Al Thani, who was one of the key mediators, immediately transmitted what happened—which was unprecedented in Israeli-American relations—to Hamas, which served as proof that he would make Bibi adhere to any terms of the deal.
Sources report that it became clear that Hamas was willing to agree to some terms of the plan but would require clarification and, in some cases such as disarming, negotiation—a "yes, but..." acceptance. Here, with Witkoff's help, they were instructed on how to phrase this so as to make it acceptable to Trump and difficult for Bibi to call for rejection: lead with the acceptance and willingness to release all the hostages, and link it only to a cessation of hostilities and a commitment to an IDF withdrawal according to a timetable; also accept the turning over of control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians and a willingness to discuss disarming; and immediate opening of Gaza to a massive flow of humanitarian aid to be distributed by the UN and Red Crescent. And, of course, some shoutout to Trump for working for peace.
Bibi’s Media Offensive and Miscalculation
Meanwhile, Bibi was preparing through Zionist media outlets and spokesmen to launch an offensive against the unworkability of the plan, with the idea that a Hamas "yes, but..." was really a rejection, which would lead to Trump's stated approval for the IDF to go ahead with the Gaza City invasion. Trump got wind of what was in the works from several sources on Capitol Hill, which was otherwise preoccupied with the federal government shutdown. That was communicated by Witkoff to the mediators, who urged Hamas not to wait for the weekend to reply to Trump within his four days allowed for their reply, but to reply immediately—which they did.
Trump, who knew basically what was going to be said, was prepared to accept the response almost as it was received. Netanyahu, reading the Hamas statement, was pleased because he took it as a rejection and was shocked that Trump responded positively. Now, he was trapped. With Trump accepting a proposal to immediately release all the hostages, Netanyahu could hardly reject it, lest he be forced into exile by angry mobs of Israelis who were already close to demanding that. So, he fumbled about to make his nonresponse without direct attribution to him.
Media Amplification and Hostage Doubts
Meanwhile, Bibi's media campaign was led by the war party's flagship paper, the Wall Street Journal—dubbed the Urinal for being used for leaks in Zionist and NATO interests—and amplified by reportage in the fake conservative flagships of Sir Rupert Murdoch's media empire, the New York Post and Fox News. They reported that despite the approval in Doha of the Trump plan, the military wing in Gaza was not for it, even though its leader expressed a willingness to compromise. The Urinal claimed to have spoken to other Hamas leaders and some unnamed mediators who said that some of the Hamas in Gaza were against releasing the hostages because once that happened the IDF would move to wipe them out.
While there is no doubt chaos in Hamas in Gaza, given its decentralized and guerrilla-type operations, the Hamas statement reflects discussion with those leaders, who are aware of another factor. An unexpected source has contributed positively to this peace process: when Hamas communicated with its Iranian patrons, they were asked if Iran would continue to supply them with weapons, munitions, and money. They were reportedly told that this would now be almost impossible and that they could no longer count on Iran's support. This would mean, if Iranian resupply were eliminated or greatly reduced, the ability of Hamas to keep fighting was limited—making the peace plan more attractive.
There is still criticism, if somewhat muted, coming from the usual (Zionist) suspects. The feeble-brained Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in a posting on X, called the Hamas reply "unfortunately predictable. A classic 'Yes, but... No disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control, and tying the hostage release to negotiations, along with other problems," Graham wrote. "This is in essence a rejection by Hamas of President Trump's take-it-or-leave-it proposal."
Unexpected Support from Biden’s Ambassador
Meanwhile, in its coverage trying to disparage what was happening, CNN summoned the Biden Administration's Israeli ambassador, Tom Lew, to comment on the Trump Plan. But he surprised idiot Jack Tapper by stating that he gives Trump "all the credit in the world if he can pull this off. All the credit. This damn war has got to be stopped. If Trump can do that, I give him the credit. It is a great thing."
Tapper was shocked and asked, "You don't really believe he can make this work, do you?" Lew replied, "Yes, I do. We tried to do this, but Bibi Netanyahu did not need Joe Biden. He needs Trump..." And while Tapper continued to speak of the difficulties, Lew simply said, "I want the war to stop, now. We tried to stop and couldn't. I want Trump to succeed..."
"That I think is what most sane people think," said a source close to the White House, who reported that Trump's people have been in touch with the experienced diplomat and Biden CIA Director William Burns, who tried to negotiate a peace deal with Bibi and Hamas, and who previously had negotiated the Iran nuclear deal working for then Secretary of State John Kerry.
"You know what it's like," said the source. "It is like pushing a rock up a big hill, with a lot of effort. Then, once you get to the top, the way down is easier and picks up speed. I think we are at that point now. We need to build momentum for peace, not just in Gaza, but peace everywhere in the region. Peace and economic development. That's what Trump wants."
Blair’s Exclusion and Council of Peace
Witkoff is expected to head for the region this weekend and may be accompanied by Kushner. But Kushner's new friend, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will be nowhere around.
Hamas and nearly every Arab and Muslim state in the region does not want Blair anywhere near what is going on, as he has been the architect of the British policy of war and destabilization since he used fake intelligence to launch the war against Iraq in 2003. Trump had mentioned Blair in the 20-point plan as the only named member of the "Board of Peace," which will oversee the implementation of the Plan and which Trump will chair.
"We can give them Blair," the source laughed. "Trump set that up, as he does not like or trust him. He's gone."
Oct. 3—A source close to the White House said that the unattributed reports in the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. was shifting strategy to aid Ukraine in attacking deep into Russia was "total NATO propaganda bullshit" coming from the flagship paper of the neo-con "war party" propaganda machine.
"No serious person with knowledge of the current strategic situation should ever believe anything that the Wall Street Journal says on any subject," said the source. "There has been no change on the part of President [Donald] Trump on giving any support for Ukraine's attack deep into Russia or providing new weapons systems such as Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike Moscow. [NATO's Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has asked Trump for this last week when they met at the UN, and he was told that it was not going to happen. Zelenskyy told Trump that such action was required to bring [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the negotiating table. Trump expressed frustration that Zelenskyy had not yet met with Putin but also told Zelenskyy that 'he had heard' that the reason there is no meeting is that the Ukrainian would not agree to any agenda and that he needed to correct that immediately."
This and other sources say that the WSJ report came from sources inside the military and defense establishment who cling to the neo-con agenda to bring the United States into direct conflict with Russia, including a military confrontation that could rapidly become nuclear.
Neo-Con Advocacy and Trump’s Rejection
The need for this policy shift was strongly argued by neo-con godfather Robert Kagan in the most recent issue of The Atlantic, where he urged the U.S. to back decisive military action, including using its own capabilities to create an on-the-ground situation where Ukraine could defeat Russia. Kagan, whose wife is the Queen of the Ukraine, former State Department official Victoria Nuland, who engineered the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine, argued for the use of advanced weapon systems to strike deep into Russia, hitting infrastructure and oil refineries, while also blowing up the Kerch Strait Bridge, which would wipe out the line of supply and retreat for Russian forces, trapping them in Ukraine. Kagan, like the fool that he is, admits that this might provoke a response from Russia that would attack NATO forces outside Ukraine, and even a nuclear response, but claims a weakened Putin would not risk this.
"Trump has rejected this advice," said the source. "Instead, he is in conflict with the NATO establishment that wants to prolong and intensify its proxy war versus Russia to involve NATO and American assets. He intends to end this war through diplomacy, and he awaits the release of a new peace plan from Putin. He is frustrated by the slow pace of things but is not such a fool to think that intensifying hostilities will bring the war to a close."
Strategic Shift: U.S. Pullback from Europe
"There has been a change in strategy," the source said. "And it is about more than Ukraine. The neo-cons are freaked out because the President intends to pull U.S. assets out of Europe, and force European NATO to accept the responsibility for its own defense. The U.S. intends to place more of a focus on the Western Hemisphere. He has said the war in Ukraine is NATO's war, not ours. You want to supply Ukraine, then you can buy weapons from U.S., but we are done supporting your war with our money, and you can forget about U.S. troops. That was the meaning of his social media post last week. You can win the war with sanctions and other non-military policy, but Europe is not going to do this. Look at the bullshit that came from the recent EU ministers meeting on sanctions: we need to look at them, look at trying to stop people buying Russian energy, but as usual, they huff and puff and do nothing."
So, the WSJ tried to flip things, implying that the U.S. will now act more aggressively, using military means through the Ukrainians against Russia, the source stated.
WSJ Claims and Internal Contradictions
According to the report posted Oct. 1 in the WSJ, the U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, unnamed American officials said, as the Trump administration weighs sending Ukraine powerful weapons that could put in range more targets within Russia.
The Journal claims Trump recently signed off on allowing intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to aid the Kyiv regime with the strikes. U.S. officials are asking NATO allies to provide similar support, the officials said. The expanded intelligence-sharing with Kyiv is said to be the latest sign that Trump is deepening support for Ukraine as his efforts to advance peace talks have stalled. It is the first time, officials say, that the administration will aid Ukrainian strikes with long-range missiles against energy targets deep inside Russian territory.
The WSJ says further that the U.S. is also weighing deliveries of Tomahawk and Barracuda missiles and other American-made ground- and air-launched missiles that have ranges of around 700 miles, other administration officials said. No decision on what to send—if anything—has been made, the officials said.
In the view of these officials, the intelligence, combined with more powerful weapons, could have a far more potent effect than Ukraine’s previous strikes in Russia, causing greater damage to its energy infrastructure and tying up Russian air defenses.
Then, to provide them with a fig leaf to cover their lies, the Journal writes that U.S. officials are "awaiting written guidance from the White House before sharing the necessary intelligence, one official said." So, in other words, totally contradicting all they have written, nothing has been decided or given.
Russian Intelligence Warnings and False Flag Concerns
The source close to the White House stated that the Russians know what Trump is dealing with and will not be provoked by such non-sourced reports. Despite what Trump posted about the possibilities of Ukraine "winning" and regaining its territory, American intelligence reports say that Ukraine is losing everywhere along the battlefront, and is retreating, which only makes NATO more desperate. This is why the Russians are putting out warnings about more likely "false flag" operations against NATO countries, run by Ukraine and blamed on the Russians to try to justify and trigger more NATO direct involvement against Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, issued a warning Sept. 30 that the Kiev regime is preparing a false flag provocation to be used to bring NATO directly into war with Russia. The SVR said in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 30 that the drone incursions into the EU were part of continued efforts by Ukraine, which is losing on the battlefield, aimed at “drawing European NATO countries into armed conflict with Moscow,” reported RT.
“Another provocation is currently being worked out” by Zelenskyy, the SVR statement read. It would revolve around “a sabotage and reconnaissance group deployed into Polish territory and allegedly consisting of special forces servicemen from Russia and Belarus,” it added. Members of the unit have already been selected from the ranks of the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, which have been fighting for Kiev in the Ukraine conflict, the agency said.
According to the scenario being prepared by Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) together with Polish spy agencies, after “the ‘detection and neutralization’ of the group by the security forces of Poland, its members are expected to appear before the media and give confessions, implicating Russia and Belarus in attempts to destabilize the situation in Poland.” The belief in Ukraine is that, following the faked "Russian" drone incursions, “such an event should leave no doubt in the minds of the Poles and other ordinary Europeans that Moscow and Minsk stand behind all the hostile actions,” SVR said. “Kyiv expects to prompt European countries to respond to Russia as harshly as possible, preferably in a military manner,” the SVR warned.
Oct. 2—President Donald Trump forced a clearly angry Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Sept. 29 to apologize to the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani for Israel's Sept. 9 attack on Hamas in Doha, something that Bibi had told the world last week at the UNGA was perfectly within Israel's right.
The apology came in a phone call initiated by Trump, and sources close to the White House report that the President had demanded the public apology from Netanyahu before his release of the 20-point Trump Peace Plan for Gaza.
Trump, these sources say, had a bitter exchange with Netanyahu right after the attack, which had taken place without U.S. approval or warning, in which Trump called Bibi a "crazy man" who was endangering all that Trump had been working to achieve in the region, and would weaken confidence Arab leaders had in him personally. "You are never going to do something like this again," he told Netanyahu, who had stupidly tried to argue that it’s Israel's right to go after Hamas leaders wherever they are. The sources say Trump sternly asked Netanyahu, "Well do you want peace? I am beginning to think not."
Other sources report that the Doha attack had failed to kill the Hamas negotiating team or its leaders because of a warning that "came from somewhere in the Israel" moments before the strike.
Diplomatic Reassurances and Peace Plan Adjustments
Trump had also met with Al Thani for dinner at the Trump Tower in New York to reassure him that this would never happen again and that he regarded Qatar as an important ally for peace and asked him to continue his negotiating efforts with Hamas to seek an accord. He also revealed at that meeting that he would call a meeting with Arab and Muslim nations next week at the UN to go over what he and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had worked out—a 21-point comprehensive peace plan for Gaza.
One of the points in that plan was a statement that Israel would never attack Qatar.
That point was dropped, at the request of Bibi, who said he would never be able to sell that wording to the Kahanist lunatics in his coalition. Sources report that Trump came back with, if you don't want it in the plan, then you will make a public apology to Qatar and Al Thani.
During the call, Netanyahu “expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” an official White House readout said.
The Israeli premier “further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future,” it continued.
During the call, the Qatari premier “welcomed these assurances, emphasizing Qatar’s readiness to continue contributing meaningfully to regional security and stability,” the US readout said, noting that Netanyahu “expressed commitment to the same.”
The readout issued by Netanyahu’s office said he told Al Thani that “Israel has no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future, and I have made that commitment to the president.”
“I want to assure you that Israel was targeting Hamas, not Qataris,” the statement quoted Netanyahu saying.
Netanyahu told Al Thani that he knows “your leadership has grievances against Israel and Israel has grievances against Qatar, from support for the Muslim Brotherhood to how Israel is portrayed on Al Jazeera to support for anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses.” He added that he welcomed Trump’s initiative of establishing a trilateral forum to address “outstanding grievances,” the Israeli readout said.
"Trump knew he was essentially making Bibi eat shit," said the source close to the White House. "But he had to do this, if for no other reason than to show the Arab partners, and also Hamas, that he can enforce his will on the wildman Netanyahu. This is critical if the peace plan is going to work, because people know Bibi wants to violate its terms and restart the war."
Coalition Backlash and Political Fallout
Meanwhile, Bibi's apology triggered the expected lunacy from his Kahanist coalition partners.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir took to social media, calling the Sept. 9 strike in Doha “important, just, and supremely moral.” Calling Qatar “an enemy state,” the lunatic messianic minister said that “whoever sends monsters to burn babies, rape women, and abduct elderly women must know that there is no place in the world where he is safe.”
“It is time to tell the world the truth: Qatar is a state that supports terrorism, funds terrorism, and incites terrorism,” he continued. “No money will cleanse the terrorism from their hands.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich compared the apology to the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Nazi Germany and Great Britain, France, and Italy. The agreement was signed exactly 87 years ago on Sept. 30.
U.S. Will Defend Qatar if Struck
Yesterday, the White House made it known President Trump has signed an executive order saying that any armed attack against Qatar would be considered "a threat to the peace and security of the United States."
"In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability," reads the executive order, which was dated Monday, Sept. 29--the day of Bibi's apology.
"I am sure that Bibi is having one of his now more frequent rug-chewing fits," said another source, close to the peace negotiations.
Oct. 2—As the Jewish High Holy Day Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, drew to a close, sources close to the White House said that intelligence they had from several sources, including Arab mediators, leads them to believe that Hamas is going to accept the principles of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza released Monday. These sources say that Hamas realizes that they cannot afford to reject the plan, because it would put the continuation of the slaughter unleashed by the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, squarely on the terrorist organization.
But Hamas cannot get its entire organization to accept the plan unless it asks for clarification of its terms and some clearer language that commits the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw from Gaza according to a reasonable timetable; nor can Hamas, an organization of fighters, agree to give up its arms and accept either amnesty and peaceful co-existence in Gaza or exile without the IDF withdrawal taking place and Israel turning over governance of Gaza to a Palestinian entity, as the Trump plan specifies, without a timetable.
Arab and Muslim States Urge Hamas to Accept
"Hamas," said one source, "is getting pounded by Arab and Muslim states, who support the Trump plan, who are telling them this is the best deal that can be made now, and they must accept it. They can point to the prisoner release and mass release of detainees as victories.
"They must understand that Bibi does not want to stop the fighting and wants to kill as many Palestinians as he can, and will do so, unless Trump stops him with this plan. That is also a victory. And while the statement is vague on its timing, it does talk about moving towards statehood, as the 'aspiration of the Palestinian people.' That is a big victory, in that neither Bibi nor Trump supported this, and until recently, nor did Hamas. Another key point won for the Palestinians by Trump is that Israel will be barred from annexations or placing settlements in Gaza and barred from annexing the West Bank."
Envoy Efforts and Public Sentiment in Gaza
The White House sources say that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is confident that these problems with language, timing, and required further assurances that Trump will not let Bibi backtrack and restart the war after Hamas disarms can be worked out to the satisfaction of the Hamas negotiating team in Doha.
Witkoff has sent people into Gaza to get some kind of opinion on the plan from the population. What has come back is an overwhelming sense of support for ending the war, releasing the hostages, and a search for a better future. People recognize that there are shortcomings in the plan, but they want an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of the IDF. They don't really care about Hamas, and they don't see its leaders as representing them. They did not support the attack and massacre of Oct. 7, 2023 precisely because they feared such actions would bring the response that it has from the insane and murderous Israeli leadership.
The Gazans see themselves as victims of an illegal occupation, which has turned over their lives to Hamas—it was the Israelis, with money and even weapons, that had put Hamas in power in Gaza, as a block on the Palestinian Authority and moves towards a two-state solution.
Voices from Gaza: Desperation and Disillusionment
“Hamas must say yes to this offer — we have been through hell already,” Mahmoud Bolbol, 43, a construction worker who has remained in Gaza City with his six children in the battered shell of their home throughout the war, told the New York Times.
"For the past two days, Mr. Bolbol said his neighbors have talked about almost nothing but the cease-fire proposal. If Hamas rejects it, he said, his family would finally leave Gaza City and head for what he hoped would be the relative safety of the enclave’s south.
“Hamas needs to understand: Enough is enough,” Mr. Bolbol said. Most Gazans are not members of the group, he added, “so why drag us into this?”
Reflecting on the interviews in Gaza conducted over the last two days, the Times wrote: "Some people said the terms of the proposal made them doubt that Hamas would agree. Others said their doubts grew from something more basic and bitter: They simply did not believe that Hamas would put the interests of the Palestinian people above the interests of the organization.
"'We are dying for nothing, and no one cares about us,' said Nasayem Muqat, 30, who fled Israel’s expanding military campaign in Gaza City for the territory’s south on Monday with her young daughter, Selene. 'Hamas needs to think more of us and what we have been through.'
"Abdelhalim Awad, 57, who manages a bakery in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, said he would accept almost 'any price' to end the war. But he said he did not believe that Hamas could say the same thing.
"'They don’t care about what people think or public opinion,' Mr. Awad said. 'If they cared about that, we wouldn’t be in this situation.'
"In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Mattar, 35, said he hoped the United States could somehow force Hamas to accept the deal and then make both the armed group and Israel abide by all its terms.
"'My wish is that Trump forces it as a reality on both sides, directly, without giving a choice,' said Mr. Abu Mattar, who was once an accountant in Gaza City....
"He said he was disgusted with the negotiators in faraway conference rooms who seem to control his family’s fate.
"'The ones negotiating on my behalf are sitting in air-conditioned rooms,' he said. 'They are not the ones living in sand, walking half an hour to fetch water or searching for a bag of flour and getting killed.'"
Strategic Calculations and Netanyahu’s Position
The White House sources say that they realize that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians in Gaza, but that Hamas must agree to this deal if there is going to be peace.
For nearly two decades, Hamas has served as Bibi's foil, to be manipulated and used. And sources in Israel, with contacts in the government and intelligence services, say that they believed that Bibi, with foreknowledge of Hamas plans for its rampage on Oct. 7, 2023—the plans for which were in possession of Israeli intelligence and the IDF nearly a year in advance of the attack—allowed the attack to occur so he could initiate his "final solution" for the Palestinian question. Hamas should realize that they have been played to terrible result for the Palestinian people and understand that this new plan is in fact a way to deliver a blow to the monster who has been using them. Netanyahu has blocked all efforts to set up an official government commission of inquiry om Oct. 7.
If the plan is accepted and worked on, it will likely mean the political end for Bibi, and that would be a great thing for the entire region, especially Israel. Regardless, he will not politically outlive the terms and implementation of this agreement, and when he goes, the Kahanist flotsam and jetsam which have kept his coalition in office will go with him, to the political oblivion they deserve.
Hostage Arrangements and Risks of Sabotage
Meanwhile, sources report that Hamas leadership must find all the hostages that are alive; there are several reports that they have lost communication with people that are holding them. The arrangements to get all of them are being done now, which is also an indication that Hamas knows where this is all going. At least one source reports that Hamas has indicated a willingness to turn the hostages first over to a representative of Trump, such as Steve Witkoff, rather than to the Israelis or the Red Crescent.
And although Trump forced Bibi to sign on to the deal with some changes, the White House knows he does not really accept it, and he wants the fighting to continue. And so, Trump is prepared for his sabotage efforts:
The respected analyst Amos Harel wrote Oct. 1 in Haaretz: "In the days ahead, Netanyahu will likely attempt to launch a protracted negotiation with the administration regarding the terms of the agreement, its final language, and the implementation timeline. The fact that the drafters of the plan didn't set a binding timetable for the IDF's withdrawal could complicate things down the line. At the same time, Netanyahu will leverage objections from the messianic right-wing parties in his coalition and scatter hints and declarations aimed at stressing Hamas and making the organization's leaders believe that Israel will violate the agreement when the opportunity arises. Israel already violated the previous agreement when it resumed the war last March. Since then, Trump has not lived up to his commitment to impose an agreement after Hamas released U.S.-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander."
One thing that Bibi is doing is pressing the IDF to go ahead with its attack on Gaza City. Haaretz’s Yaniv Kubovich reports that "Israel Defense Forces commanders say they fear that an extraordinary incident in the fighting in the Gaza Strip could cause the collapse of negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the new Trump proposal to end the war and bring home the hostages. They said they fear that an attack that results in a large number of civilian deaths or, alternatively, a Hamas operation that led to Israeli troop deaths, could result in renewed escalation and hinder the talks…
"The IDF brass is having a hard time hiding its desire to reach a deal and end the war in Gaza. Commanders in the field are having a hard time providing answers to the tens of thousands of reservists who have been called up in recent months for another round of combat. Therefore, the IDF wants to release as many reservists as possible the moment political leaders announce that the talks are progressing and that the fighting can be brought to a halt."
Trump had said Sept. 30 that he was giving Hamas "3 or four days" to respond to his peace plan, but sources close to him say that he expects to have that response by the weekend.
Oct. 1—The Gaza Humanitarian Fund reports, as testimony to their success, that they have now distributed over 161 million meals since May. But the agency, whose security working with the Israel Defense Forces have killed thousands of starving Gazans for no known reason in and around their distribution sites, may not be around much longer—if the Trump Peace Plan is implemented.
The reality is that GHF, which was backed by the Israeli and U.S. governments, doesn’t actually distribute any meals. Rather, they derive their figure in their most recent status report by assuming that each 40-lb aid package that they provide for pickup is supposed to be enough to feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days—or the equivalent of 19.25 people for one day. The “161 million meals since May” translates into fewer than 12,900 boxes/day over the last 125 days (since GHF began), or fewer than 250,000 Gazans fed on a given day. That is 11-12% of the population, at best, get access to the boxes, and, by GHF’s figures, about 88-89% get nothing. Or, assuming that everyone gets some food at some point, every Gazan gets fed on average once out of every 8-9 days!
The GHF may be overstating their case in bragging about the 161 million meals. However, they don’t hold a candle to the bizarre claim by the Butcher of Gaza, the prime minister of Israel at the UN last week. Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu asserted that Israel has provided 3,000 calories/day in food to every Gazan throughout the last two years. While offering no proof at all to support this lie.
As for the GHF, there is no mention of its continuing operation in the Trump Peace Plan, which will instead entrust competent and reputable humanitarian organizations linked to the UN and Red Crescent to handle this task.
Sept. 30—When "The Butcher of Gaza" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu arrived in Washington to meet with President Donald Trump yesterday, he knew he would have to agree to the President's revised 20-point peace plan, crafted with the help of almost all Arab nations in the region, that, while meeting his ostensible "war aims," includes the release of all hostages, alive and dead, in one action and the dismantling of what remains of Hamas's military capabilities.
As one source who has been talking to all sides in the negotiations put it, citing the Godfather movie trilogy, "Bibi was being given an offer he can't refuse."
He was being forced to accept terms of the plan that he would never have chosen, including allowing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to eventually rule Gaza and to move eventually to act on what the plan called the "aspiration" of the Palestinian people for statehood—something he told the UNGA he would never allow.
So, as another source put it, "Bibi sucked it in and took it. He was hoping that something would go wrong, that Hamas might say no or fuck something up, so that he could go back to the thing that this monster loves best, killing innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, so that they would just simply numerically overwhelm the Jews. But there was never any real question that he could say no in Washington. The no would come later, when he is back among his crazy 'jihadist' Zionists."
Qatar Clause Removed Under Pressure
Bibi did manage to get one thing changed. The 21st point was removed that said that Israel would never again attack Qatar, one of Trump's key allies and a mediator, as he had done by striking its capital, Doha, earlier this month in a failed attempt to wipe out the Hamas negotiating team and its leaders. (The attempt failed, sources report, because of a warning that came from inside Israel moments before the attack.) That was removed because it was said to infringe on Israel's sovereign rights and Qatar was not a party to the deal, just a mediator.
From Trump's standpoint, as his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told Qatari officials, what really mattered here is that Trump is the one guaranteeing that this would not happen and that there would be consequences for the Israelis.
Countdown to Hamas Acceptance
Trump today put a three- or four-day deadline for Hamas to formally accept the deal, which reportedly pleased Bibi, who holds out hope that Hamas would stupidly reject the only plan that would halt the slaughter and ease the suffering, in favor of maintaining their false image of carrying the flag for all Palestinians.
And there were reports from the usual circles in and around Hamas that called the Trump plan "an Israeli plan for surrender" and said Hamas should fight on, after stupidly launching a massacre of Israelis and others Oct. 7, 2023, and giving the monster Netanyahu his excuse to slaughter Palestinians and turn Gaza into a Hiroshima-like rubble field, with likely more than 100,000 dead Palestinians. (One is reminded of the sage advice of Bibi's co-evil twin, the late Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, the author of the Oct. 7 massacres, who once told a reporter that he did not care if he caused the martyrdom of 1 million Palestinians.)
Fortunately, as certain Hamas leaders have been informed of the progress in the talks devising the plan by representatives of the Arab states, there are reports that Hamas will accept the deal tomorrow morning, at which point Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will get to work on getting its implementation going. CBS News was told that Hamas would accept the deal tomorrow.
Trump’s Guarantee and the Road Ahead
The deal itself is self-explanatory. We print the White House version of the 20 Point Plan below. It is not a solution to the Israel-Palestinian crisis, but a plan and roadmap towards a solution. How it is worked out, in the end, will require a lot of effort on all sides—and yes, there are people in Israel and even in the leadership of the Israel Defense Forces that want peace—who must, as Trump said, be committed to work their butts off for peace, as he has pledged he would.
"You can take Trump seriously when he says that," a source close to the White House said today. "He is the one that guarantees there will be no restarting the war once it stops, and that Gaza is rebuilt. If he doesn't say this and makes this commitment, there is no deal. And Trump is no fool, he knows that Bibi wants to keep the war going, if for no other reason than to keep him from facing the Israeli voters soon, or even the judges in his corruption case. But the key was to get him on board so that the process could get going, get started."
"Let's be perfectly clear," said the source. "Who the fuck cares what Bibi Netanyahu thinks should be done in the end, which could be several months or years down the line? He will not be around. And this deal, with Trump making sure it goes forward, not only means the end of a senseless war not to defend Israel, but to destroy it and its moral fabric with Bibi's penchant for Hitler-like genocide. Trump won't say this as long as he has to talk to this motherfucker. But with this Plan, he did not just save Gaza, he may have saved Israel. And that does not happen if Bibi, his evil wife, and the crowd of messianic Kahanist leeches, like [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich are not gone. For that, if it all works out, maybe Trump should get the Nobel Prize."
The Trump 20 Point Peace Plan
Ending the War Through Mutual Agreement
1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.
3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed-upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.
4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.
5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life-sentence prisoners, plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.
Humanitarian Aid and Infrastructure Rehabilitation
7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.
8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025, agreement.
Governance and Oversight Mechanisms
9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.
Economic Development and Investment Strategy
10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.
11. A special economic zone will be established, with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.
Security, Demilitarization, and Monitoring
13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy-back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.
14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A deconfliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.
16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF, according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority, until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.
17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.
Dialogue, Coexistence, and Political Horizon
18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.
19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.
Sept. 29—President Donald Trump has indeed changed his strategy on ending NATO’s bloody and losing war against Russia in Ukraine, but not in the way the NATO propaganda machine claims after a Trump tweet last week seemed to imply that he thought Ukraine would "win." After months of trying to force Ukraine and its NATO puppet dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate in good faith with the Russians—efforts repeatedly undermined by NATO countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany—sources close to the White House say the President has delivered a clear message: it's your war, not ours, and he will give nothing in weapons and support for this war that Europe does not pay for.
In speaking with Zelenskyy last week on the sidelines of the UN session, Trump also made it clear that he will still determine exactly what weapons the Europeans can buy for the madman in Kyiv, again refusing his request for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike Moscow.
Rejection of Kagan’s Escalation Strategy
In so doing, Trump also rejected the policy advice of neo-con godfather Robert Kagan, husband of the Queen of the Ukraine and creator of the Maidan coup in 2014, former State Department official Victoria Nuland. Writing in the latest issue of The Atlantic, Kagan argued that now was the time for the U.S. to offer direct military and airpower support for Kyiv. Kagan, demonstrating his descent into even more desperate lunacy, believes that a war-weakened Russia could be dealt a decisive blow that would trap its forces inside Ukraine with no means of retreat—if the 12-mile-long Kerch Bridge were blown to smithereens by the U.S. and NATO. This, despite the fact, as strategic blogger Simplicus writes, that such an attack would surely trigger a Russian response that would rapidly escalate to a general thermonuclear war. Kagan, an influential and dangerous fool, claims that it is worth the risk because Russian ambitions to conquer Europe would be permanently ended—ambitions that do not exist, but which infect NATO's geopolitical thinking.
Peace Talks and the Alaska Summit Plan
White House sources say that Trump has also made his thinking clear to the European backers of the little dictator Zelenskyy, who asked whether the President was still committed to finding a peace deal in the crisis. He told them he was and expressed his opinion that moves in that direction would soon be coming from Trump's actual partner in seeking peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Trump has backed off on pressing Zelenskyy to seek discussions with Putin," said a source, "as he now believes that productive discussions are impossible as long as the Europeans jack up Zelenskyy. Instead, the President awaits Putin's response to the basic plan drawn up at the Alaska summit last month, in which the Russian president will lay out a concrete proposal for a ceasefire and ending the war on compromising terms."
The President tweeted after meeting Zelenskyy that he thought Ukraine could get most of its pre-February 2022 borders, if they are patient. He laid out the case that Russia was susceptible to increased economic pressure—not from sanctions, which cannot be enforced—but from Europe refusing to buy energy products from Russia and reducing trade with Russia's primary economic ally, China. He said this knowing that Europe is never going to do that; and note, he talked about 'pre-war borders'—which do not include Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
Terms for Ending the War
"Trump knows what will end the war," the source continued. "Agreeing that NATO does not move any further eastward, and that Ukraine does not become a member; withdrawal of NATO missile systems from close to the Russian border; no NATO troops to be stationed in Ukraine for any purpose; and a pullback of Russian troops in former Ukrainian oblasts. The reversal of Ukrainian legislation that bars use of the Russian language and restricts Russian culture. They say they agree to these things, the war stops, and the borders can be adjusted for a more favorable outcome for Ukraine, with prospects for a massive redevelopment program. Zelenskyy will not propose such terms, so they are going to have to come from the Russians and the United States."
"With anti-Russian hysteria surrounding the alleged Russian drone attacks and overflights in neighboring countries, there is a cry for the stationing of U.S. troops in these countries—more troops in Poland and troops in places such as Romania and Estonia," said the source. "Trump is not going to do this, although he will listen to the proposals. Trump has worked out a counter to this Kagan-like tripwire scheme in the coming new Defense Strategy crafted by the anti-neo-con chief of defense policy, Eldridge Colby, which has the U.S. pulling back from Europe and concentrating on its own backyard in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. can't do both, effectively."
Lukashenko Endorses Russian Peace Proposal
Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says that he discussed with Putin on Sept. 26 a new Russian peace plan for Ukraine that was "a very good proposal" which he claimed was broadly backed by the United States. He claimed that its outline had been presented to Trump in Alaska and was greeted favorably.
"President Putin and I discussed it, but I won't talk about it. The president himself will say," said Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin.
"It's a good proposal for Ukraine, proposals that were heard by Donald Trump in Alaska, among other places, and taken to Washington for consideration and discussion. A very good proposal," Lukashenko told Russian TV reporter Pavel Zarubin.
"If the Ukrainians don't accept these proposals, it will be like it was at the beginning of the special military operation," he added, using Moscow's term for the invasion of Ukraine. "It will be even worse; they will lose Ukraine."
"To avoid losing all of Ukraine, (Zelenskyy) must not just negotiate, but agree to favorable terms—terms that, by and large, have been approved by the Americans," Lukashenko said. He proposed building a nuclear power station in eastern Belarus that could provide electricity to Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine.
The Belarus president also suggested that he, Putin, and Zelenskyy, as leaders of three Slavic states, should sit down and come to an agreement.
"An interesting proposal," said the White House source. "Let's see what Putin proposes and then go from there."
Sept. 28—The President of Colombia Gustavo Petro addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square in New York City Sept. 26, and issued a public call for American soldiers to disobey the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump, and instead join with the “forces of humanity” to militarily liberate the Palestinian people.
Predictably, the "former" narco-terrorist Petro’s brazen provocation brought a prompt response from the U.S. State Department: “Earlier today, Colombian president Gustavo Petro stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
More significantly, Petro’s actions will greatly discredit the efforts of The Hague Group of 34 nations, which Colombia recently co-founded with South Africa, to find a way for the United Nations General Assembly to intervene to stop the genocide in Gaza. One experienced Colombia analyst commented to EIR: “Petro, once again, is acting the part of the seasoned agent provocateur, much as he did as a leader of the M-19 narco-terrorists in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. London, Washington and Tel Aviv will be pleased as punch with his Times Square stunt.”
Petro told the rally: “From here, from New York, I call on all the soldiers of the United States Army: Do not point your rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump’s order. Obey the order of humanity…. We have to organize that great army … it has to be bigger than the army of the United States.” Petro’s words were interpreted into English for the crowd by one of his aides.
Petro was a leading member of the M-19 guerrilla group in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. The M-19 famously seized the Justice Palace in Bogotá in 1985 and held all the members of the Supreme Court hostage. This led to the slaughter of 100 individuals, including half of the Supreme Court Justices, and the gutting of the national legal archives, which made it impossible to prosecute the drug kingpins. That “guerrilla” action, it has since been acknowledged, was contracted and financed by the Medellin cocaine cartel, which was trying to stop the extradition of top Narcos to the United States. Petro was in jail at the time of the takeover and claims he had no involvement in those events. But he has always defended both his role and the actions of the M-19 and does so to this day.
The M-19 was also closely allied with the narco-terrorist FARC—the world’s largest cocaine cartel—throughout this period, while remaining organizationally distinct. For a while the two narco-terrorist groups worked together in the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board to negotiate a “peace pact” (including control over territory where they would be allowed to proceed with legalized drug-running) with the government.
That’s the context for the subsequent famous “Grasso Abrazo” picture of the New York Stock Exchange’s Richard Grasso embracing the #2 leader and head of finances of the FARC, Raul Reyes, in the “liberated” jungles of the Caguán area of Colombia in 1999.
Sept. 28—The 121st consecutive online forum of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place on Sept. 26. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and International Peace Coalition initiator, opened the proceedings by stating that the moral fitness of the world is being tested. She commented that at the same time that she was speaking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the United Nations General Assembly, but noted that his speech was delayed when a large group of UN delegates walked out, causing some disorder, just as Netanyahu was about to utter his first words. Zepp-LaRouche made the point that Israel put up billboards around New York City reading “Remember October 7,” implying that Netanyahu was justified to commit any atrocity to seek revenge. She said that conditions in Gaza go beyond description, people in Gaza City are being forced to evacuate, but most people have no transportation, no food, no water, no medicine, etc. Thousands are fleeing, but they don’t know where to go since buildings are being bombed, including schools, hospitals, mosques, etc. Later in the dialogue, Zepp-LaRouche criticized the possibility that Britain’s Tony Blair might become a “temporary governor” of Gaza (which is not viewed as likely).
Zepp-LaRouche said that Netanyahu wants to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in order to gain approval for another military strike on Iran but noted that the mood of the U.S. population is shifting quickly against Netanyahu’s endless warmongering. She also noted the increased global resistance to this, as Iran is now receiving more military assistance from Russia and China, and there is a greater resolve among Arab nations, especially after the Israeli attack on Doha, Qatar. While much of the media highlight Trump’s recent comments in support of Ukraine as a new political U-turn, Zepp-LaRouche was more open to the suggestion that Trump is merely anxious to dump the problem on the Europeans. However, she was not sure that Europe could “fill the void,” despite its massive military buildup and spending surge. Ukraine is losing the war—if it has not already lost the war—likely with 1.7 million casualties, even though some view it like a bank that is “too big to fail.”
Zepp-LaRouche told the IPC that all of Europe, and especially Germany, is being hit with psychological warfare so as to whip the population into an anti-Russia frenzy. There is now hysteria over alleged violations of NATO airspace, a claim which Russia has responded to by stating that their airspace is constantly being violated. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has even said that shooting down Russian planes “is on the table.” Large military exercises are currently underway in Hamburg, Germany, which are specifically aimed at the involvement of civilians, while Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said that the social state must be dismantled in order to spend €83 billion on tanks, artillery, and jet fighters. However, Zepp-LaRouche warned that any war will quickly become a nuclear war, and all that military hardware will be vaporized. She called on everyone to participate in and promote the Oct. 3 demonstrations in Berlin and Stuttgart to stop the war insanity, like the successful, massive demonstrations in the 1980s. She said that the very existence of Germany depends on this effort. She said that the root of all this hysteria is a fear on the part of the Western geopoliticians of the rise of the Global South.
A leader of the Schiller Institute in Mexico, Alberto Vizcarra, spoke next and gave a report on the just-concluded conference in Mexico City of farm leaders from nine states across the country. The conference was held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s School of Economics. Attendees included the 91-year-old Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, an engineer and former Mexican presidential candidate, leaders in the school’s economics department, and a very large contingent of young people. The Mexican farm leaders gave a picture of the dire economic crisis facing agriculture under free trade agreements that their government has tolerated. A highlight of this conference was the reading of a support letter from farm leaders in the United States who are suffering from the same policies, and identified the problem of global bankers and food cartels destroying farmers around the world. Vizcarra said that if Mexico would join with the BRICS and other Global South economic initiatives, there would be no need to break with the United States.
Dr. Apurba Kumar Bardalai, a retired Major General from the Indian Army, spoke of his experience as the leader of the United Nations peacekeeping effort in Lebanon, UNIFIL. He promoted the spirit of the anti-colonial, pro-development, 1955 Bandung Conference, but was critical of the hypocrisy of the controllers of the United Nations. He said that while the UN Charter is based on international law and principles of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, Winston Churchill subverted it to his obsession of building a worldwide opposition against Russia. The UN became a pawn in the hands of just a few “permanent five” countries. Peace can be won when the powerful countries decide to prevent a war, such as the 1956 Suez Crisis. However, other wars are acceptable, such as his experience in Lebanon. He praised the Schiller Institute’s commitment to economic development as a road to peace and warned that if we fail in peace, the consequences will “haunt us forever.”
A video clip of an EIR interview with Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), conducted by Diane Sare, was played in which Macgregor questioned the “success” of the Trump administration reducing it to “Biden II.” He said that the economic folly was leading to war, the collapse of the dollar, and economic default. But Macgregor said that much of the world is finding success in a new direction. He said that the U.S. should look for a way to deal with the coming default without hurting the population, but said that Trump is surrounded by Wall Street billionaires and does not see any other option.
Army veteran and leader in the Eisenhower Media Network Josephine Gilbeau then spoke, stressing the importance of all citizens of the world uniting for peace despite all the petty differences that we may have. She watched 13 hours of the speeches at the UN General Assembly, and said she was left feeling disappointed. She spoke of the Freedom Flotilla and the threats from Israel to the passengers.
Schiller Institute activist in Canada Ilko Dimov spoke of the importance of using classical culture to give people a higher identity and create a society based on Renaissance principles, and showed examples of his own art work to exemplify the point. He said that when President Trump speaks of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, we need to speak of Friedrich Schiller and beauty. Only this quality can provide a resistance to the moral crisis in the population.
This issue would come up later when a question was asked whether President Trump was too erratic and should be removed with the 25th Amendment. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small answered that Trump has been oscillating for some time, but a bigger problem was the identity and lack of thinking by the American public. Small said that Americans have to think more like John Quincy Adams. Helga Zepp-LaRouche answered by asking who would replace Trump? She said that the most urgent problem is the threat of World War III, and that this is her top priority.
A former member of the European Parliament from Latvia brought up the danger of conflict in Moldova, and pointed out that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been traveling in the area. An important question came from a person in Venezuela asking about the threats to his country from President Trump, and how ideologues like Evan Ellis have said that a war with Venezuela would be a “cake walk.” Small replied that this is part of the “law of the jungle,” and its objective is to stop Ibero-American countries from working with China or the Belt and Road development plans. He said that this is not just a threat against Venezuela, but the same faction is also committed to destroying the Lula government in Brazil.
Later in the dialogue Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche warned of the danger of a new fascism to manipulate the public with censorship and control over all its data. She mentioned Peter Thiel and his article “The Straussian Moment,” wherein he presents the idea that since 9/11 the only way to have security is to surrender freedom.
However, it is not sufficient merely to expose the problems of the world, she said. We must give people a way out. The West would be welcomed with open arms if it engages in a cooperative spirit with the Global South. Our biggest task is to organize and educate the nations of the West, and create this new paradigm, Zepp-LaRouche concluded.
Sept. 28—Sources in the U.S. intelligence community say that Poland, Romania and other nations alleging attacks from "Russian" drones have presented no convincing evidence that such attacks originated in Russia or were run by Russian operatives. Instead, these American intelligence sources believe that, as the Russians have said, the drones are far more likely to be "false flag" operations intended by NATO and its Ukrainian assets to justify a potential NATO response—one that would bring the world closer to a nuclear showdown with Russia, and which might trigger an American response under Article 5 of the NATO charter.
U.S. Advises Caution on Article 4 Claims
When Poland alleged that the drone attacks had likely come from Russia, it invoked Article 4 of the NATO charter, seeking consultations with and among NATO allies. "What the U.S. told Poland was to calm down, that you have no evidence that this was an attack [none of the drones they recovered had any explosives], and that it came from Russia," said a source. "Our intel people are inclined to think that [Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr] Zelenskyy fired them, although they have made no such claims publicly," said the source.
When Zelenskyy met with Trump at the United Nations this week, he did not bring up the drone attacks, but did allege that the Russians are acting to provoke NATO, making the absurd claim that they were doing this because they are losing the war so badly—a strange claim to make from a man whose forces have suffered an estimated 1.7 million casualties since Russia began what it calls its "special military operation" in February 2022.
Zelenskyy asked for more anti-drone and anti-missile systems to better fight back drone attacks and was told that this depends on whether the Europeans were willing to cough up the money necessary to purchase them. He reportedly asked Trump to send Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have sufficient range to reach Moscow. Trump reportedly laughed at the request.
Hybrid Drone Attacks and Fabricated Evidence
A U.S. intel community source said he believed that Zelenskyy fired the drones from his arsenal of more than 1,000 such Russian weapons at his disposal. In every Russian drone attack on Ukraine, more than half to two-thirds of drones are shot down by Ukrainian defenses. The majority do not explode but go off course and crash. The Ukrainians then capture the drones and, using some for parts to repair others, create new hybrid "Russian" drones; these hybrid models are used to fake a Russian attack on Poland or any other target."
This would tend to be consistent with reports coming out of Poland describing the recovered drones as "held together with duct tape." The Poles were also caught faking the evidence of damage from the drone attacks. A farmhouse depicted in materials from the Ukrainian government with extensive "drone-inflicted" damage turns out to be the same damaged farmhouse shown months ago.
Russia has repeatedly asked for evidence that the drones which attacked Poland were Russian and directed by Russians, as no such evidence has been provided. "There is also the knowledge that space-based telemetry technology available to NATO can provide the total flight path for most, if not all, of these drones," said a source. "Where is that evidence that proves NATO's case? Maybe it shows something else."
Escalation Risks and Historical Parallels
Now, we have drones flying over Denmark, which led to comments about Russia wanting to teach NATO countries a lesson. These have caused some hysterical government and NATO officials to say that such violations require NATO to warn the Russians that if these overflights continue, NATO would be compelled to shoot down the violators and ask questions later, and even to raise the question of enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine and adjacent countries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with Russia’s VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin, called statements by Western countries about the need to shoot down Russian aircraft irresponsible and dangerous. “Statements that Russian aircraft should be shot down are, to say the least, reckless, irresponsible, and certainly dangerous in their consequences,” Peskov said, according to TASS. He added that what is happening in the European environment is a “self-exciting mechanism...They themselves raise issues and make irresponsible statements.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned yesterday that if the Kyiv regime’s plans for false flag operations in Poland and Romania succeed, World War III will be the result. In her Telegram channel, Zakharova drew attention to reports in several Hungarian media outlets about Ukrainian dictator Zelenskyy’s plans to carry out sabotage in Romania and Poland with the aim of blaming Russia.
“His office on Bankovaya Street is preparing its own version of the ‘Gleiwitz incident’—with the aim of creating a casus belli for a war between Russia and NATO,” she explained. “If all this is confirmed, then we must admit: never in modern times has Europe been so close to the outbreak of World War III.”
The Gleiwitz incident was one of a series of provocations on the Polish border carried out by the Nazi SS using operatives wearing Polish uniforms on Aug. 31, 1939, that were used to “justify” the German invasion of Poland the next day; the Germans then killed their own soldiers dressed as Poles in an attempt to make the hoax more real.
"This all has to be calmed down," said a source close to the White House. "The President knows that this is mostly fake news, promoted by NATO and Europe. He may propose that an expert commission of inquiry be put together to investigate Zelenskyy's claims. The Russians would agree to that. I cannot confirm or deny reports that the President has already spoken about this option with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Sept. 28—As the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister 'Bibi' Netanyahu flies to Washington to meet tomorrow with President Donald Trump, sources report that he is preparing "for the worst"—to be forced to accept a Trump-authored plan to end Bibi's slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
Sources who have spoken to aides of the Israeli Prime Minister say that Bibi "feels trapped. He does not trust the deal because he is not allowed to exterminate Hamas, but he can't afford to say no to Trump after he worked so hard to produce a deal, that has terms that Israel has already accepted and brings the hostages home—all of them."
Hamas Acceptance Shifts the Balance
The final nail in Bibi's coffin came yesterday when Hamas said that it had accepted the principles of the deal, which will release all hostages, living and dead, within 48 hours, end the war with a ceasefire, and call for phased total withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza, ending the bloody attack on Gaza City. It would also release up to 250 Palestinians serving long sentences in Israeli jails and about 1,700 others held in detention. As part of the 21-point program, which was worked on by and has the support of Arab nations in the region and most of the world, Hamas has agreed to end its control of Gaza, to disarm, and be offered amnesty and exile, with no hope of participation in future Gaza leadership.
Most importantly, Trump has personally guaranteed that the terms of the deal will be implemented, and that Bibi will not be allowed to restart the war as he did by unilaterally stopping negotiations and ending the ceasefire that was agreed to as Trump came to office in January. Sources with contacts with the mediators, including Egypt and Qatar, say that the Trump personal guarantee is the only basis for agreement, since the Israelis cannot be trusted.
Trump’s Strategy: Bypass and Corner Netanyahu
What happened in this latest drive for peace and an end to Bibi's bloodthirsty push for new slaughter, is according to White House sources, that Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff decided to "work the deal backwards," as one source put it, and negotiate with a broad coalition of Arab states in the region to work out the principles and terms of a deal that they could force Hamas to accept. It would then be the responsibility of Trump to force Bibi to accept and comply, which phase is now in play. By bypassing the Israelis at the start, it blocked Netanyahu's ability to sabotage the negotiations.
Sources report that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has re-emerged as a key player here, was crucial to pushing Trump to convene the meeting at the Sept. 24 UN with Arab leaders to lay out the terms of the deal. British loudmouth and tool of the City of London, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has been taking credit for what happened, but sources say Trump regards Blair as a leech, whose self-importance makes him a legend in his own mind. "Blair is working to make sure that the British don't lose their historic controls over the region, including their ability to play the Zionist movement," said a source. "Trump is pushing for a new regional unity that threatens this. Blair would like to keep Israel as a hand grenade that can be used to blow things up when London wants that."
Epstein, Blair, and the Shadow Network
Some sources have asserted that disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was a British-Israeli asset, who was in effect part of Blair's stable of operatives, which included the more recently disgraced Lord Peter Mandelson, whose "love" for Epstein caused his dismissal as the King's Ambassador to Washington just prior to Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom. These sources say Epstein and Mandelson (known as "Randy Mandy" and a personal friend of the Queen's chief arms dealer, Prince Andrew) worked on various joint projects and "investments." It was revealed recently, in a trove of hacked emails, that Epstein had personally worked on normalizing relations between Israel and Mongolia, in close collaboration with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
"Blair will likely have some say in plans for 'what comes after' in Gaza as he has wormed his way into collaborating with Kushner," said a source. "But the real estate bonanza concept that he was pushing is, for the time being, pushed to the background. This whole idea of selling Gaza real estate to Israeli and other Zionist investors has an interesting feature to it. There are already reports of certain Israeli pols accepting massive bribes from certain 'developers and investors,' with sources saying that the loudest of the loudmouths pushing such private deals, whack job Finance Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich, is among those whose pockets have been stuffed." (Smotrich recently stated that Israel has spent a lot of money on this war and it and its real estate people should make it back on Gaza real estate, which earned him strong condemnation from saner elements in the Israeli establishment, and reportedly a warning from Bibi to keep his mouth shut.)
Iran’s Quiet Role and Qatar’s Red Line
Sources in Washington report that another player not directly involved in the current process but playing an important backchannel role is Iran. It is well known that without Iranian support, both in weapons and money, Hamas ceases to exist. These sources say that Hamas has been told that they cannot count on continued support from Iran, which, if true, would be a major factor in pushing what remains of the Hamas leadership to accept the deal.
It has been reported that one of the points of the deal, as guaranteed by Trump, is that Israel will not ever again attack Qatar, as it did—without American approval or even pre-notice—when it struck Doha Sept. 9 in an attempt to decapitate the negotiating team and what remains of Hamas leadership. One source, with some contacts in the region, says that the Hamas leadership mostly escaped because of a tip that "came from inside Israel" that gave warning.
While it is not in the deal, sources report that Trump has assured Iran that he will not support any further attacks by Netanyahu, and that he remains committed to a negotiated settlement of the Iran nuclear issue. These sources say that if Bibi asks Trump in their Sept. 29 meeting for such permission to attack Iran, he will be told no.
Terms of the Trump Peace Plan
The Washington Post printed what they understood to be the terms of the Trump Peace Plan; we print that below as these points have basically been confirmed from multiple sources:
• Freeze all IDF operations in Gaza
• IDF forces eventually withdraw from the Strip, to unspecified "perimeter presence"
• All living Israeli hostages to be released within 48 hours
• At least 24 bodies of dead hostages to be released within 48 hours
• For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans
• Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences
• Israel to release 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7
• An international temporary stabilization force will be established for Gaza
• A temporary transitional government will be established, supervised by an international body
• The Palestinian Authority will undergo reforms until it is deemed fit to govern the Gaza Strip
• Once aforementioned steps are taken and reforms made, "conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian Statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people"
Public Support and Editorial Pressure Mount
This last point was insisted on by the Arab states. Bibi of course opposes this, and the Knesset is on record as opposing Palestinian statehood, which was the central point agreed to by then President Bill Clinton, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yassir Arafat in the 1993–95 Oslo Accords. For that two-phased agreement by Israel, Netanyahu called Rabin a traitor to the Jewish state and repeatedly called for his elimination; Rabin was assassinated by a supporter of Netanyahu on Nov. 4, 1995 at a rally for the Oslo Accords in Tel Aviv.
Trump, who like Netanyahu has denounced the current international supporters of Palestinian statehood—as recently as his UNGA speech this week—for rewarding terrorism, will go along with this demand. Sources say there is no prospect for a permanent peace without this acknowledgment of the right of Palestinians to self-determination, a view which is reported to be shared by both Witkoff and Kushner, and the latter's friends in Saudi Arabia.
Sources report that the leadership of the IDF supports the Trump plan and wants to end all fighting and have the hostages returned. The same is true of the hostage families' movement, whose leaders denounced Bibi's UN speech and demanded full support for the Trump plan, stating that they will not tolerate any effort by Netanyahu to block this bold plan to return the hostages. Massive demonstrations in support of the new deal, involving upwards of a million people, were organized last night throughout Israel.
In its lead editorial today, Haaretz asked Trump to bring the hammer down on Bibi and force acceptance of "the plan ensures unlimited humanitarian aid, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with financing by the international community, and mainly, an end to a pointless war.
"Trump has already told Netanyahu that there would be no annexing the West Bank, a statement that was necessary and will serve to rein in the messianic visions of Israel's right wing, which views October 7 not as a catastrophe but as an opportunity. However, it's not enough.
"Trump must understand that Netanyahu doesn't plan on stopping the war. The choice is clear now. In contrast to an unnecessary speech at the UN, which mainly served as an opening to an election campaign, there is a practical plan which is also supported by Arab leaders. Israel must say in a clear voice: yes, to a hostage deal, yes, to ending the war, and yes to the 'day after' arrangement in Gaza.
"Trump and Netanyahu will face each other on Monday. The responsibility now lies with the U.S. president: he must insist, as he knows how to, and finally bring a deal that will release the hostages and end the bloodbath."
Sept. 27—All the pieces seem to be falling into place for a plan backed by President Donald Trump that would pull the plug on The Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and his genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza—and that would return all hostages held by Hamas terrorists within 48 hours.
Trump unveiled the plan, a 21-point revision of what had been termed the Trump Plan, to Arab leaders who met with him and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff at the United Nations on Sept. 24. Since that time, there have been what Trump described as "intense talks" to fine-tune the plan.
Trump Signals Breakthrough in Hostage and Ceasefire Deal
"I think we have a deal," Trump told reporters yesterday as he left Washington to attend the Ryder Cup golf match between the United States and a European team on Long Island. "It's looking like we have a deal on Gaza, and we'll let you know. I think it's a deal that will get the hostages back. It's going to be a deal that will end the war."
"It's going to be peace," the president added. "I think we have a deal."
According to a White House source who spoke with Fox News, at the Sept. 24 meeting, "U.S. special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff summarized the U.S. plan for Gaza, including the return of all hostages living and deceased, no further attacks on Qatar, a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for peaceful coexistence and more."
"Foreign partners expressed broad agreement that President Trump was the only one who could end the fighting in Gaza and expressed the hope that they could work together with Special Envoy Witkoff to consider the president’s plan as Americans continue to engage with Israeli officials," the White House official added.
Arab States Back Trump’s Initiative
Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Witkoff described a "very productive" meeting Tuesday between Trump and officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
"We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Middle East," Witkoff said. "I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as concerns of neighbors in the region."
Sources close to the White House have confirmed the basic outline of the plan, as it has been leaked to the press.
Key Terms of the Proposed Agreement
All 48 hostages—twenty living and the remains of 28 victims of Hamas—would be released within 48 hours of the signing of the deal. Israel would agree to withdraw all its forces from Gaza in a series of defined actions, and the war would permanently end. In addition, Israel would release up to 200 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli prison during the same 48-hour period.
The plan calls for the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to starving and injured Palestinians, to be administered by the Red Cross and UN agencies. (There are reports that the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which have become killing fields, with many desperate and starving Palestinians shot at their sites, will be shut down.)
Hamas will cease to have any control over Gaza, will disarm, and be offered amnesty and exile. They will play no part in the future of Gaza, which is to be initially policed with the help of Arab nations. These nations will also help identify members of a temporary government body, which might include some prominent Israeli Arabs, overseen by a body composed of representatives from Arab states. This body will eventually be turned over to a reformed Palestinian Authority, which will then decide on a plan for Gaza's reconstruction—one that involves no forced displacement of Gazans.
In addition, sources report that Israel will be barred from any attacks on Qatar or any other Arab state.
Trump’s Personal Guarantee and Netanyahu’s Resistance
President Trump will personally guarantee that the war will end, that Israel will not restart it, and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw from Gaza. White House sources say that Trump’s personal guarantee is crucial to gain acceptance from Arab states and Hamas, who—while making no formal statement on the plan—are known through mediators to accept its terms.
Netanyahu, who will meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, and his chief negotiator were personally briefed on the plan on Sept. 25 by Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is now playing a key role in the ongoing talks, especially with Arab states. According to the Kan public broadcaster in Israel, Witkoff and Kushner told Netanyahu on Thursday during a meeting in New York that “the President thinks the time has come to strive for an end to the war.”
“Bibi, the time has come to end this now,” the pair reportedly added.
When Netanyahu and his chief negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, expressed objections to some of the points, a White House source said they were told, "Get over it. This is going to fly, and you are not going to stop it." Netanyahu said that Israel won't accept anything less than the full dismantling of Hamas; he was told that the Trump plan does this, "without killing everybody."
Trump’s Strategic Pivot: Saving Israel from Bibi
"You have to understand that President Trump is not just trying to save the hostages," said a source with decades of experience in the region. "He is trying to save Israel from Bibi. Trump believes now that Netanyahu is marching Israel to its isolation, and eventual destruction of the state from within. Listen to the two speeches Bibi has given, the one addressing Israel two weeks ago, and then the speech at the United Nations, delivered to an almost empty chamber with many delegations either not attending or walking out."
"In the speech last week, Bibi talked insanely about Israel turning into a military state, a 'Super Sparta' able to defend itself from a hostile world, with everyone against us," the source continued. "This is the same crap that Netanyahu wrote nearly 30 years ago in the now infamous 'Clean Break' strategy document, which was rightfully denounced as a proposal for Israel's doom. Policy driven by paranoid delusion can never work."
"Then, look at his performance this week at UNGA," said the source. "It reminded several people of a deranged Hitler in the bunker, talking about what he has done to Gaza as being necessary and proper, claiming to care about the hostages while implementing a policy that will surely kill them all. Reporting that he had ordered the IDF to have his speech blasted into Gaza over loudspeakers to give 'hope' to the hostages. Something Hitler would have done. Telling all who support a Palestinian state and have recognized it that they are terrorist sympathizers. Refusing to acknowledge the suffering he has caused. Comparing the creation of a Palestinian state to giving Al Qaeda a state a mile from the Twin Towers after 9/11. Here I had to laugh, because the same PA that he denounces as terrorists, whom he had induced the State Department to deny its leader Abbas a visa so he could speak at the UN, which in 2001 was led by Yasir Arafat, denounced the attack by Al Qaeda, mourned for its victims. I remember the picture of Arafat giving his own blood in Gaza to the Red Cross for the 9/11 victims."
Will Trump Force Netanyahu to Sign?
"Trump has come to realize that this man is insane," said the source, "and the President and his fellow negotiators have taken a different route: Let a deal be struck with Trump and the United States, and then have Trump force Bibi to sign off. That is what must happen on Monday, when he meets Trump. Bibi does not want peace, because he can only rule in a Spartan state, where war makes populations insane. He must have war, or he will lose power. This is Trump's best and last chance to bring the genocide to an end. But will he do it? What I am hearing is 'yes.'
"Bibi went too far when, without telling the U.S., he struck—or attempted to strike—the Hamas leadership in Doha. In one irrational move, he threatened to overturn all the work that Trump had done building up the prospects for a strategic realignment that Trump thinks will bring peace to the region. When Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani, he told him that this will never happen again, that he will ban it."
Trump also took on the hardliners in Israel who were proposing to annex the West Bank, put settlements in Gaza, and drive the Palestinians out. Trump had a few choice words to [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir: "It is not going to happen. I won't let it."
"If Trump is willing to assert his will and power over Bibi," concluded the source, "the war and the genocide are over."
Trump’s Final Push for Peace
Trump wrote on his Truth Social app yesterday that he’s “pleased to report that we are having very inspired and productive discussions with the Middle Eastern Community concerning Gaza.”
“Intense negotiations have been going on for four days and will continue for as long as necessary in order to get a Successfully Completed Agreement. All of the Countries within the Region are involved, Hamas is very much aware of these discussions, and Israel has been informed at all levels, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu."
Trump added: “There is more Goodwill and Enthusiasm for getting a Deal done, after so many decades, than I have ever seen before. Everyone is excited to put this period of Death and Darkness behind them. It is an Honor to be a part of this Negotiation. We must get the Hostages back and get a PERMANENT AND LONGLASTING PEACE!”
Qatari PM Mohammed Al Thani told Breitbart News Sept. 26 that the entire Arab world believes that Trump is the "only one" capable of facilitating peace and restraining Netanyahu,adding that Israel's actions were not only "jeopardizing the security of the region," but also "jeopardizing even the U.S. interests in the region and jeopardizing the partnerships that the U.S. has built throughout decades."
Sept. 24—Roscosmos will soon sign agreements with three countries on the participation of foreign cosmonauts in missions, Dmitry Bakanov, the head of the state corporation, told Izvestia. Earlier, Bakanov had reported that Russia would help organize the first flight of an astronaut from Indonesia. The Kremlin also expressed its readiness to send a representative from North Korea into orbit. Experts also name India, Vietnam, and the Central African Republic as the most likely candidates for joint flights. This would be the first African to fly into space, under any program.
Such cooperation works for the reputation of the Russian space industry, which is important for strengthening the country’s space sovereignty, as well as for that of partner states of Russia, particularly if one takes into account that citizens of the latter states receive training by Russia. The first module of the Russian Space Station is expected to be launched in 2028.
Sept. 24—The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy held hearings on Sept. 18 on the state of affairs in the U.S. fusion program. The issue is getting some attention on Capitol Hill, not because the development of fusion energy can provide an unlimited source of energy for all humanity for generations to come, but because there is a clear understanding that the U.S. has dropped the ball, and China is in the forefront of developing a commercial fusion reactor. It is sending legislators into a tizzy-fit ostensibly about the dangers to our national security..
The four major speakers at the hearing, some involved in private fusion efforts, others at national laboratories and at the University of Wisconsin, described the difficulties that the program was facing under present conditions. While the fusion budget has increased somewhat under President Donald Trump, it is far from being enough to jump-start a once more viable program that would provide fusion energy in America, sometime in the too distant future.
Bob Mumgaard, the CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, indicated that, in order to have sufficient milestone-based programs and test facilities, industry would require an input from the federal government of $10 billion, a sum that makes some legislators cringe. What the legislators interested in the matters, who are wringing their hands over China’s investing much more and making much more headway, do not understand, is that 45 years ago, their counterparts on Capitol Hill were presented the Magnetic Fusion Energy Engineering Act (“McCormack Fusion Bill”), which would, in the views of all the experts then, provide a commercial fusion reactor by the year 2000—at the cost of $20 billion over 20 years. That bill passed.
But the miserly Congress, however, couldn’t cough up the $1 billion a year to develop such an endless source of energy. We are probably now no closer, and perhaps even farther away from a commercially viable fusion source that we were in 1984.
Perhaps the key to reasons we have not made the progress we should have towards fusion was the decision by the British and Wall Street to go after the real leadership for fusion, shutting down the Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF), which had been the driving force for this legislation and its passage, and was led by the late economist and presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche. The illegal jailing of LaRouche and his associates in 1986, some of them crucially involved in the work of FEF, put an end to that campaign. Absent the FEF's leadership, the opponents of fusion, who pushed what became the anti-human depopulation agenda associated with the Global Warming hoax, were abler to kill progress by cutting off government support, in favor of a "free market" approach to energy development.
LaRouche and the FEF also understood something which even today's supporters of fusion seem not to understand: It would add decades or more to its development if were done by any one nation. What is required is a global collaborative effort, that puts the best scientists and engineers in solving problems, and operative on several approaches to the problem. This is not some national security problem, but a question of a shared global future for all mankind. There is a willingness on the part of the scientists for such collaboration, but it is blocked by geopolitics.
Meanwhile, monetarist economic policies in the West have made the uphill climb towards fusion even steeper. Witnesses at the hearing clearly indicated that we are not producing enough engineers and scientists to do the job, and, given the anti-immigrant mood, many foreign researchers are going to other countries. Indeed, even our native cadre, heavily hit by the DOGE budget cuts, are being offered lucrative positions elsewhere, even out of the country.
Unless these parameters change, fusion, with such bright prospects for all mankind, will always be "20 years off from today."
Sept. 24—Two conferences convened over the last two weeks to discuss military presence and operations in orbital space. Though there was apparently no direct connection between them, there was a common theme expressed at both events: Space is now considered, at least by Global NATO, to be a war-fighting domain.
“The rule-based international order in space is nearly over,” Brig. Gen. Jürgen Schrödl, a division head with responsibility for space at the German Ministry of Defense’s strategy and operations department, declared at the Space Defense and Security Summit in Paris Sept. 16, reported Defense News. “We have to accept that space is a tested domain, is a war-fighting domain, is becoming a war-fighting domain.”
According to Defense News, the consultancy Novaspace, the organizer of the Paris conference, has assembled data that show governments spend more money on military space than they do on civilian space activities. Of the $73.1 billion in global government spending on space defense and security in 2024, more than a third was classified, the consultancy says. “What you see is that it is now the military domain that is leading,” Hermann Ludwig Moeller, director of the European Space Policy Institute, told Defense News. “This is really clear compared to last year; the language and what is behind the language has shifted.”
All of this is being blamed on Russia and China. “Space is a really fully operational domain, we talk about warfighting in space,” said Maj. Gen. Vincent Chusseau, commander of French Space Command. Chusseau claimed Russia has a full range of capabilities, from satellites for rendezvous and proximity operations and orbiters that pack smaller satellites like a Russian doll, to anti-satellite missiles, electronic warfare, laser dazzling, and cyber-attacks. Meanwhile, China is accelerating its space activities to achieve superiority there, according to Maj. Gen. Isaac Manuel Crespo Zaragoza, space commander for the Spanish Air and Space Force.
Half a world away, Gen. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Chief of Space Operations, speaking Sept. 17 at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference, was complaining that the military’s space surveillance systems are struggling to keep pace with the explosive growth in satellites and space debris, as well as the deployment of anti-satellite weapons by rivals like China and Russia. “We cannot be satisfied if it takes us hours to detect on-orbit activity, and we definitely cannot be satisfied if full characterization of on-orbit events takes weeks and months,” he said, reported SpaceNews. “The longer it takes to update the catalog, the more problematic the issue, the less domain awareness we have.”
“Much of our SDA [space domain awareness] mission set was built for a different era, an era where space was not a war-fighting domain,” Saltzman said. Military and civilian Space Force personnel “are expertly working hard to maintain our awareness of the space domain every single day,” but “we need to increase our manpower, update our training, enhance our tools, rewrite our policies and procedures and do a better job of leveraging our domain data.”
Sept. 24—According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, “Construction of new nuclear power plants to be accelerated,” and that “British plan a billion-dollar offensive for mini nuclear power plants.”
Shortly before the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain last week, the United Kingdom and the United States quietly concluded a nuclear energy agreement aimed at accelerating the construction of new reactors. British Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke of a “golden age of nuclear energy.” He said that both countries would thus be at the forefront of innovation and investment. Except for Russia, however, there are no mini-nuclear-power reactors, so there is still a lot of work to do.
The American-British agreement stipulates that both sides can use each other’s safety assessments for reactor designs. This is intended to speed up their own reviews. It will reduce the approval time for nuclear power projects from three or four years to two years, according to London. Unlike the Social Democrats in Germany, who are sticking to the German nuclear phase-out, Britain’s Labour Party considers nuclear power as a technology of the future. “The expansion of nuclear energy is central to the British government’s mission to become a superpower in clean energy,” Starmer’s government emphasizes.
The British Royal family and its operatives have been at the center of organizing a global anti-nuclear movement for more than half a century, dating back to the days Lord Bertrand Russell and his movement that conflated nuclear weapons with nuclear bombs. The Brits therefore tried to shut down nuclear energy as a power source for everyone else, as part of its drive for global depopulation and limited energy. Now, with an openly pro-nuclear, anti-global warming Trump administration, the Brits are moving to "play along," to control consequences.
Sept. 21—Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced Sept. 16, at a “Strategic Session on Rapid Transport System Development,” that President Vladimir Putin has approved “the development scheme of a high-speed travel” network, whose length “will exceed 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles).”
Mishustin asserted, “First of all, we are building a backbone road network that will interconnect all Russian regions. We are building railway lines, including in the Far East.”
The domestically built trains, which will run at up to 400 kph, will connect Moscow to St. Petersburg (679 km); to Yekaterinburg via Kazan (1,740 km); to Ryazan; to Sochi (through Rostov); to Krasnodar; to Minsk, Belarus, and potentially to Berlin and other cities.
The flagship line will connect Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2006, Siemens and Russian Railways signed an order for eight high-speed trains, with a 30-year service contract. The lead train for the route is the Sapsan (Peregrine), which Siemens designed and manufactured, with a travelling speed of 250 kph (155 mph), although its design allows for a potential upgrade to 350 kph. But after Russia launched invaded Ukraine in 2022, Siemens pulled out of the Russian contract. That spurred Russia to design its own high-speed train unit—one more example in which the Collective West’s boycott and sanctions against Russia forced Moscow to accelerate the development of its own scientific and technological capabilities.
On Dec. 15, 2023, Russian Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev announced that the ministry had formed the main parameters to implement a financial and organizational model. Estimates placed the cost of the Moscow-St. Petersburg line at more than 2.3 trillion rubles ($27.6 billion). The line will be built by VSM Two Capitals LLC, a Russian company, using both government and private funds, on concessionary terms. The Russian government plans to allocate more than 300 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund at 1% interest in 2025, and 328 billion rubles in subsidies in the period between 2024 and 2038. The Russian VTB Bank, Sberbank, and Gazprombank will be involved in providing the remaining funding. Ural Locomotives, a subsidiary of Sinara Group, will build the trains, with design from the Railway Transport Engineering Center.
Construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg line began in 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in 2028. The current journey takes about four hours; the new system will cut it by one to one-and-a-half hours. (The travel time from Moscow to Yekaterinburg will be cut from its present time of 15 hours to 6 hours.)
When the total project is completed, Russia’s high-speed rail trackage will exceed that of France and Germany, and become the second largest in Europe after Spain.
Sept. 21--Israel failed, and failed miserably and defiantly, to meet the one-year deadline Sept. 18 it was allowed by the UN to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. But the world has also failed. That UN General Assembly resolution, adopted 124-14, also required all states to take effective action against Israel’s violations of international law, including accountability, sanctions, and cessation of support. Most countries have joined Israel in pretending that they are under no such obligation.
The General Assembly resolution obligates states to: “prevent their citizens, companies, and authorities from … assisting Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories; halt imports of goods from Israeli settlements and stop arms transfers to Israel where there is a risk they may be used in the occupied territories; [and] impose sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence, including those linked to settler violence….”
This week, South Africa and Colombia, co-chairs of the eight nations in The Hague Group, will convene a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss collective and coordinated measures being implemented at national and international levels. They plan to present a collective plan of legal and diplomatic measures to halt the genocide in Gaza and defend the integrity of international institutions.
Executive Secretary of The Hague Group Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, told Middle East Eye, said that diplomatic and legal measures over the past year have been fragmented. So: “As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide. Gaza is the litmus test of our lifetime, and states’ response to Israel’s assault on Palestine will be the defining moment” for the UN General Assembly.
Sept. 20—China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has banned the country’s biggest technology companies from buying the Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, as Beijing increases efforts to boost its domestic industry.
Earlier this week, the CAC told large Chinese companies, such as ByteDance and Alibaba, to end their testing and orders of the RTX Pro 6000D, a chip that Nvidia tailor-made for China. Several Chinese companies that had ordered tens of thousands of the Nvidia chips told their suppliers to stop the work, according to a Financial Times report.
Two processes are at work. First, Beijing is putting pressure on Chinese tech companies to boost the country’s homegrown semiconductor industry and break reliance on Nvidia. “The message is now loud and clear,” said an executive at one of the Chinese tech companies, reports FT. “Earlier, people had hopes of renewed Nvidia supply if the geopolitical situation improves. Now it’s all hands-on deck to build the domestic system.”
Many Chinese semiconductor makers believe that their chips are as good as or superior to Nvidia’s and other American companies.
The second process is that the Biden administration announced Dec. 2, 2024 U.S. government restrictions that prohibited the sales of certain types of chips and chip-making machinery to China and added more than 100 Chinese companies to a restricted American trade list. This was supposed to cut China off from the world’s most advanced technologies and impede its ability to compete with U.S. chipmakers. In reality, however, the U.S. attempt caused China to make major internal strides in chip-making.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, however, is desperate to sell to the lucrative and very large Chinese market. On July 16 of this year, Huang delivered part of his speech in Mandarin to the Third China International Supply Chain Expo held in Beijing, to try to persuade the Chinese to look favorably upon Nvidia products.
It is expected that these issues will be dealt with in what some are already calling "the Great Big Deal" that Chinese President Xi Jinping will offer President Trump in series of upcoming summits. The Chinese action is a correct use of protection of a nascent domestic industry from a dominating market influence. But that can also be accomplished through the kind of trade deal that Xi and Trump will negotiation.
Meanwhile, while in Britain, Trump signed a deal with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to cooperate with the United Kingdom and such matters involving advanced chip and AI technology. With Huang and other corporate leaders present at the signing, Trump professed to have "no idea" about what they were really up to and what all this was about. He told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, that he had no way of knowing if this was a "good deal" that he was signing, and only half-jokingly said that, if it isn't, "I hold you [Bessent] and you [looking at Huang} responsible."
Sept. 21—Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement on Sept. 17. This brings together Pakistan as a nuclear power into the circle of Arab states, now getting more serious about challenging Israel’s Gaza genocide and sowing chaos throughout the region. With this pact, Israel is no longer the only nuclear power in the region.
“This agreement, which reflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieving security and peace in the region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression. The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,” a statement from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
When a journalist asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella under the pact, an unnamed Saudi official replied, “This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means.”
During the signing, Prime Minister Sharif was accompanied by Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
While Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed close political and military ties for decades, the timing of the agreement is significant. It occurred following both the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar on Sept. 9 and the joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit on Sept. 15. Both Pakistani and Saudi leaders attended that summit, and Sharif and Mohammed bin Salman also held a brief bilateral meeting. Also in the days before the signing of the pact, Iran dispatched Ali Larijani, who now serves as the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, to visit Saudi Arabia, where he was assured that the pact was not directed at Iran. China has been mediating a détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran since 2023.
The Saudi-Pakistani agreement comes at a time when Saudi Arabia has been closely cooperating with Egypt, whose President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has also taken the lead in urging for more unity and active measures to deal with the Israeli threat, and who for the first time by and Egyptian leader since 1977, called Israel an "enemy."
The pact is not directed only at Israel but also serves as a warning to the United States because of its failure to defend its Arab allies. After Washington failed to stop the Israeli attack in Qatar, of which Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance, where the U.S. has its largest military base in the region, the Gulf States’ confidence in any U.S. security guarantees has collapsed. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which the Trump administration considers an ally, are seeking security guarantees elsewhere.
Sept. 21—As the plight of 2 million Gazans worsens amidst a full-scale invasion into Gaza City and continuing “restrictions” of humanitarian aid, the UN Security Council remains frozen from the sole veto of the United States. A Sept. 18 resolution was introduced to the UN Security Council by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia. According to Al Jazeera, which had seen a draft of the resolution, it called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the “unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups,” and unrestricted flows of humanitarian aid. The resolution also pointed to UN findings that famine is already occurring in Gaza City and is expected to expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.
The vote was 14 in favor, including the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, and a single “No” vote by the U.S.—its sixth veto against a Gaza ceasefire resolution in the Security Council since October 2023.
The U.S. representative said the resolution “fails to condemn Hamas or recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimizes the false narratives benefiting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council.”
Sources report that there was no effort to work with the U.S. on a resolution it could have supported, which would not have included any references to Israeli "genocide." The matter is now expected to be brought up in the General Assembly, where the U.S. has no veto power.
Algeria’s representative Amar Bendjama responded passionately to the U.S. veto: “Forgive us, in particular in Gaza, where fire consumes, where rubber suffocates, forgive us, because this council could not save your children. Because Israel is shielded, because it is immune. Immune, not by international law, but by the bias of this international system…. Israel kills every day and nothing happens. Israel starves a people and nothing happens. Israel bombs hospitals, schools, shelters and nothing happens. Israel attacks a mediator and steps on diplomacy, and nothing happened. And with every act, every act unpunished, humanity itself is diminished.”
Sept. 21—The 22nd China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit took place in Nanning starting Sept. 17, with the grand theme of: “Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development—Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future.”
CAEXPO, under the theme “Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development—Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future,” Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Sept. 16 met with leaders from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, who are in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to attend the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
Oct. 6—Negotiations began today outside of Cairo between Israel and Hamas, mediated by a team from Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to implement the first phase of the 20-point Trump Peace Plan that would see Hamas release all 48 hostages—living and dead—in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israel, including 250 serving life sentences and would end the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza and have Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdraw to agreed upon positions.
Sources say President Donald Trump wants these negotiations to focus on the hostage/prisoner exchange and halt in fighting, so that this can take place in the days ahead. After that the negotiators can deal with the other elements of the plan that might need clarification or even adjustment, including the composition and function of the International Security Force and the composition of a "technocratic" Palestinian government, to whom Hamas would cede control of Gaza. Hamas also want to discuss what is meant by Hamas agreeing to disarm, and to whom it would yield its weapons. While it has agreed to cede its control over Gaza, it has not agreed to fully disarm.
Hamas also wants to make sure that it is agreed that Palestinians will have the final say over the development of Gaza, and has asked for what the function is of the Board of Peace, that would be chaired by Trump, and who would determine its membership; most Arab and Muslim nations in the region reject the Board membership of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the only person other than Trump that the Plan names, whose lies about Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" led to the invasion of the region by the United States, unleashing a cycle of endless wars, that continue today, and which the Trump Plan says it wants to stop.
Netanyahu’s History of Sabotage and Trump’s Leverage
Sources close to the negotiations and to the White House say that they can proceed rapidly on the first phase if Hamas is serious about its commitment to release the hostage. They say that Hamas has for some time expressed its willingness to go for a total release in exchange for and an end to the war, and the withdrawal of the IDF, but that Israel, meaning Bibi, had rebuffed such offers in favor of partial deal, which Netanyahu would sabotage. These sources say such a deal was in discussion when Bibi abruptly ended in March the three-phase hostage and ceasefire deal Witkoff and Trump had rammed through in January, at the end of the Biden Administration.
Hamas, the sources say, will not agree to anything unless it has assurances from Trump that he will make Bibi adhere to agreed upon terms; the sources confirm that this assurance has already be communicated to them, and demonstrated in fact, by Trump's humiliation of Netanyahu by forcing him to make a public apology to the Prime Minister of Qatar al Thani for Israel's attempt to wipe out the Hamas leadership and negotiators in Doha on Sept. 9. One of those targeted against the wishes of the United States and the other mediators, and without any notice to the United States was Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas' chief negotiator and the political leader of Hamas in Gaza; he survived the attack which killed his son, his chief of staff and a security guard.
Hostage Logistics, Disarmament Debate, and Moral Reckoning
Sources in the region report that Hamas has been able to locate the 20 living hostages, would be able to deliver them within the 72 hour time frame from start of the Plan, once its terms are agreed upon, provided the conditions on the ground make that possible—which means an immediate halt to all Israeli bombardment and other attacks; they will have trouble delivering the dead remains of the other hostages, as Hamas says that many are buried under rubble caused by Israeli bombardment. While Hamas is known to have executed at least 6 hostages when the place they were being held came under attack last June, it has said that Israeli bombardment had caused the deaths of many more, something which Netanyahu denies vehemently.
While Hamas has said it is willing to proceed with the first phase implementation of the Plan, while other issues remain under discussion, sources report that Bibi might try to scuttle everything be demanding that Hamas first agree that it will disarm. Sources report that Hamas has said that is willing to turn over its heavy weapons and munitions, such as rockets, drones, mines, grenades, mortars and RPG launchers, any artillery and related munitions, it is not prepared to lose its small arms, which could include pistols, rifles and automatic weapons and assault rifles. It says that it does not believe that its younger recruits would comply with this.
Sources close to the White House say Trump might not have trouble with this, as there are many armed gangs and civilians in Gaza, and that is going to be an issue that the ISF and ultimately the new Palestinian government will have to deal with. "If Bibi objects, then it is up to the President to make him agree," said a source close to the White House. "The idea is reduce Hamas so as it is no threat to Israel. The IDF says that this is already the case."
The Responsibility for Oct. 7
A source with decades of experience in the regional diplomacy offered some advice both to President Trump and the people of Israel how to make sure the peace deal goes through, as we approach the 2-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre attack on Israel, that Netanyahu used as an excuse to launch a war of extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.
"This will require some deep thinking about what has transpired," said the source. "First, it should be stated, that we know that not all the Hamas leadership supported the idea of the attack. It was the brainchild of Bibi's co-evil twin, the late leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who fully knew that this would unleash the monster Netanyahu on a rampage of slaughter that would kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, including women and children. He would do so, he had told a reporter, because it would expose the Jewish state for the genocidal monster that it is, expose it to the world and boost the Palestinian cause. He told the shocked reporter that he did not care if doing this cost a million or more Palestinian martyrs.
"Sinwar has achieved his effect, thanks to Bibi," said the source, "and if the war continues and expands to the West Bank, he may yet achieve his one million or more Palestinian martyrs. While not all of Hamas leaders supported this strategy, which also imagined that Hamas could militarily 'defeat' Israel, they did not stop him; so they share in the disgrace and dishonor of Sinwar's strategy. Given that, which should be explained, it is perfectly justifiable to demand that Hamas have nothing to do with the new Gaza and its government. For all their current talk of the 'right of self-determination,' did anyone from Hamas ever ask the Gazans, who they nominally governed—controlled might be a better choice of words—if they agreed to be martyred? Were the parents asked if it was okay that their kids should all die? The Trump Plan fairly deals with Hamas—be gone, you have lost the moral fitness to survive as an organization.
The Need for a State Commission of Inquiry
"Now, for Israel," the source continued. "Netanyahu is a monster who appeals to what is most vile within us. After Oct. 7, this failed, massively corrupt politician and bully, (a man who successfully organized the rage needed to assassinate a courageous Israeli, the late former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who tried to make peace with the just Palestinian cause) this murderer Bibi Netanyahu demanded the extermination of Hamas for what was done on Oct. 7. He then expanded it to all Gazans, because, he said, there are no innocents there, only enablers and supporters.
"But this vile murderer has never been held accountable for what is truly his crime—allowing Oct. 7 to happen on his watch. The intelligence services failed, as they had the plans for the attack a year in advance and dismissed them; the police failed, as regardless of when they received the warning, they stupidly set up all those young people to die or be taken hostage when they allowed the Nova Party Festival to take place a stone's throw from the Gaza border, without demanding army protection; the IDF failed because of bungling the intelligence and making wrong deployment decisions, that left the area of the attack defenseless, and then, while they can launch attacks to assassinate terrorist targets in minutes of receiving information, they somehow took hours to get air cover and army units into the area, allowing the attackers to flee. In one way or another, many of these people have already taken responsibility for what they did and did not do and resigned."
Did Bibi Let Oct. 7 Happen?
"But the man in charge of everything, the Prime Minister, he has accepted no responsibility," said the source. "He should have resigned the next day, but he still rules. Not only that, but he has also fought and blocked the formation of an official State Commission of Inquiry, which should have been established days after Oct. 7. Why? because such a commission would ultimately lay responsibility for what happened and the disaster that has befallen Israel since right at his large feet.
"You can demand his resignation, as many people have, but Bibi won't go," said the source. "What needs to be demanded is State commission of inquiry, to get to the bottom of what happened. And as it must, if it shows malfeasance on the part of Netanyahu, he must resign. I believe it could show much more. Sources in Israel tell me that Netanyahu was told and did know enough to have ordered deployments that could have thwarted the attack but did not. Could it be that Bibi wanted the attack to occur, so he could do what he has done to Gaza, while living in an emergency that kept in office and out of the court dock? It needs to be investigated."
Netanyahu Can't Stop Trump
"What is also required to make the deal work and keep Netanyahu from sabotaging it," said the source, "is a continued escalation of the mass demonstrations in Israel, which this weekend saw some of the largest ever held. Those demos all carried banners with messages asking Trump to make the deal happen and bring the hostages home. That message has reached Trump. It gives him the authority to speak on behalf of the people of Israel in making Bibi toe the line."
Haaretz sage analyst Amos Harel observed today that there has been a change in Trump, and that Bibi has been forced to respond. Trump has shifted "into high gear" and "is completely focused" on making the deal happen. Netanyahu, Harel remarks, has concluded "that he cannot stop him." This has forced the people around Bibi to try to lay claim for what is clearly Trump's success, and say that it was really Netanyahu's who made it happen:
"A big effort is being invested in formulating a new line of public diplomacy to pitch to Netanyahu's voters: It turns out that this is actually a tremendous diplomatic achievement, made possible only thanks to the prime minister's stubbornness. Some of those who are making this argument explained to us just two days ago why it's wrong to sign any agreement with Hamas' leaders, the new Nazis. Maybe an expert should be consulted, but the feeling is that this is what the newspapers of the Communist parties in the Eastern Bloc countries looked like on the eve of the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989."
More, Bigger Demos to Appeal to Trump
He further observes that "the president is very much influenced by the huge Israeli demonstrations supporting a deal. And on Sunday, he posted photos of them on his social media accounts. He's now leveraging public pressure in Israel to promote a deal, as many had hoped he would do in January...
"The bottom line is clear. After months of evasion, Netanyahu gave in to Trump's pressure: a full cease-fire will be declared and the captives will be released (in exchange for freeing about 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 convicted murderers) without Hamas actually having to disarm and without Netanyahu living up to his promise to completely wipe out the organization as part of Israel's total victory."
Writing in Haaretz daily newsletter today, Washington correspondent Ben Samuels observes that same thing: "Should anyone doubt that the message has landed with Trump, one only needs to read back his comments alongside Netanyahu at the White House. "I noticed that they have large crowds gathering in Israel all the time, and they have my name up. They like me. For whatever reason, maybe, I don't know, but they do like me. But they say two things, please get the hostages back and please end the war. They've had it. They've had it," he said. Putting a fine point on the matter, Trump shared a photo of such a demonstration days later once he "secured" acceptance for the deal.
"A lot can still go wrong in the coming days, with all parties involved demonstrating an unparalleled ability to play spoiler whenever this horrid war finally seems to be at its end. If people really want to make sure Trump's deal is secured, the most important act to be taken in the coming hours and days will likely be directly related to playing to his ego."
Meanwhile, over at the mass demo of more than 100,000 people in Hostage Square Oct. 5, the people understood what they were doing, and who they were trying to reach, "There's no point in talking to Netanyahu. He will never get it. But the White House is listening,"
Sources say that Hamas may also understand this principle. They report that Hamas will offer to turn the hostages over to Trump or his representative Witkoff directly and they and the Red Cross can bring them to Israel and Netanyahu.
"That would be simply delicious," said one source.
Oct. 5—Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Presidential son-in-law, has arrived in Cairo for talks that will implement the first phase of President Donald Trump's plan to end Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and gain the release of all 48 hostages, living and dead, held by Hamas.
He will join delegations of mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as negotiators from Hamas who have arrived from Doha, and from Israel led by Netanyahu's right-hand man, Security Minister Ron Dermer, for talks that Trump wants to quickly resolve the technical issues involved in the release of the hostages by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. This will include a total ceasefire and an end to military operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their withdrawal to positions held in August, as indicated by a yellow line on maps that have already been provided to Hamas by Israel.
Next Steps: Withdrawal, Disarmament, and Governance
The negotiations are then to proceed to clarify other terms and timetables in the plan, and will tackle the issue of phased withdrawal from Gaza of the IDF to positions near the Israeli border, the disarmament of Hamas and the offer of amnesty to its members, who could choose to stay disarmed in Gaza or go into exile; the creation of an International Security Force (ISF), from Arab nations that would keep the peace in Gaza; and the creation of a provisional government of Palestinians, who would rule in Gaza until such time that the Palestinian Authority, which rules in the other Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is deemed ready to take over in Gaza.
Clarifications Demanded
None of the above points in the plan have been offered with any but vague detail, and Hamas has said they want them clarified and negotiated. Trump has said that he wants these issues resolved quickly and he does not want any delay in the release of the hostages and prisoners.
Sources close to the White House as well as others in the region close to the negotiations say that, while the plan is to be considered in its entirety, the hostage/prisoner exchange could take place once its terms are worked out and the IDF and Hamas cease all attacks, and the IDF withdraws to the yellow line, and is not contingent on resolving all the issues.
Assurances and Humanitarian Demands
"That said," a source with regional connections reported, "Hamas wants an assurance that Israel will not restart the war once it has the hostages. That assurance has already been communicated from Trump to Hamas, prior to the talks. Hamas has also asked that the immediate free flow of humanitarian supplies and the UN and Red Crescent agencies to distribute them be linked to this first phase of the deal. Trump has agreed to this, but Israel has not yet agreed. Again, Trump has communicated to Hamas that he will make sure this happens."
Trump said in an interview with CNN this morning that he believes Hamas is committed to the peace deal and wants peace, but we will see very shortly if this is true, referring to the talks which will begin tomorrow.
Concerns Over Netanyahu’s Compliance
While Trump publicly expresses worry about Hamas complying with the deal, White House sources remain worried about whether Netanyahu, the Butcher of Gaza, will comply. These sources report that Israel continues to bombard Gaza from the air and with drones, and has killed nearly 150 people, mostly innocent civilians and many women and children, since Trump announced that he had demanded Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza on Oct. 3.
Sources report that he had chosen the word "bombardment" precisely, because he had already received assurances from IDF and its chief, Lt. General Eyal Zamir, an outspoken advocate of a peace deal in Gaza, that the IDF would halt its drive to Gaza City and standoff, and that its commanders were told to only authorize the use of force in defense. However, the Israeli Air Force is headed by people who are close to Bibi, so what Trump was saying was, "Bibi cut the shit out. No more air attacks," sources report.
That this has not happened, sources report, has prompted Trump to make "the appropriate" call into Israel. "Trump is fully aware that Bibi does not like this deal, and that he is being forced by Trump to swallow it," said the source. "Bibi is on a short leash here, especially after Trump praised the Israelis in a post yesterday for halting military operations in Gaza."
Trump’s Pressure and Regional Diplomacy
The President implied as much in an interview yesterday with Israel's TV channel 12, which is pro-Bibi in general. He reported that after he had, to Netanyahu's surprise, accepted the Hamas offer Oct. 3, and there was no immediate response from Bibi, he decided to call him. He told channel 12 that Netanyahu had no choice but to follow his lead and accept the deal in progress.
“Netanyahu had reservations, but I told him that this is his opportunity for victory,” Trump told reporter Barak Ravid in a phone call Oct. 4. “He accepted it. There is no other choice, with me you have to be okay.”
“Bibi went too far in Gaza and Israel lost a lot of support in the world,” Trump added. “Now I will bring back all that support.”
This morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Israel against continuing its military operations in Gaza, stating that Trump had ordered they halt and they had better listen to the President. Rubio, doing the rounds of Sunday morning TV interview shows, said on ABC's This Week, "But ultimately, you cannot have an exchange and if there's active combat ongoing, you just can't do it. I mean, for the safety of the hostages and for the Red Cross or whoever it is that's going to go in there and be a part of this exchange. You have to set the conditions. The Israelis have said that they would only deal with imminent threats..."
Turkey and Qatar’s Role in Securing Hamas Agreement
There are some new players in this round of talks, most notably Turkey. The Turks and their President Tayyip Erdogan, sources report, played a critical role in getting Hamas to accept the Trump plan. Hamas was told that if they rejected the plan, Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world would hold them personally responsible for the slaughter that ensues. They would be the Butcher of Gaza's accomplices, Hamas was told, and they would be treated accordingly: You can't fight for the freedom of dead people that you are dooming to be murdered.
In an interview with Axios yesterday, Trump repeated the same points he had made about his discussion with Bibi, but added praise for the role of Turkey in securing the deal. Erdoğan was “very helpful” in pressing Hamas to agree to release hostages.
“Erdoğan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great,” Trump said.
But sources say that it was Qatar, in close coordination with Steve Witkoff, who was most crucial in bringing about Hamas agreement. A source close to the White House reported that the Qataris had changed Hamas thinking about the hostages. Hamas leaders had long viewed the hostages as their key bargaining chip and something they could use to bring about a deal more favorable to them. The Qatari mediators told Hamas that the opposite was now true. The hostages were the only thing really that gave Israel and Bibi the justification for continuing the war. The situation had flipped—if you release the hostages, then you will bring the war to an end. Netanyahu cannot justify continuing it, especially if you agree to cede authority over Gaza.
"And that is precisely what the Trump plan offers you," said a White House source on how Qatar and its Prime Minister al Thani reasoned with Hamas. "It offers you a deal guaranteed by the only man who can bring the hammer to Netanyahu, Donald Trump, whom Bibi needs, that trades the hostages and your control over Gaza for peace. They now accept this idea. Almost a miracle."
Public Sentiment and the Road Ahead
The sage analyst Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz yesterday, "Ironically, there are now similarities in the circumstances of both Israel and Hamas. Public opinion among Israelis and among Palestinians in Gaza appears to have widespread support for a deal that would end the bloodshed, at least temporarily. But both in Israel and Gaza, leadership is wary of a deal that could hurt domestic standing and would require it to be accountable for its actions. And it's here that a force of nature called Donald Trump comes into action. After the events of the last week, it's quite clear that the president wants to end the war – details be damned."
There is a long way to go before Trump's vision for peace in Gaza and the region is realized. It will require a broader development initiative than a mere development of Gaza. But that is necessary to make a Palestinian state economically viable, which it is not today—something that appears to be lost on even its most vocal advocates. But, with the talks beginning tomorrow outside Cairo, there is now more than just hope for success, as Trump stated in a post on Truth Social last night announcing the IDF first phase withdrawal line: "After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, STAY TUNED!"
Oct. 4—President Donald Trump, working closely with his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his Arab allies and mediators, yesterday outflanked the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and got the first phase of his 20-point Peace Plan to end Bibi's slaughter in Gaza and release the 48 hostages held by Hamas—living and dead—in motion.
In a rapid-fire series of events yesterday afternoon, Hamas signaled its willingness to work within the framework of the plan and, as quickly as possible, release all 48 hostages once conditions on the ground allowed that. In a statement released by its leadership in Doha, Hamas also said it would agree to turn over control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians, and would seek clarification on other points, including its disarmament, while requiring clear assurances of full withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from Gaza. In so doing, it also acknowledged the efforts of Trump to secure peace and would engage in serious negotiations on this immediately. It made no such reference to the Netanyahu government, which Trump had successfully forced to agree to the plan earlier in the week, pending Hamas' approval.
Trump Responds, Calls for Immediate Ceasefire
Within minutes of receiving this reply, Trump expressed his support for Hamas' acceptance of the principles of the plan, stating that the organization clearly wants "PEACE" in a post on social media. In that statement, referencing the first point of his plan which calls for the cessation of all hostilities, Trump said that the Israelis must "immediately" cease their bombardment of Gaza to allow for the release of the hostages and the release by the Israelis of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Sometime later, word came from the Office of the Prime Minister—but not from Netanyahu—that Israel would begin to take the steps necessary to implement the first phase of the plan, which involved the release of all the hostages. There was no mention of a halt to military activities, with the IDF set to launch its full-bore assault on Gaza City that would slaughter thousands more innocent civilians in Bibi's insane drive to exterminate Hamas in their last stronghold. That news came later from Israeli Army radio, which announced that the army would not move into Gaza City and would stand off; it was not clear if the order to do this came from Netanyahu or from the IDF leadership, which Trump's people have kept briefed on the state of negotiations with Hamas and which leadership is on record—unlike Bibi—calling for a negotiated peace deal rather than continuing a senseless and now totally useless, from a military standpoint, war.
After this, Trump released a video statement recorded earlier with him sitting behind the Resolution Desk in the Oval Office, declaring that this was a "historic day" in which we finally have begun to end the slaughter and terrible conditions in Gaza, profusely thanking his Arab partners and especially the mediators for the hard work they have done to make this possible. He also spoke of the families of hostages, whom he embraces, and who will get their loved ones returned. He expressed hope that the peace plan can be fully realized. One of the last points of that plan is that Palestinians would finally be able to get what they desire in self-determination and aspiration—a Palestinian state, something which Netanyahu has said as recently as last week at the UNGA that he would never allow to happen.
Bibi’s Reluctance and Strategic Calculations
How did we reach this point?
First, it should be stated and known that Bibi Netanyahu does not really support the Trump Peace Plan or any peace plan because he wants the war to continue so that, on all fronts—including the West Bank—he can slaughter as many Palestinians as possible in a genocide worthy of a Hitler, whom his Zionist idol Jabotinsky admired. For Bibi, who sees himself as an unworshipped and misunderstood messiah saving Israel, it is all a matter of math—there are too many Palestinians, both in Israel, in the illegally still occupied territories, but especially in the diaspora. If those latter should come home to a new Palestinian state, they would overwhelm the Jews and extinguish the Jewish state. So, their numbers must be reduced, and war provides the cover for that, even if it means turning the IDF into a version of Hitler's Waffen SS.
So, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to sign on to the Trump plan. Sources have now reported that Netanyahu was told by an angry Trump on Sunday night, the day before the revealing of the 20-point plan, that he would sign or Trump would publicly walk away from him and Israel. When he objected that this would force the collapse of his ruling coalition, he was told he needed to choose—Trump or his lunatic right-wing ministers. He chose Trump, which now meant he had to try to subvert the plan's implementation while watering down some of its terms that might make it unacceptable to Hamas.
Arab Mediators Apply Pressure on Hamas
Meanwhile, with Witkoff involved at a distance, the mediators led by Qatar and Egypt, but also involving the UAE and Turkey, hammered Hamas, stating that this deal—first proposed in discussions with most Arab and Muslim nations at a meeting with Trump, Witkoff, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner on the UNGA sidelines—was the best that they were going to get, and that if they rejected it, Bibi could blame them for the slaughter he still intended to inflict on the innocent Palestinians whom Hamas claimed to represent. Hamas, sources told them, could not accept all the terms, as this would be surrender and lead to rebellion in its military wing in Gaza, which is highly decentralized and hardly in their control, containing many wild teenage recruits, many of whom joined so they could be fed and paid, unlike the rest of the starving Gazans.
The mediators were also told by Hamas that, while they might believe Trump wanted peace, there was no evidence that he would stand up to Bibi. Communicated to Trump directly, this led to Trump humiliating Bibi by forcing him to publicly apologize to the Qatari Prime Minister Al-Thani for the Sept. 9 attack on Hamas negotiators and leaders in Doha and say that this would never happen again, with Trump releasing the transcript of the call. Al Thani, who was one of the key mediators, immediately transmitted what happened—which was unprecedented in Israeli-American relations—to Hamas, which served as proof that he would make Bibi adhere to any terms of the deal.
Sources report that it became clear that Hamas was willing to agree to some terms of the plan but would require clarification and, in some cases such as disarming, negotiation—a "yes, but..." acceptance. Here, with Witkoff's help, they were instructed on how to phrase this so as to make it acceptable to Trump and difficult for Bibi to call for rejection: lead with the acceptance and willingness to release all the hostages, and link it only to a cessation of hostilities and a commitment to an IDF withdrawal according to a timetable; also accept the turning over of control of Gaza to a government of Palestinians and a willingness to discuss disarming; and immediate opening of Gaza to a massive flow of humanitarian aid to be distributed by the UN and Red Crescent. And, of course, some shoutout to Trump for working for peace.
Bibi’s Media Offensive and Miscalculation
Meanwhile, Bibi was preparing through Zionist media outlets and spokesmen to launch an offensive against the unworkability of the plan, with the idea that a Hamas "yes, but..." was really a rejection, which would lead to Trump's stated approval for the IDF to go ahead with the Gaza City invasion. Trump got wind of what was in the works from several sources on Capitol Hill, which was otherwise preoccupied with the federal government shutdown. That was communicated by Witkoff to the mediators, who urged Hamas not to wait for the weekend to reply to Trump within his four days allowed for their reply, but to reply immediately—which they did.
Trump, who knew basically what was going to be said, was prepared to accept the response almost as it was received. Netanyahu, reading the Hamas statement, was pleased because he took it as a rejection and was shocked that Trump responded positively. Now, he was trapped. With Trump accepting a proposal to immediately release all the hostages, Netanyahu could hardly reject it, lest he be forced into exile by angry mobs of Israelis who were already close to demanding that. So, he fumbled about to make his nonresponse without direct attribution to him.
Media Amplification and Hostage Doubts
Meanwhile, Bibi's media campaign was led by the war party's flagship paper, the Wall Street Journal—dubbed the Urinal for being used for leaks in Zionist and NATO interests—and amplified by reportage in the fake conservative flagships of Sir Rupert Murdoch's media empire, the New York Post and Fox News. They reported that despite the approval in Doha of the Trump plan, the military wing in Gaza was not for it, even though its leader expressed a willingness to compromise. The Urinal claimed to have spoken to other Hamas leaders and some unnamed mediators who said that some of the Hamas in Gaza were against releasing the hostages because once that happened the IDF would move to wipe them out.
While there is no doubt chaos in Hamas in Gaza, given its decentralized and guerrilla-type operations, the Hamas statement reflects discussion with those leaders, who are aware of another factor. An unexpected source has contributed positively to this peace process: when Hamas communicated with its Iranian patrons, they were asked if Iran would continue to supply them with weapons, munitions, and money. They were reportedly told that this would now be almost impossible and that they could no longer count on Iran's support. This would mean, if Iranian resupply were eliminated or greatly reduced, the ability of Hamas to keep fighting was limited—making the peace plan more attractive.
There is still criticism, if somewhat muted, coming from the usual (Zionist) suspects. The feeble-brained Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in a posting on X, called the Hamas reply "unfortunately predictable. A classic 'Yes, but... No disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control, and tying the hostage release to negotiations, along with other problems," Graham wrote. "This is in essence a rejection by Hamas of President Trump's take-it-or-leave-it proposal."
Unexpected Support from Biden’s Ambassador
Meanwhile, in its coverage trying to disparage what was happening, CNN summoned the Biden Administration's Israeli ambassador, Tom Lew, to comment on the Trump Plan. But he surprised idiot Jack Tapper by stating that he gives Trump "all the credit in the world if he can pull this off. All the credit. This damn war has got to be stopped. If Trump can do that, I give him the credit. It is a great thing."
Tapper was shocked and asked, "You don't really believe he can make this work, do you?" Lew replied, "Yes, I do. We tried to do this, but Bibi Netanyahu did not need Joe Biden. He needs Trump..." And while Tapper continued to speak of the difficulties, Lew simply said, "I want the war to stop, now. We tried to stop and couldn't. I want Trump to succeed..."
"That I think is what most sane people think," said a source close to the White House, who reported that Trump's people have been in touch with the experienced diplomat and Biden CIA Director William Burns, who tried to negotiate a peace deal with Bibi and Hamas, and who previously had negotiated the Iran nuclear deal working for then Secretary of State John Kerry.
"You know what it's like," said the source. "It is like pushing a rock up a big hill, with a lot of effort. Then, once you get to the top, the way down is easier and picks up speed. I think we are at that point now. We need to build momentum for peace, not just in Gaza, but peace everywhere in the region. Peace and economic development. That's what Trump wants."
Blair’s Exclusion and Council of Peace
Witkoff is expected to head for the region this weekend and may be accompanied by Kushner. But Kushner's new friend, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will be nowhere around.
Hamas and nearly every Arab and Muslim state in the region does not want Blair anywhere near what is going on, as he has been the architect of the British policy of war and destabilization since he used fake intelligence to launch the war against Iraq in 2003. Trump had mentioned Blair in the 20-point plan as the only named member of the "Board of Peace," which will oversee the implementation of the Plan and which Trump will chair.
"We can give them Blair," the source laughed. "Trump set that up, as he does not like or trust him. He's gone."
Oct. 3—A source close to the White House said that the unattributed reports in the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. was shifting strategy to aid Ukraine in attacking deep into Russia was "total NATO propaganda bullshit" coming from the flagship paper of the neo-con "war party" propaganda machine.
"No serious person with knowledge of the current strategic situation should ever believe anything that the Wall Street Journal says on any subject," said the source. "There has been no change on the part of President [Donald] Trump on giving any support for Ukraine's attack deep into Russia or providing new weapons systems such as Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike Moscow. [NATO's Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has asked Trump for this last week when they met at the UN, and he was told that it was not going to happen. Zelenskyy told Trump that such action was required to bring [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the negotiating table. Trump expressed frustration that Zelenskyy had not yet met with Putin but also told Zelenskyy that 'he had heard' that the reason there is no meeting is that the Ukrainian would not agree to any agenda and that he needed to correct that immediately."
This and other sources say that the WSJ report came from sources inside the military and defense establishment who cling to the neo-con agenda to bring the United States into direct conflict with Russia, including a military confrontation that could rapidly become nuclear.
Neo-Con Advocacy and Trump’s Rejection
The need for this policy shift was strongly argued by neo-con godfather Robert Kagan in the most recent issue of The Atlantic, where he urged the U.S. to back decisive military action, including using its own capabilities to create an on-the-ground situation where Ukraine could defeat Russia. Kagan, whose wife is the Queen of the Ukraine, former State Department official Victoria Nuland, who engineered the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine, argued for the use of advanced weapon systems to strike deep into Russia, hitting infrastructure and oil refineries, while also blowing up the Kerch Strait Bridge, which would wipe out the line of supply and retreat for Russian forces, trapping them in Ukraine. Kagan, like the fool that he is, admits that this might provoke a response from Russia that would attack NATO forces outside Ukraine, and even a nuclear response, but claims a weakened Putin would not risk this.
"Trump has rejected this advice," said the source. "Instead, he is in conflict with the NATO establishment that wants to prolong and intensify its proxy war versus Russia to involve NATO and American assets. He intends to end this war through diplomacy, and he awaits the release of a new peace plan from Putin. He is frustrated by the slow pace of things but is not such a fool to think that intensifying hostilities will bring the war to a close."
Strategic Shift: U.S. Pullback from Europe
"There has been a change in strategy," the source said. "And it is about more than Ukraine. The neo-cons are freaked out because the President intends to pull U.S. assets out of Europe, and force European NATO to accept the responsibility for its own defense. The U.S. intends to place more of a focus on the Western Hemisphere. He has said the war in Ukraine is NATO's war, not ours. You want to supply Ukraine, then you can buy weapons from U.S., but we are done supporting your war with our money, and you can forget about U.S. troops. That was the meaning of his social media post last week. You can win the war with sanctions and other non-military policy, but Europe is not going to do this. Look at the bullshit that came from the recent EU ministers meeting on sanctions: we need to look at them, look at trying to stop people buying Russian energy, but as usual, they huff and puff and do nothing."
So, the WSJ tried to flip things, implying that the U.S. will now act more aggressively, using military means through the Ukrainians against Russia, the source stated.
WSJ Claims and Internal Contradictions
According to the report posted Oct. 1 in the WSJ, the U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, unnamed American officials said, as the Trump administration weighs sending Ukraine powerful weapons that could put in range more targets within Russia.
The Journal claims Trump recently signed off on allowing intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to aid the Kyiv regime with the strikes. U.S. officials are asking NATO allies to provide similar support, the officials said. The expanded intelligence-sharing with Kyiv is said to be the latest sign that Trump is deepening support for Ukraine as his efforts to advance peace talks have stalled. It is the first time, officials say, that the administration will aid Ukrainian strikes with long-range missiles against energy targets deep inside Russian territory.
The WSJ says further that the U.S. is also weighing deliveries of Tomahawk and Barracuda missiles and other American-made ground- and air-launched missiles that have ranges of around 700 miles, other administration officials said. No decision on what to send—if anything—has been made, the officials said.
In the view of these officials, the intelligence, combined with more powerful weapons, could have a far more potent effect than Ukraine’s previous strikes in Russia, causing greater damage to its energy infrastructure and tying up Russian air defenses.
Then, to provide them with a fig leaf to cover their lies, the Journal writes that U.S. officials are "awaiting written guidance from the White House before sharing the necessary intelligence, one official said." So, in other words, totally contradicting all they have written, nothing has been decided or given.
Russian Intelligence Warnings and False Flag Concerns
The source close to the White House stated that the Russians know what Trump is dealing with and will not be provoked by such non-sourced reports. Despite what Trump posted about the possibilities of Ukraine "winning" and regaining its territory, American intelligence reports say that Ukraine is losing everywhere along the battlefront, and is retreating, which only makes NATO more desperate. This is why the Russians are putting out warnings about more likely "false flag" operations against NATO countries, run by Ukraine and blamed on the Russians to try to justify and trigger more NATO direct involvement against Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, issued a warning Sept. 30 that the Kiev regime is preparing a false flag provocation to be used to bring NATO directly into war with Russia. The SVR said in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 30 that the drone incursions into the EU were part of continued efforts by Ukraine, which is losing on the battlefield, aimed at “drawing European NATO countries into armed conflict with Moscow,” reported RT.
“Another provocation is currently being worked out” by Zelenskyy, the SVR statement read. It would revolve around “a sabotage and reconnaissance group deployed into Polish territory and allegedly consisting of special forces servicemen from Russia and Belarus,” it added. Members of the unit have already been selected from the ranks of the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, which have been fighting for Kiev in the Ukraine conflict, the agency said.
According to the scenario being prepared by Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) together with Polish spy agencies, after “the ‘detection and neutralization’ of the group by the security forces of Poland, its members are expected to appear before the media and give confessions, implicating Russia and Belarus in attempts to destabilize the situation in Poland.” The belief in Ukraine is that, following the faked "Russian" drone incursions, “such an event should leave no doubt in the minds of the Poles and other ordinary Europeans that Moscow and Minsk stand behind all the hostile actions,” SVR said. “Kyiv expects to prompt European countries to respond to Russia as harshly as possible, preferably in a military manner,” the SVR warned.
Oct. 2—President Donald Trump forced a clearly angry Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu Sept. 29 to apologize to the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani for Israel's Sept. 9 attack on Hamas in Doha, something that Bibi had told the world last week at the UNGA was perfectly within Israel's right.
The apology came in a phone call initiated by Trump, and sources close to the White House report that the President had demanded the public apology from Netanyahu before his release of the 20-point Trump Peace Plan for Gaza.
Trump, these sources say, had a bitter exchange with Netanyahu right after the attack, which had taken place without U.S. approval or warning, in which Trump called Bibi a "crazy man" who was endangering all that Trump had been working to achieve in the region, and would weaken confidence Arab leaders had in him personally. "You are never going to do something like this again," he told Netanyahu, who had stupidly tried to argue that it’s Israel's right to go after Hamas leaders wherever they are. The sources say Trump sternly asked Netanyahu, "Well do you want peace? I am beginning to think not."
Other sources report that the Doha attack had failed to kill the Hamas negotiating team or its leaders because of a warning that "came from somewhere in the Israel" moments before the strike.
Diplomatic Reassurances and Peace Plan Adjustments
Trump had also met with Al Thani for dinner at the Trump Tower in New York to reassure him that this would never happen again and that he regarded Qatar as an important ally for peace and asked him to continue his negotiating efforts with Hamas to seek an accord. He also revealed at that meeting that he would call a meeting with Arab and Muslim nations next week at the UN to go over what he and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had worked out—a 21-point comprehensive peace plan for Gaza.
One of the points in that plan was a statement that Israel would never attack Qatar.
That point was dropped, at the request of Bibi, who said he would never be able to sell that wording to the Kahanist lunatics in his coalition. Sources report that Trump came back with, if you don't want it in the plan, then you will make a public apology to Qatar and Al Thani.
During the call, Netanyahu “expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” an official White House readout said.
The Israeli premier “further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future,” it continued.
During the call, the Qatari premier “welcomed these assurances, emphasizing Qatar’s readiness to continue contributing meaningfully to regional security and stability,” the US readout said, noting that Netanyahu “expressed commitment to the same.”
The readout issued by Netanyahu’s office said he told Al Thani that “Israel has no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future, and I have made that commitment to the president.”
“I want to assure you that Israel was targeting Hamas, not Qataris,” the statement quoted Netanyahu saying.
Netanyahu told Al Thani that he knows “your leadership has grievances against Israel and Israel has grievances against Qatar, from support for the Muslim Brotherhood to how Israel is portrayed on Al Jazeera to support for anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses.” He added that he welcomed Trump’s initiative of establishing a trilateral forum to address “outstanding grievances,” the Israeli readout said.
"Trump knew he was essentially making Bibi eat shit," said the source close to the White House. "But he had to do this, if for no other reason than to show the Arab partners, and also Hamas, that he can enforce his will on the wildman Netanyahu. This is critical if the peace plan is going to work, because people know Bibi wants to violate its terms and restart the war."
Coalition Backlash and Political Fallout
Meanwhile, Bibi's apology triggered the expected lunacy from his Kahanist coalition partners.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir took to social media, calling the Sept. 9 strike in Doha “important, just, and supremely moral.” Calling Qatar “an enemy state,” the lunatic messianic minister said that “whoever sends monsters to burn babies, rape women, and abduct elderly women must know that there is no place in the world where he is safe.”
“It is time to tell the world the truth: Qatar is a state that supports terrorism, funds terrorism, and incites terrorism,” he continued. “No money will cleanse the terrorism from their hands.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich compared the apology to the Munich Agreement of 1938 between Nazi Germany and Great Britain, France, and Italy. The agreement was signed exactly 87 years ago on Sept. 30.
U.S. Will Defend Qatar if Struck
Yesterday, the White House made it known President Trump has signed an executive order saying that any armed attack against Qatar would be considered "a threat to the peace and security of the United States."
"In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability," reads the executive order, which was dated Monday, Sept. 29--the day of Bibi's apology.
"I am sure that Bibi is having one of his now more frequent rug-chewing fits," said another source, close to the peace negotiations.
Oct. 2—As the Jewish High Holy Day Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, drew to a close, sources close to the White House said that intelligence they had from several sources, including Arab mediators, leads them to believe that Hamas is going to accept the principles of the 20-point peace plan for Gaza released Monday. These sources say that Hamas realizes that they cannot afford to reject the plan, because it would put the continuation of the slaughter unleashed by the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, squarely on the terrorist organization.
But Hamas cannot get its entire organization to accept the plan unless it asks for clarification of its terms and some clearer language that commits the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw from Gaza according to a reasonable timetable; nor can Hamas, an organization of fighters, agree to give up its arms and accept either amnesty and peaceful co-existence in Gaza or exile without the IDF withdrawal taking place and Israel turning over governance of Gaza to a Palestinian entity, as the Trump plan specifies, without a timetable.
Arab and Muslim States Urge Hamas to Accept
"Hamas," said one source, "is getting pounded by Arab and Muslim states, who support the Trump plan, who are telling them this is the best deal that can be made now, and they must accept it. They can point to the prisoner release and mass release of detainees as victories.
"They must understand that Bibi does not want to stop the fighting and wants to kill as many Palestinians as he can, and will do so, unless Trump stops him with this plan. That is also a victory. And while the statement is vague on its timing, it does talk about moving towards statehood, as the 'aspiration of the Palestinian people.' That is a big victory, in that neither Bibi nor Trump supported this, and until recently, nor did Hamas. Another key point won for the Palestinians by Trump is that Israel will be barred from annexations or placing settlements in Gaza and barred from annexing the West Bank."
Envoy Efforts and Public Sentiment in Gaza
The White House sources say that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is confident that these problems with language, timing, and required further assurances that Trump will not let Bibi backtrack and restart the war after Hamas disarms can be worked out to the satisfaction of the Hamas negotiating team in Doha.
Witkoff has sent people into Gaza to get some kind of opinion on the plan from the population. What has come back is an overwhelming sense of support for ending the war, releasing the hostages, and a search for a better future. People recognize that there are shortcomings in the plan, but they want an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of the IDF. They don't really care about Hamas, and they don't see its leaders as representing them. They did not support the attack and massacre of Oct. 7, 2023 precisely because they feared such actions would bring the response that it has from the insane and murderous Israeli leadership.
The Gazans see themselves as victims of an illegal occupation, which has turned over their lives to Hamas—it was the Israelis, with money and even weapons, that had put Hamas in power in Gaza, as a block on the Palestinian Authority and moves towards a two-state solution.
Voices from Gaza: Desperation and Disillusionment
“Hamas must say yes to this offer — we have been through hell already,” Mahmoud Bolbol, 43, a construction worker who has remained in Gaza City with his six children in the battered shell of their home throughout the war, told the New York Times.
"For the past two days, Mr. Bolbol said his neighbors have talked about almost nothing but the cease-fire proposal. If Hamas rejects it, he said, his family would finally leave Gaza City and head for what he hoped would be the relative safety of the enclave’s south.
“Hamas needs to understand: Enough is enough,” Mr. Bolbol said. Most Gazans are not members of the group, he added, “so why drag us into this?”
Reflecting on the interviews in Gaza conducted over the last two days, the Times wrote: "Some people said the terms of the proposal made them doubt that Hamas would agree. Others said their doubts grew from something more basic and bitter: They simply did not believe that Hamas would put the interests of the Palestinian people above the interests of the organization.
"'We are dying for nothing, and no one cares about us,' said Nasayem Muqat, 30, who fled Israel’s expanding military campaign in Gaza City for the territory’s south on Monday with her young daughter, Selene. 'Hamas needs to think more of us and what we have been through.'
"Abdelhalim Awad, 57, who manages a bakery in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, said he would accept almost 'any price' to end the war. But he said he did not believe that Hamas could say the same thing.
"'They don’t care about what people think or public opinion,' Mr. Awad said. 'If they cared about that, we wouldn’t be in this situation.'
"In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Mattar, 35, said he hoped the United States could somehow force Hamas to accept the deal and then make both the armed group and Israel abide by all its terms.
"'My wish is that Trump forces it as a reality on both sides, directly, without giving a choice,' said Mr. Abu Mattar, who was once an accountant in Gaza City....
"He said he was disgusted with the negotiators in faraway conference rooms who seem to control his family’s fate.
"'The ones negotiating on my behalf are sitting in air-conditioned rooms,' he said. 'They are not the ones living in sand, walking half an hour to fetch water or searching for a bag of flour and getting killed.'"
Strategic Calculations and Netanyahu’s Position
The White House sources say that they realize that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians in Gaza, but that Hamas must agree to this deal if there is going to be peace.
For nearly two decades, Hamas has served as Bibi's foil, to be manipulated and used. And sources in Israel, with contacts in the government and intelligence services, say that they believed that Bibi, with foreknowledge of Hamas plans for its rampage on Oct. 7, 2023—the plans for which were in possession of Israeli intelligence and the IDF nearly a year in advance of the attack—allowed the attack to occur so he could initiate his "final solution" for the Palestinian question. Hamas should realize that they have been played to terrible result for the Palestinian people and understand that this new plan is in fact a way to deliver a blow to the monster who has been using them. Netanyahu has blocked all efforts to set up an official government commission of inquiry om Oct. 7.
If the plan is accepted and worked on, it will likely mean the political end for Bibi, and that would be a great thing for the entire region, especially Israel. Regardless, he will not politically outlive the terms and implementation of this agreement, and when he goes, the Kahanist flotsam and jetsam which have kept his coalition in office will go with him, to the political oblivion they deserve.
Hostage Arrangements and Risks of Sabotage
Meanwhile, sources report that Hamas leadership must find all the hostages that are alive; there are several reports that they have lost communication with people that are holding them. The arrangements to get all of them are being done now, which is also an indication that Hamas knows where this is all going. At least one source reports that Hamas has indicated a willingness to turn the hostages first over to a representative of Trump, such as Steve Witkoff, rather than to the Israelis or the Red Crescent.
And although Trump forced Bibi to sign on to the deal with some changes, the White House knows he does not really accept it, and he wants the fighting to continue. And so, Trump is prepared for his sabotage efforts:
The respected analyst Amos Harel wrote Oct. 1 in Haaretz: "In the days ahead, Netanyahu will likely attempt to launch a protracted negotiation with the administration regarding the terms of the agreement, its final language, and the implementation timeline. The fact that the drafters of the plan didn't set a binding timetable for the IDF's withdrawal could complicate things down the line. At the same time, Netanyahu will leverage objections from the messianic right-wing parties in his coalition and scatter hints and declarations aimed at stressing Hamas and making the organization's leaders believe that Israel will violate the agreement when the opportunity arises. Israel already violated the previous agreement when it resumed the war last March. Since then, Trump has not lived up to his commitment to impose an agreement after Hamas released U.S.-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander."
One thing that Bibi is doing is pressing the IDF to go ahead with its attack on Gaza City. Haaretz’s Yaniv Kubovich reports that "Israel Defense Forces commanders say they fear that an extraordinary incident in the fighting in the Gaza Strip could cause the collapse of negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the new Trump proposal to end the war and bring home the hostages. They said they fear that an attack that results in a large number of civilian deaths or, alternatively, a Hamas operation that led to Israeli troop deaths, could result in renewed escalation and hinder the talks…
"The IDF brass is having a hard time hiding its desire to reach a deal and end the war in Gaza. Commanders in the field are having a hard time providing answers to the tens of thousands of reservists who have been called up in recent months for another round of combat. Therefore, the IDF wants to release as many reservists as possible the moment political leaders announce that the talks are progressing and that the fighting can be brought to a halt."
Trump had said Sept. 30 that he was giving Hamas "3 or four days" to respond to his peace plan, but sources close to him say that he expects to have that response by the weekend.
Oct. 1—The Gaza Humanitarian Fund reports, as testimony to their success, that they have now distributed over 161 million meals since May. But the agency, whose security working with the Israel Defense Forces have killed thousands of starving Gazans for no known reason in and around their distribution sites, may not be around much longer—if the Trump Peace Plan is implemented.
The reality is that GHF, which was backed by the Israeli and U.S. governments, doesn’t actually distribute any meals. Rather, they derive their figure in their most recent status report by assuming that each 40-lb aid package that they provide for pickup is supposed to be enough to feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days—or the equivalent of 19.25 people for one day. The “161 million meals since May” translates into fewer than 12,900 boxes/day over the last 125 days (since GHF began), or fewer than 250,000 Gazans fed on a given day. That is 11-12% of the population, at best, get access to the boxes, and, by GHF’s figures, about 88-89% get nothing. Or, assuming that everyone gets some food at some point, every Gazan gets fed on average once out of every 8-9 days!
The GHF may be overstating their case in bragging about the 161 million meals. However, they don’t hold a candle to the bizarre claim by the Butcher of Gaza, the prime minister of Israel at the UN last week. Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu asserted that Israel has provided 3,000 calories/day in food to every Gazan throughout the last two years. While offering no proof at all to support this lie.
As for the GHF, there is no mention of its continuing operation in the Trump Peace Plan, which will instead entrust competent and reputable humanitarian organizations linked to the UN and Red Crescent to handle this task.
Sept. 30—When "The Butcher of Gaza" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu arrived in Washington to meet with President Donald Trump yesterday, he knew he would have to agree to the President's revised 20-point peace plan, crafted with the help of almost all Arab nations in the region, that, while meeting his ostensible "war aims," includes the release of all hostages, alive and dead, in one action and the dismantling of what remains of Hamas's military capabilities.
As one source who has been talking to all sides in the negotiations put it, citing the Godfather movie trilogy, "Bibi was being given an offer he can't refuse."
He was being forced to accept terms of the plan that he would never have chosen, including allowing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to eventually rule Gaza and to move eventually to act on what the plan called the "aspiration" of the Palestinian people for statehood—something he told the UNGA he would never allow.
So, as another source put it, "Bibi sucked it in and took it. He was hoping that something would go wrong, that Hamas might say no or fuck something up, so that he could go back to the thing that this monster loves best, killing innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, so that they would just simply numerically overwhelm the Jews. But there was never any real question that he could say no in Washington. The no would come later, when he is back among his crazy 'jihadist' Zionists."
Qatar Clause Removed Under Pressure
Bibi did manage to get one thing changed. The 21st point was removed that said that Israel would never again attack Qatar, one of Trump's key allies and a mediator, as he had done by striking its capital, Doha, earlier this month in a failed attempt to wipe out the Hamas negotiating team and its leaders. (The attempt failed, sources report, because of a warning that came from inside Israel moments before the attack.) That was removed because it was said to infringe on Israel's sovereign rights and Qatar was not a party to the deal, just a mediator.
From Trump's standpoint, as his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told Qatari officials, what really mattered here is that Trump is the one guaranteeing that this would not happen and that there would be consequences for the Israelis.
Countdown to Hamas Acceptance
Trump today put a three- or four-day deadline for Hamas to formally accept the deal, which reportedly pleased Bibi, who holds out hope that Hamas would stupidly reject the only plan that would halt the slaughter and ease the suffering, in favor of maintaining their false image of carrying the flag for all Palestinians.
And there were reports from the usual circles in and around Hamas that called the Trump plan "an Israeli plan for surrender" and said Hamas should fight on, after stupidly launching a massacre of Israelis and others Oct. 7, 2023, and giving the monster Netanyahu his excuse to slaughter Palestinians and turn Gaza into a Hiroshima-like rubble field, with likely more than 100,000 dead Palestinians. (One is reminded of the sage advice of Bibi's co-evil twin, the late Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, the author of the Oct. 7 massacres, who once told a reporter that he did not care if he caused the martyrdom of 1 million Palestinians.)
Fortunately, as certain Hamas leaders have been informed of the progress in the talks devising the plan by representatives of the Arab states, there are reports that Hamas will accept the deal tomorrow morning, at which point Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will get to work on getting its implementation going. CBS News was told that Hamas would accept the deal tomorrow.
Trump’s Guarantee and the Road Ahead
The deal itself is self-explanatory. We print the White House version of the 20 Point Plan below. It is not a solution to the Israel-Palestinian crisis, but a plan and roadmap towards a solution. How it is worked out, in the end, will require a lot of effort on all sides—and yes, there are people in Israel and even in the leadership of the Israel Defense Forces that want peace—who must, as Trump said, be committed to work their butts off for peace, as he has pledged he would.
"You can take Trump seriously when he says that," a source close to the White House said today. "He is the one that guarantees there will be no restarting the war once it stops, and that Gaza is rebuilt. If he doesn't say this and makes this commitment, there is no deal. And Trump is no fool, he knows that Bibi wants to keep the war going, if for no other reason than to keep him from facing the Israeli voters soon, or even the judges in his corruption case. But the key was to get him on board so that the process could get going, get started."
"Let's be perfectly clear," said the source. "Who the fuck cares what Bibi Netanyahu thinks should be done in the end, which could be several months or years down the line? He will not be around. And this deal, with Trump making sure it goes forward, not only means the end of a senseless war not to defend Israel, but to destroy it and its moral fabric with Bibi's penchant for Hitler-like genocide. Trump won't say this as long as he has to talk to this motherfucker. But with this Plan, he did not just save Gaza, he may have saved Israel. And that does not happen if Bibi, his evil wife, and the crowd of messianic Kahanist leeches, like [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich are not gone. For that, if it all works out, maybe Trump should get the Nobel Prize."
The Trump 20 Point Peace Plan
Ending the War Through Mutual Agreement
1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.
3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed-upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.
4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.
5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life-sentence prisoners, plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.
Humanitarian Aid and Infrastructure Rehabilitation
7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.
8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025, agreement.
Governance and Oversight Mechanisms
9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.
Economic Development and Investment Strategy
10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.
11. A special economic zone will be established, with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.
Security, Demilitarization, and Monitoring
13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy-back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.
14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A deconfliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.
16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF, according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority, until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.
17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.
Dialogue, Coexistence, and Political Horizon
18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.
19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.
Sept. 29—President Donald Trump has indeed changed his strategy on ending NATO’s bloody and losing war against Russia in Ukraine, but not in the way the NATO propaganda machine claims after a Trump tweet last week seemed to imply that he thought Ukraine would "win." After months of trying to force Ukraine and its NATO puppet dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate in good faith with the Russians—efforts repeatedly undermined by NATO countries such as Great Britain, France, and Germany—sources close to the White House say the President has delivered a clear message: it's your war, not ours, and he will give nothing in weapons and support for this war that Europe does not pay for.
In speaking with Zelenskyy last week on the sidelines of the UN session, Trump also made it clear that he will still determine exactly what weapons the Europeans can buy for the madman in Kyiv, again refusing his request for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike Moscow.
Rejection of Kagan’s Escalation Strategy
In so doing, Trump also rejected the policy advice of neo-con godfather Robert Kagan, husband of the Queen of the Ukraine and creator of the Maidan coup in 2014, former State Department official Victoria Nuland. Writing in the latest issue of The Atlantic, Kagan argued that now was the time for the U.S. to offer direct military and airpower support for Kyiv. Kagan, demonstrating his descent into even more desperate lunacy, believes that a war-weakened Russia could be dealt a decisive blow that would trap its forces inside Ukraine with no means of retreat—if the 12-mile-long Kerch Bridge were blown to smithereens by the U.S. and NATO. This, despite the fact, as strategic blogger Simplicus writes, that such an attack would surely trigger a Russian response that would rapidly escalate to a general thermonuclear war. Kagan, an influential and dangerous fool, claims that it is worth the risk because Russian ambitions to conquer Europe would be permanently ended—ambitions that do not exist, but which infect NATO's geopolitical thinking.
Peace Talks and the Alaska Summit Plan
White House sources say that Trump has also made his thinking clear to the European backers of the little dictator Zelenskyy, who asked whether the President was still committed to finding a peace deal in the crisis. He told them he was and expressed his opinion that moves in that direction would soon be coming from Trump's actual partner in seeking peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Trump has backed off on pressing Zelenskyy to seek discussions with Putin," said a source, "as he now believes that productive discussions are impossible as long as the Europeans jack up Zelenskyy. Instead, the President awaits Putin's response to the basic plan drawn up at the Alaska summit last month, in which the Russian president will lay out a concrete proposal for a ceasefire and ending the war on compromising terms."
The President tweeted after meeting Zelenskyy that he thought Ukraine could get most of its pre-February 2022 borders, if they are patient. He laid out the case that Russia was susceptible to increased economic pressure—not from sanctions, which cannot be enforced—but from Europe refusing to buy energy products from Russia and reducing trade with Russia's primary economic ally, China. He said this knowing that Europe is never going to do that; and note, he talked about 'pre-war borders'—which do not include Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
Terms for Ending the War
"Trump knows what will end the war," the source continued. "Agreeing that NATO does not move any further eastward, and that Ukraine does not become a member; withdrawal of NATO missile systems from close to the Russian border; no NATO troops to be stationed in Ukraine for any purpose; and a pullback of Russian troops in former Ukrainian oblasts. The reversal of Ukrainian legislation that bars use of the Russian language and restricts Russian culture. They say they agree to these things, the war stops, and the borders can be adjusted for a more favorable outcome for Ukraine, with prospects for a massive redevelopment program. Zelenskyy will not propose such terms, so they are going to have to come from the Russians and the United States."
"With anti-Russian hysteria surrounding the alleged Russian drone attacks and overflights in neighboring countries, there is a cry for the stationing of U.S. troops in these countries—more troops in Poland and troops in places such as Romania and Estonia," said the source. "Trump is not going to do this, although he will listen to the proposals. Trump has worked out a counter to this Kagan-like tripwire scheme in the coming new Defense Strategy crafted by the anti-neo-con chief of defense policy, Eldridge Colby, which has the U.S. pulling back from Europe and concentrating on its own backyard in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. can't do both, effectively."
Lukashenko Endorses Russian Peace Proposal
Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says that he discussed with Putin on Sept. 26 a new Russian peace plan for Ukraine that was "a very good proposal" which he claimed was broadly backed by the United States. He claimed that its outline had been presented to Trump in Alaska and was greeted favorably.
"President Putin and I discussed it, but I won't talk about it. The president himself will say," said Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin.
"It's a good proposal for Ukraine, proposals that were heard by Donald Trump in Alaska, among other places, and taken to Washington for consideration and discussion. A very good proposal," Lukashenko told Russian TV reporter Pavel Zarubin.
"If the Ukrainians don't accept these proposals, it will be like it was at the beginning of the special military operation," he added, using Moscow's term for the invasion of Ukraine. "It will be even worse; they will lose Ukraine."
"To avoid losing all of Ukraine, (Zelenskyy) must not just negotiate, but agree to favorable terms—terms that, by and large, have been approved by the Americans," Lukashenko said. He proposed building a nuclear power station in eastern Belarus that could provide electricity to Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine.
The Belarus president also suggested that he, Putin, and Zelenskyy, as leaders of three Slavic states, should sit down and come to an agreement.
"An interesting proposal," said the White House source. "Let's see what Putin proposes and then go from there."
Sept. 28—The President of Colombia Gustavo Petro addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square in New York City Sept. 26, and issued a public call for American soldiers to disobey the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump, and instead join with the “forces of humanity” to militarily liberate the Palestinian people.
Predictably, the "former" narco-terrorist Petro’s brazen provocation brought a prompt response from the U.S. State Department: “Earlier today, Colombian president Gustavo Petro stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
More significantly, Petro’s actions will greatly discredit the efforts of The Hague Group of 34 nations, which Colombia recently co-founded with South Africa, to find a way for the United Nations General Assembly to intervene to stop the genocide in Gaza. One experienced Colombia analyst commented to EIR: “Petro, once again, is acting the part of the seasoned agent provocateur, much as he did as a leader of the M-19 narco-terrorists in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. London, Washington and Tel Aviv will be pleased as punch with his Times Square stunt.”
Petro told the rally: “From here, from New York, I call on all the soldiers of the United States Army: Do not point your rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump’s order. Obey the order of humanity…. We have to organize that great army … it has to be bigger than the army of the United States.” Petro’s words were interpreted into English for the crowd by one of his aides.
Petro was a leading member of the M-19 guerrilla group in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s. The M-19 famously seized the Justice Palace in Bogotá in 1985 and held all the members of the Supreme Court hostage. This led to the slaughter of 100 individuals, including half of the Supreme Court Justices, and the gutting of the national legal archives, which made it impossible to prosecute the drug kingpins. That “guerrilla” action, it has since been acknowledged, was contracted and financed by the Medellin cocaine cartel, which was trying to stop the extradition of top Narcos to the United States. Petro was in jail at the time of the takeover and claims he had no involvement in those events. But he has always defended both his role and the actions of the M-19 and does so to this day.
The M-19 was also closely allied with the narco-terrorist FARC—the world’s largest cocaine cartel—throughout this period, while remaining organizationally distinct. For a while the two narco-terrorist groups worked together in the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board to negotiate a “peace pact” (including control over territory where they would be allowed to proceed with legalized drug-running) with the government.
That’s the context for the subsequent famous “Grasso Abrazo” picture of the New York Stock Exchange’s Richard Grasso embracing the #2 leader and head of finances of the FARC, Raul Reyes, in the “liberated” jungles of the Caguán area of Colombia in 1999.
Sept. 28—The 121st consecutive online forum of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place on Sept. 26. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and International Peace Coalition initiator, opened the proceedings by stating that the moral fitness of the world is being tested. She commented that at the same time that she was speaking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the United Nations General Assembly, but noted that his speech was delayed when a large group of UN delegates walked out, causing some disorder, just as Netanyahu was about to utter his first words. Zepp-LaRouche made the point that Israel put up billboards around New York City reading “Remember October 7,” implying that Netanyahu was justified to commit any atrocity to seek revenge. She said that conditions in Gaza go beyond description, people in Gaza City are being forced to evacuate, but most people have no transportation, no food, no water, no medicine, etc. Thousands are fleeing, but they don’t know where to go since buildings are being bombed, including schools, hospitals, mosques, etc. Later in the dialogue, Zepp-LaRouche criticized the possibility that Britain’s Tony Blair might become a “temporary governor” of Gaza (which is not viewed as likely).
Zepp-LaRouche said that Netanyahu wants to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in order to gain approval for another military strike on Iran but noted that the mood of the U.S. population is shifting quickly against Netanyahu’s endless warmongering. She also noted the increased global resistance to this, as Iran is now receiving more military assistance from Russia and China, and there is a greater resolve among Arab nations, especially after the Israeli attack on Doha, Qatar. While much of the media highlight Trump’s recent comments in support of Ukraine as a new political U-turn, Zepp-LaRouche was more open to the suggestion that Trump is merely anxious to dump the problem on the Europeans. However, she was not sure that Europe could “fill the void,” despite its massive military buildup and spending surge. Ukraine is losing the war—if it has not already lost the war—likely with 1.7 million casualties, even though some view it like a bank that is “too big to fail.”
Zepp-LaRouche told the IPC that all of Europe, and especially Germany, is being hit with psychological warfare so as to whip the population into an anti-Russia frenzy. There is now hysteria over alleged violations of NATO airspace, a claim which Russia has responded to by stating that their airspace is constantly being violated. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has even said that shooting down Russian planes “is on the table.” Large military exercises are currently underway in Hamburg, Germany, which are specifically aimed at the involvement of civilians, while Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said that the social state must be dismantled in order to spend €83 billion on tanks, artillery, and jet fighters. However, Zepp-LaRouche warned that any war will quickly become a nuclear war, and all that military hardware will be vaporized. She called on everyone to participate in and promote the Oct. 3 demonstrations in Berlin and Stuttgart to stop the war insanity, like the successful, massive demonstrations in the 1980s. She said that the very existence of Germany depends on this effort. She said that the root of all this hysteria is a fear on the part of the Western geopoliticians of the rise of the Global South.
A leader of the Schiller Institute in Mexico, Alberto Vizcarra, spoke next and gave a report on the just-concluded conference in Mexico City of farm leaders from nine states across the country. The conference was held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s School of Economics. Attendees included the 91-year-old Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, an engineer and former Mexican presidential candidate, leaders in the school’s economics department, and a very large contingent of young people. The Mexican farm leaders gave a picture of the dire economic crisis facing agriculture under free trade agreements that their government has tolerated. A highlight of this conference was the reading of a support letter from farm leaders in the United States who are suffering from the same policies, and identified the problem of global bankers and food cartels destroying farmers around the world. Vizcarra said that if Mexico would join with the BRICS and other Global South economic initiatives, there would be no need to break with the United States.
Dr. Apurba Kumar Bardalai, a retired Major General from the Indian Army, spoke of his experience as the leader of the United Nations peacekeeping effort in Lebanon, UNIFIL. He promoted the spirit of the anti-colonial, pro-development, 1955 Bandung Conference, but was critical of the hypocrisy of the controllers of the United Nations. He said that while the UN Charter is based on international law and principles of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, Winston Churchill subverted it to his obsession of building a worldwide opposition against Russia. The UN became a pawn in the hands of just a few “permanent five” countries. Peace can be won when the powerful countries decide to prevent a war, such as the 1956 Suez Crisis. However, other wars are acceptable, such as his experience in Lebanon. He praised the Schiller Institute’s commitment to economic development as a road to peace and warned that if we fail in peace, the consequences will “haunt us forever.”
A video clip of an EIR interview with Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), conducted by Diane Sare, was played in which Macgregor questioned the “success” of the Trump administration reducing it to “Biden II.” He said that the economic folly was leading to war, the collapse of the dollar, and economic default. But Macgregor said that much of the world is finding success in a new direction. He said that the U.S. should look for a way to deal with the coming default without hurting the population, but said that Trump is surrounded by Wall Street billionaires and does not see any other option.
Army veteran and leader in the Eisenhower Media Network Josephine Gilbeau then spoke, stressing the importance of all citizens of the world uniting for peace despite all the petty differences that we may have. She watched 13 hours of the speeches at the UN General Assembly, and said she was left feeling disappointed. She spoke of the Freedom Flotilla and the threats from Israel to the passengers.
Schiller Institute activist in Canada Ilko Dimov spoke of the importance of using classical culture to give people a higher identity and create a society based on Renaissance principles, and showed examples of his own art work to exemplify the point. He said that when President Trump speaks of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, we need to speak of Friedrich Schiller and beauty. Only this quality can provide a resistance to the moral crisis in the population.
This issue would come up later when a question was asked whether President Trump was too erratic and should be removed with the 25th Amendment. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small answered that Trump has been oscillating for some time, but a bigger problem was the identity and lack of thinking by the American public. Small said that Americans have to think more like John Quincy Adams. Helga Zepp-LaRouche answered by asking who would replace Trump? She said that the most urgent problem is the threat of World War III, and that this is her top priority.
A former member of the European Parliament from Latvia brought up the danger of conflict in Moldova, and pointed out that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been traveling in the area. An important question came from a person in Venezuela asking about the threats to his country from President Trump, and how ideologues like Evan Ellis have said that a war with Venezuela would be a “cake walk.” Small replied that this is part of the “law of the jungle,” and its objective is to stop Ibero-American countries from working with China or the Belt and Road development plans. He said that this is not just a threat against Venezuela, but the same faction is also committed to destroying the Lula government in Brazil.
Later in the dialogue Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche warned of the danger of a new fascism to manipulate the public with censorship and control over all its data. She mentioned Peter Thiel and his article “The Straussian Moment,” wherein he presents the idea that since 9/11 the only way to have security is to surrender freedom.
However, it is not sufficient merely to expose the problems of the world, she said. We must give people a way out. The West would be welcomed with open arms if it engages in a cooperative spirit with the Global South. Our biggest task is to organize and educate the nations of the West, and create this new paradigm, Zepp-LaRouche concluded.
Sept. 28—Sources in the U.S. intelligence community say that Poland, Romania and other nations alleging attacks from "Russian" drones have presented no convincing evidence that such attacks originated in Russia or were run by Russian operatives. Instead, these American intelligence sources believe that, as the Russians have said, the drones are far more likely to be "false flag" operations intended by NATO and its Ukrainian assets to justify a potential NATO response—one that would bring the world closer to a nuclear showdown with Russia, and which might trigger an American response under Article 5 of the NATO charter.
U.S. Advises Caution on Article 4 Claims
When Poland alleged that the drone attacks had likely come from Russia, it invoked Article 4 of the NATO charter, seeking consultations with and among NATO allies. "What the U.S. told Poland was to calm down, that you have no evidence that this was an attack [none of the drones they recovered had any explosives], and that it came from Russia," said a source. "Our intel people are inclined to think that [Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr] Zelenskyy fired them, although they have made no such claims publicly," said the source.
When Zelenskyy met with Trump at the United Nations this week, he did not bring up the drone attacks, but did allege that the Russians are acting to provoke NATO, making the absurd claim that they were doing this because they are losing the war so badly—a strange claim to make from a man whose forces have suffered an estimated 1.7 million casualties since Russia began what it calls its "special military operation" in February 2022.
Zelenskyy asked for more anti-drone and anti-missile systems to better fight back drone attacks and was told that this depends on whether the Europeans were willing to cough up the money necessary to purchase them. He reportedly asked Trump to send Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have sufficient range to reach Moscow. Trump reportedly laughed at the request.
Hybrid Drone Attacks and Fabricated Evidence
A U.S. intel community source said he believed that Zelenskyy fired the drones from his arsenal of more than 1,000 such Russian weapons at his disposal. In every Russian drone attack on Ukraine, more than half to two-thirds of drones are shot down by Ukrainian defenses. The majority do not explode but go off course and crash. The Ukrainians then capture the drones and, using some for parts to repair others, create new hybrid "Russian" drones; these hybrid models are used to fake a Russian attack on Poland or any other target."
This would tend to be consistent with reports coming out of Poland describing the recovered drones as "held together with duct tape." The Poles were also caught faking the evidence of damage from the drone attacks. A farmhouse depicted in materials from the Ukrainian government with extensive "drone-inflicted" damage turns out to be the same damaged farmhouse shown months ago.
Russia has repeatedly asked for evidence that the drones which attacked Poland were Russian and directed by Russians, as no such evidence has been provided. "There is also the knowledge that space-based telemetry technology available to NATO can provide the total flight path for most, if not all, of these drones," said a source. "Where is that evidence that proves NATO's case? Maybe it shows something else."
Escalation Risks and Historical Parallels
Now, we have drones flying over Denmark, which led to comments about Russia wanting to teach NATO countries a lesson. These have caused some hysterical government and NATO officials to say that such violations require NATO to warn the Russians that if these overflights continue, NATO would be compelled to shoot down the violators and ask questions later, and even to raise the question of enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine and adjacent countries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with Russia’s VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin, called statements by Western countries about the need to shoot down Russian aircraft irresponsible and dangerous. “Statements that Russian aircraft should be shot down are, to say the least, reckless, irresponsible, and certainly dangerous in their consequences,” Peskov said, according to TASS. He added that what is happening in the European environment is a “self-exciting mechanism...They themselves raise issues and make irresponsible statements.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned yesterday that if the Kyiv regime’s plans for false flag operations in Poland and Romania succeed, World War III will be the result. In her Telegram channel, Zakharova drew attention to reports in several Hungarian media outlets about Ukrainian dictator Zelenskyy’s plans to carry out sabotage in Romania and Poland with the aim of blaming Russia.
“His office on Bankovaya Street is preparing its own version of the ‘Gleiwitz incident’—with the aim of creating a casus belli for a war between Russia and NATO,” she explained. “If all this is confirmed, then we must admit: never in modern times has Europe been so close to the outbreak of World War III.”
The Gleiwitz incident was one of a series of provocations on the Polish border carried out by the Nazi SS using operatives wearing Polish uniforms on Aug. 31, 1939, that were used to “justify” the German invasion of Poland the next day; the Germans then killed their own soldiers dressed as Poles in an attempt to make the hoax more real.
"This all has to be calmed down," said a source close to the White House. "The President knows that this is mostly fake news, promoted by NATO and Europe. He may propose that an expert commission of inquiry be put together to investigate Zelenskyy's claims. The Russians would agree to that. I cannot confirm or deny reports that the President has already spoken about this option with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Sept. 28—As the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister 'Bibi' Netanyahu flies to Washington to meet tomorrow with President Donald Trump, sources report that he is preparing "for the worst"—to be forced to accept a Trump-authored plan to end Bibi's slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
Sources who have spoken to aides of the Israeli Prime Minister say that Bibi "feels trapped. He does not trust the deal because he is not allowed to exterminate Hamas, but he can't afford to say no to Trump after he worked so hard to produce a deal, that has terms that Israel has already accepted and brings the hostages home—all of them."
Hamas Acceptance Shifts the Balance
The final nail in Bibi's coffin came yesterday when Hamas said that it had accepted the principles of the deal, which will release all hostages, living and dead, within 48 hours, end the war with a ceasefire, and call for phased total withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza, ending the bloody attack on Gaza City. It would also release up to 250 Palestinians serving long sentences in Israeli jails and about 1,700 others held in detention. As part of the 21-point program, which was worked on by and has the support of Arab nations in the region and most of the world, Hamas has agreed to end its control of Gaza, to disarm, and be offered amnesty and exile, with no hope of participation in future Gaza leadership.
Most importantly, Trump has personally guaranteed that the terms of the deal will be implemented, and that Bibi will not be allowed to restart the war as he did by unilaterally stopping negotiations and ending the ceasefire that was agreed to as Trump came to office in January. Sources with contacts with the mediators, including Egypt and Qatar, say that the Trump personal guarantee is the only basis for agreement, since the Israelis cannot be trusted.
Trump’s Strategy: Bypass and Corner Netanyahu
What happened in this latest drive for peace and an end to Bibi's bloodthirsty push for new slaughter, is according to White House sources, that Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff decided to "work the deal backwards," as one source put it, and negotiate with a broad coalition of Arab states in the region to work out the principles and terms of a deal that they could force Hamas to accept. It would then be the responsibility of Trump to force Bibi to accept and comply, which phase is now in play. By bypassing the Israelis at the start, it blocked Netanyahu's ability to sabotage the negotiations.
Sources report that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has re-emerged as a key player here, was crucial to pushing Trump to convene the meeting at the Sept. 24 UN with Arab leaders to lay out the terms of the deal. British loudmouth and tool of the City of London, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has been taking credit for what happened, but sources say Trump regards Blair as a leech, whose self-importance makes him a legend in his own mind. "Blair is working to make sure that the British don't lose their historic controls over the region, including their ability to play the Zionist movement," said a source. "Trump is pushing for a new regional unity that threatens this. Blair would like to keep Israel as a hand grenade that can be used to blow things up when London wants that."
Epstein, Blair, and the Shadow Network
Some sources have asserted that disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was a British-Israeli asset, who was in effect part of Blair's stable of operatives, which included the more recently disgraced Lord Peter Mandelson, whose "love" for Epstein caused his dismissal as the King's Ambassador to Washington just prior to Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom. These sources say Epstein and Mandelson (known as "Randy Mandy" and a personal friend of the Queen's chief arms dealer, Prince Andrew) worked on various joint projects and "investments." It was revealed recently, in a trove of hacked emails, that Epstein had personally worked on normalizing relations between Israel and Mongolia, in close collaboration with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
"Blair will likely have some say in plans for 'what comes after' in Gaza as he has wormed his way into collaborating with Kushner," said a source. "But the real estate bonanza concept that he was pushing is, for the time being, pushed to the background. This whole idea of selling Gaza real estate to Israeli and other Zionist investors has an interesting feature to it. There are already reports of certain Israeli pols accepting massive bribes from certain 'developers and investors,' with sources saying that the loudest of the loudmouths pushing such private deals, whack job Finance Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich, is among those whose pockets have been stuffed." (Smotrich recently stated that Israel has spent a lot of money on this war and it and its real estate people should make it back on Gaza real estate, which earned him strong condemnation from saner elements in the Israeli establishment, and reportedly a warning from Bibi to keep his mouth shut.)
Iran’s Quiet Role and Qatar’s Red Line
Sources in Washington report that another player not directly involved in the current process but playing an important backchannel role is Iran. It is well known that without Iranian support, both in weapons and money, Hamas ceases to exist. These sources say that Hamas has been told that they cannot count on continued support from Iran, which, if true, would be a major factor in pushing what remains of the Hamas leadership to accept the deal.
It has been reported that one of the points of the deal, as guaranteed by Trump, is that Israel will not ever again attack Qatar, as it did—without American approval or even pre-notice—when it struck Doha Sept. 9 in an attempt to decapitate the negotiating team and what remains of Hamas leadership. One source, with some contacts in the region, says that the Hamas leadership mostly escaped because of a tip that "came from inside Israel" that gave warning.
While it is not in the deal, sources report that Trump has assured Iran that he will not support any further attacks by Netanyahu, and that he remains committed to a negotiated settlement of the Iran nuclear issue. These sources say that if Bibi asks Trump in their Sept. 29 meeting for such permission to attack Iran, he will be told no.
Terms of the Trump Peace Plan
The Washington Post printed what they understood to be the terms of the Trump Peace Plan; we print that below as these points have basically been confirmed from multiple sources:
• Freeze all IDF operations in Gaza
• IDF forces eventually withdraw from the Strip, to unspecified "perimeter presence"
• All living Israeli hostages to be released within 48 hours
• At least 24 bodies of dead hostages to be released within 48 hours
• For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans
• Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences
• Israel to release 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7
• An international temporary stabilization force will be established for Gaza
• A temporary transitional government will be established, supervised by an international body
• The Palestinian Authority will undergo reforms until it is deemed fit to govern the Gaza Strip
• Once aforementioned steps are taken and reforms made, "conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian Statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people"
Public Support and Editorial Pressure Mount
This last point was insisted on by the Arab states. Bibi of course opposes this, and the Knesset is on record as opposing Palestinian statehood, which was the central point agreed to by then President Bill Clinton, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yassir Arafat in the 1993–95 Oslo Accords. For that two-phased agreement by Israel, Netanyahu called Rabin a traitor to the Jewish state and repeatedly called for his elimination; Rabin was assassinated by a supporter of Netanyahu on Nov. 4, 1995 at a rally for the Oslo Accords in Tel Aviv.
Trump, who like Netanyahu has denounced the current international supporters of Palestinian statehood—as recently as his UNGA speech this week—for rewarding terrorism, will go along with this demand. Sources say there is no prospect for a permanent peace without this acknowledgment of the right of Palestinians to self-determination, a view which is reported to be shared by both Witkoff and Kushner, and the latter's friends in Saudi Arabia.
Sources report that the leadership of the IDF supports the Trump plan and wants to end all fighting and have the hostages returned. The same is true of the hostage families' movement, whose leaders denounced Bibi's UN speech and demanded full support for the Trump plan, stating that they will not tolerate any effort by Netanyahu to block this bold plan to return the hostages. Massive demonstrations in support of the new deal, involving upwards of a million people, were organized last night throughout Israel.
In its lead editorial today, Haaretz asked Trump to bring the hammer down on Bibi and force acceptance of "the plan ensures unlimited humanitarian aid, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with financing by the international community, and mainly, an end to a pointless war.
"Trump has already told Netanyahu that there would be no annexing the West Bank, a statement that was necessary and will serve to rein in the messianic visions of Israel's right wing, which views October 7 not as a catastrophe but as an opportunity. However, it's not enough.
"Trump must understand that Netanyahu doesn't plan on stopping the war. The choice is clear now. In contrast to an unnecessary speech at the UN, which mainly served as an opening to an election campaign, there is a practical plan which is also supported by Arab leaders. Israel must say in a clear voice: yes, to a hostage deal, yes, to ending the war, and yes to the 'day after' arrangement in Gaza.
"Trump and Netanyahu will face each other on Monday. The responsibility now lies with the U.S. president: he must insist, as he knows how to, and finally bring a deal that will release the hostages and end the bloodbath."
Sept. 27—All the pieces seem to be falling into place for a plan backed by President Donald Trump that would pull the plug on The Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and his genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza—and that would return all hostages held by Hamas terrorists within 48 hours.
Trump unveiled the plan, a 21-point revision of what had been termed the Trump Plan, to Arab leaders who met with him and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff at the United Nations on Sept. 24. Since that time, there have been what Trump described as "intense talks" to fine-tune the plan.
Trump Signals Breakthrough in Hostage and Ceasefire Deal
"I think we have a deal," Trump told reporters yesterday as he left Washington to attend the Ryder Cup golf match between the United States and a European team on Long Island. "It's looking like we have a deal on Gaza, and we'll let you know. I think it's a deal that will get the hostages back. It's going to be a deal that will end the war."
"It's going to be peace," the president added. "I think we have a deal."
According to a White House source who spoke with Fox News, at the Sept. 24 meeting, "U.S. special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff summarized the U.S. plan for Gaza, including the return of all hostages living and deceased, no further attacks on Qatar, a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for peaceful coexistence and more."
"Foreign partners expressed broad agreement that President Trump was the only one who could end the fighting in Gaza and expressed the hope that they could work together with Special Envoy Witkoff to consider the president’s plan as Americans continue to engage with Israeli officials," the White House official added.
Arab States Back Trump’s Initiative
Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Witkoff described a "very productive" meeting Tuesday between Trump and officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
"We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Middle East," Witkoff said. "I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as concerns of neighbors in the region."
Sources close to the White House have confirmed the basic outline of the plan, as it has been leaked to the press.
Key Terms of the Proposed Agreement
All 48 hostages—twenty living and the remains of 28 victims of Hamas—would be released within 48 hours of the signing of the deal. Israel would agree to withdraw all its forces from Gaza in a series of defined actions, and the war would permanently end. In addition, Israel would release up to 200 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli prison during the same 48-hour period.
The plan calls for the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to starving and injured Palestinians, to be administered by the Red Cross and UN agencies. (There are reports that the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which have become killing fields, with many desperate and starving Palestinians shot at their sites, will be shut down.)
Hamas will cease to have any control over Gaza, will disarm, and be offered amnesty and exile. They will play no part in the future of Gaza, which is to be initially policed with the help of Arab nations. These nations will also help identify members of a temporary government body, which might include some prominent Israeli Arabs, overseen by a body composed of representatives from Arab states. This body will eventually be turned over to a reformed Palestinian Authority, which will then decide on a plan for Gaza's reconstruction—one that involves no forced displacement of Gazans.
In addition, sources report that Israel will be barred from any attacks on Qatar or any other Arab state.
Trump’s Personal Guarantee and Netanyahu’s Resistance
President Trump will personally guarantee that the war will end, that Israel will not restart it, and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw from Gaza. White House sources say that Trump’s personal guarantee is crucial to gain acceptance from Arab states and Hamas, who—while making no formal statement on the plan—are known through mediators to accept its terms.
Netanyahu, who will meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, and his chief negotiator were personally briefed on the plan on Sept. 25 by Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is now playing a key role in the ongoing talks, especially with Arab states. According to the Kan public broadcaster in Israel, Witkoff and Kushner told Netanyahu on Thursday during a meeting in New York that “the President thinks the time has come to strive for an end to the war.”
“Bibi, the time has come to end this now,” the pair reportedly added.
When Netanyahu and his chief negotiator, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, expressed objections to some of the points, a White House source said they were told, "Get over it. This is going to fly, and you are not going to stop it." Netanyahu said that Israel won't accept anything less than the full dismantling of Hamas; he was told that the Trump plan does this, "without killing everybody."
Trump’s Strategic Pivot: Saving Israel from Bibi
"You have to understand that President Trump is not just trying to save the hostages," said a source with decades of experience in the region. "He is trying to save Israel from Bibi. Trump believes now that Netanyahu is marching Israel to its isolation, and eventual destruction of the state from within. Listen to the two speeches Bibi has given, the one addressing Israel two weeks ago, and then the speech at the United Nations, delivered to an almost empty chamber with many delegations either not attending or walking out."
"In the speech last week, Bibi talked insanely about Israel turning into a military state, a 'Super Sparta' able to defend itself from a hostile world, with everyone against us," the source continued. "This is the same crap that Netanyahu wrote nearly 30 years ago in the now infamous 'Clean Break' strategy document, which was rightfully denounced as a proposal for Israel's doom. Policy driven by paranoid delusion can never work."
"Then, look at his performance this week at UNGA," said the source. "It reminded several people of a deranged Hitler in the bunker, talking about what he has done to Gaza as being necessary and proper, claiming to care about the hostages while implementing a policy that will surely kill them all. Reporting that he had ordered the IDF to have his speech blasted into Gaza over loudspeakers to give 'hope' to the hostages. Something Hitler would have done. Telling all who support a Palestinian state and have recognized it that they are terrorist sympathizers. Refusing to acknowledge the suffering he has caused. Comparing the creation of a Palestinian state to giving Al Qaeda a state a mile from the Twin Towers after 9/11. Here I had to laugh, because the same PA that he denounces as terrorists, whom he had induced the State Department to deny its leader Abbas a visa so he could speak at the UN, which in 2001 was led by Yasir Arafat, denounced the attack by Al Qaeda, mourned for its victims. I remember the picture of Arafat giving his own blood in Gaza to the Red Cross for the 9/11 victims."
Will Trump Force Netanyahu to Sign?
"Trump has come to realize that this man is insane," said the source, "and the President and his fellow negotiators have taken a different route: Let a deal be struck with Trump and the United States, and then have Trump force Bibi to sign off. That is what must happen on Monday, when he meets Trump. Bibi does not want peace, because he can only rule in a Spartan state, where war makes populations insane. He must have war, or he will lose power. This is Trump's best and last chance to bring the genocide to an end. But will he do it? What I am hearing is 'yes.'
"Bibi went too far when, without telling the U.S., he struck—or attempted to strike—the Hamas leadership in Doha. In one irrational move, he threatened to overturn all the work that Trump had done building up the prospects for a strategic realignment that Trump thinks will bring peace to the region. When Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani, he told him that this will never happen again, that he will ban it."
Trump also took on the hardliners in Israel who were proposing to annex the West Bank, put settlements in Gaza, and drive the Palestinians out. Trump had a few choice words to [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir: "It is not going to happen. I won't let it."
"If Trump is willing to assert his will and power over Bibi," concluded the source, "the war and the genocide are over."
Trump’s Final Push for Peace
Trump wrote on his Truth Social app yesterday that he’s “pleased to report that we are having very inspired and productive discussions with the Middle Eastern Community concerning Gaza.”
“Intense negotiations have been going on for four days and will continue for as long as necessary in order to get a Successfully Completed Agreement. All of the Countries within the Region are involved, Hamas is very much aware of these discussions, and Israel has been informed at all levels, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu."
Trump added: “There is more Goodwill and Enthusiasm for getting a Deal done, after so many decades, than I have ever seen before. Everyone is excited to put this period of Death and Darkness behind them. It is an Honor to be a part of this Negotiation. We must get the Hostages back and get a PERMANENT AND LONGLASTING PEACE!”
Qatari PM Mohammed Al Thani told Breitbart News Sept. 26 that the entire Arab world believes that Trump is the "only one" capable of facilitating peace and restraining Netanyahu,adding that Israel's actions were not only "jeopardizing the security of the region," but also "jeopardizing even the U.S. interests in the region and jeopardizing the partnerships that the U.S. has built throughout decades."
Sept. 24—Roscosmos will soon sign agreements with three countries on the participation of foreign cosmonauts in missions, Dmitry Bakanov, the head of the state corporation, told Izvestia. Earlier, Bakanov had reported that Russia would help organize the first flight of an astronaut from Indonesia. The Kremlin also expressed its readiness to send a representative from North Korea into orbit. Experts also name India, Vietnam, and the Central African Republic as the most likely candidates for joint flights. This would be the first African to fly into space, under any program.
Such cooperation works for the reputation of the Russian space industry, which is important for strengthening the country’s space sovereignty, as well as for that of partner states of Russia, particularly if one takes into account that citizens of the latter states receive training by Russia. The first module of the Russian Space Station is expected to be launched in 2028.
Sept. 24—The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy held hearings on Sept. 18 on the state of affairs in the U.S. fusion program. The issue is getting some attention on Capitol Hill, not because the development of fusion energy can provide an unlimited source of energy for all humanity for generations to come, but because there is a clear understanding that the U.S. has dropped the ball, and China is in the forefront of developing a commercial fusion reactor. It is sending legislators into a tizzy-fit ostensibly about the dangers to our national security..
The four major speakers at the hearing, some involved in private fusion efforts, others at national laboratories and at the University of Wisconsin, described the difficulties that the program was facing under present conditions. While the fusion budget has increased somewhat under President Donald Trump, it is far from being enough to jump-start a once more viable program that would provide fusion energy in America, sometime in the too distant future.
Bob Mumgaard, the CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, indicated that, in order to have sufficient milestone-based programs and test facilities, industry would require an input from the federal government of $10 billion, a sum that makes some legislators cringe. What the legislators interested in the matters, who are wringing their hands over China’s investing much more and making much more headway, do not understand, is that 45 years ago, their counterparts on Capitol Hill were presented the Magnetic Fusion Energy Engineering Act (“McCormack Fusion Bill”), which would, in the views of all the experts then, provide a commercial fusion reactor by the year 2000—at the cost of $20 billion over 20 years. That bill passed.
But the miserly Congress, however, couldn’t cough up the $1 billion a year to develop such an endless source of energy. We are probably now no closer, and perhaps even farther away from a commercially viable fusion source that we were in 1984.
Perhaps the key to reasons we have not made the progress we should have towards fusion was the decision by the British and Wall Street to go after the real leadership for fusion, shutting down the Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF), which had been the driving force for this legislation and its passage, and was led by the late economist and presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche. The illegal jailing of LaRouche and his associates in 1986, some of them crucially involved in the work of FEF, put an end to that campaign. Absent the FEF's leadership, the opponents of fusion, who pushed what became the anti-human depopulation agenda associated with the Global Warming hoax, were abler to kill progress by cutting off government support, in favor of a "free market" approach to energy development.
LaRouche and the FEF also understood something which even today's supporters of fusion seem not to understand: It would add decades or more to its development if were done by any one nation. What is required is a global collaborative effort, that puts the best scientists and engineers in solving problems, and operative on several approaches to the problem. This is not some national security problem, but a question of a shared global future for all mankind. There is a willingness on the part of the scientists for such collaboration, but it is blocked by geopolitics.
Meanwhile, monetarist economic policies in the West have made the uphill climb towards fusion even steeper. Witnesses at the hearing clearly indicated that we are not producing enough engineers and scientists to do the job, and, given the anti-immigrant mood, many foreign researchers are going to other countries. Indeed, even our native cadre, heavily hit by the DOGE budget cuts, are being offered lucrative positions elsewhere, even out of the country.
Unless these parameters change, fusion, with such bright prospects for all mankind, will always be "20 years off from today."
Sept. 24—Two conferences convened over the last two weeks to discuss military presence and operations in orbital space. Though there was apparently no direct connection between them, there was a common theme expressed at both events: Space is now considered, at least by Global NATO, to be a war-fighting domain.
“The rule-based international order in space is nearly over,” Brig. Gen. Jürgen Schrödl, a division head with responsibility for space at the German Ministry of Defense’s strategy and operations department, declared at the Space Defense and Security Summit in Paris Sept. 16, reported Defense News. “We have to accept that space is a tested domain, is a war-fighting domain, is becoming a war-fighting domain.”
According to Defense News, the consultancy Novaspace, the organizer of the Paris conference, has assembled data that show governments spend more money on military space than they do on civilian space activities. Of the $73.1 billion in global government spending on space defense and security in 2024, more than a third was classified, the consultancy says. “What you see is that it is now the military domain that is leading,” Hermann Ludwig Moeller, director of the European Space Policy Institute, told Defense News. “This is really clear compared to last year; the language and what is behind the language has shifted.”
All of this is being blamed on Russia and China. “Space is a really fully operational domain, we talk about warfighting in space,” said Maj. Gen. Vincent Chusseau, commander of French Space Command. Chusseau claimed Russia has a full range of capabilities, from satellites for rendezvous and proximity operations and orbiters that pack smaller satellites like a Russian doll, to anti-satellite missiles, electronic warfare, laser dazzling, and cyber-attacks. Meanwhile, China is accelerating its space activities to achieve superiority there, according to Maj. Gen. Isaac Manuel Crespo Zaragoza, space commander for the Spanish Air and Space Force.
Half a world away, Gen. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Chief of Space Operations, speaking Sept. 17 at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference, was complaining that the military’s space surveillance systems are struggling to keep pace with the explosive growth in satellites and space debris, as well as the deployment of anti-satellite weapons by rivals like China and Russia. “We cannot be satisfied if it takes us hours to detect on-orbit activity, and we definitely cannot be satisfied if full characterization of on-orbit events takes weeks and months,” he said, reported SpaceNews. “The longer it takes to update the catalog, the more problematic the issue, the less domain awareness we have.”
“Much of our SDA [space domain awareness] mission set was built for a different era, an era where space was not a war-fighting domain,” Saltzman said. Military and civilian Space Force personnel “are expertly working hard to maintain our awareness of the space domain every single day,” but “we need to increase our manpower, update our training, enhance our tools, rewrite our policies and procedures and do a better job of leveraging our domain data.”
Sept. 24—According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, “Construction of new nuclear power plants to be accelerated,” and that “British plan a billion-dollar offensive for mini nuclear power plants.”
Shortly before the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain last week, the United Kingdom and the United States quietly concluded a nuclear energy agreement aimed at accelerating the construction of new reactors. British Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke of a “golden age of nuclear energy.” He said that both countries would thus be at the forefront of innovation and investment. Except for Russia, however, there are no mini-nuclear-power reactors, so there is still a lot of work to do.
The American-British agreement stipulates that both sides can use each other’s safety assessments for reactor designs. This is intended to speed up their own reviews. It will reduce the approval time for nuclear power projects from three or four years to two years, according to London. Unlike the Social Democrats in Germany, who are sticking to the German nuclear phase-out, Britain’s Labour Party considers nuclear power as a technology of the future. “The expansion of nuclear energy is central to the British government’s mission to become a superpower in clean energy,” Starmer’s government emphasizes.
The British Royal family and its operatives have been at the center of organizing a global anti-nuclear movement for more than half a century, dating back to the days Lord Bertrand Russell and his movement that conflated nuclear weapons with nuclear bombs. The Brits therefore tried to shut down nuclear energy as a power source for everyone else, as part of its drive for global depopulation and limited energy. Now, with an openly pro-nuclear, anti-global warming Trump administration, the Brits are moving to "play along," to control consequences.
Sept. 21—Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced Sept. 16, at a “Strategic Session on Rapid Transport System Development,” that President Vladimir Putin has approved “the development scheme of a high-speed travel” network, whose length “will exceed 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles).”
Mishustin asserted, “First of all, we are building a backbone road network that will interconnect all Russian regions. We are building railway lines, including in the Far East.”
The domestically built trains, which will run at up to 400 kph, will connect Moscow to St. Petersburg (679 km); to Yekaterinburg via Kazan (1,740 km); to Ryazan; to Sochi (through Rostov); to Krasnodar; to Minsk, Belarus, and potentially to Berlin and other cities.
The flagship line will connect Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2006, Siemens and Russian Railways signed an order for eight high-speed trains, with a 30-year service contract. The lead train for the route is the Sapsan (Peregrine), which Siemens designed and manufactured, with a travelling speed of 250 kph (155 mph), although its design allows for a potential upgrade to 350 kph. But after Russia launched invaded Ukraine in 2022, Siemens pulled out of the Russian contract. That spurred Russia to design its own high-speed train unit—one more example in which the Collective West’s boycott and sanctions against Russia forced Moscow to accelerate the development of its own scientific and technological capabilities.
On Dec. 15, 2023, Russian Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev announced that the ministry had formed the main parameters to implement a financial and organizational model. Estimates placed the cost of the Moscow-St. Petersburg line at more than 2.3 trillion rubles ($27.6 billion). The line will be built by VSM Two Capitals LLC, a Russian company, using both government and private funds, on concessionary terms. The Russian government plans to allocate more than 300 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund at 1% interest in 2025, and 328 billion rubles in subsidies in the period between 2024 and 2038. The Russian VTB Bank, Sberbank, and Gazprombank will be involved in providing the remaining funding. Ural Locomotives, a subsidiary of Sinara Group, will build the trains, with design from the Railway Transport Engineering Center.
Construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg line began in 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in 2028. The current journey takes about four hours; the new system will cut it by one to one-and-a-half hours. (The travel time from Moscow to Yekaterinburg will be cut from its present time of 15 hours to 6 hours.)
When the total project is completed, Russia’s high-speed rail trackage will exceed that of France and Germany, and become the second largest in Europe after Spain.
Sept. 21--Israel failed, and failed miserably and defiantly, to meet the one-year deadline Sept. 18 it was allowed by the UN to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. But the world has also failed. That UN General Assembly resolution, adopted 124-14, also required all states to take effective action against Israel’s violations of international law, including accountability, sanctions, and cessation of support. Most countries have joined Israel in pretending that they are under no such obligation.
The General Assembly resolution obligates states to: “prevent their citizens, companies, and authorities from … assisting Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories; halt imports of goods from Israeli settlements and stop arms transfers to Israel where there is a risk they may be used in the occupied territories; [and] impose sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence, including those linked to settler violence….”
This week, South Africa and Colombia, co-chairs of the eight nations in The Hague Group, will convene a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss collective and coordinated measures being implemented at national and international levels. They plan to present a collective plan of legal and diplomatic measures to halt the genocide in Gaza and defend the integrity of international institutions.
Executive Secretary of The Hague Group Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, told Middle East Eye, said that diplomatic and legal measures over the past year have been fragmented. So: “As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide. Gaza is the litmus test of our lifetime, and states’ response to Israel’s assault on Palestine will be the defining moment” for the UN General Assembly.
Sept. 20—China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has banned the country’s biggest technology companies from buying the Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, as Beijing increases efforts to boost its domestic industry.
Earlier this week, the CAC told large Chinese companies, such as ByteDance and Alibaba, to end their testing and orders of the RTX Pro 6000D, a chip that Nvidia tailor-made for China. Several Chinese companies that had ordered tens of thousands of the Nvidia chips told their suppliers to stop the work, according to a Financial Times report.
Two processes are at work. First, Beijing is putting pressure on Chinese tech companies to boost the country’s homegrown semiconductor industry and break reliance on Nvidia. “The message is now loud and clear,” said an executive at one of the Chinese tech companies, reports FT. “Earlier, people had hopes of renewed Nvidia supply if the geopolitical situation improves. Now it’s all hands-on deck to build the domestic system.”
Many Chinese semiconductor makers believe that their chips are as good as or superior to Nvidia’s and other American companies.
The second process is that the Biden administration announced Dec. 2, 2024 U.S. government restrictions that prohibited the sales of certain types of chips and chip-making machinery to China and added more than 100 Chinese companies to a restricted American trade list. This was supposed to cut China off from the world’s most advanced technologies and impede its ability to compete with U.S. chipmakers. In reality, however, the U.S. attempt caused China to make major internal strides in chip-making.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, however, is desperate to sell to the lucrative and very large Chinese market. On July 16 of this year, Huang delivered part of his speech in Mandarin to the Third China International Supply Chain Expo held in Beijing, to try to persuade the Chinese to look favorably upon Nvidia products.
It is expected that these issues will be dealt with in what some are already calling "the Great Big Deal" that Chinese President Xi Jinping will offer President Trump in series of upcoming summits. The Chinese action is a correct use of protection of a nascent domestic industry from a dominating market influence. But that can also be accomplished through the kind of trade deal that Xi and Trump will negotiation.
Meanwhile, while in Britain, Trump signed a deal with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to cooperate with the United Kingdom and such matters involving advanced chip and AI technology. With Huang and other corporate leaders present at the signing, Trump professed to have "no idea" about what they were really up to and what all this was about. He told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, that he had no way of knowing if this was a "good deal" that he was signing, and only half-jokingly said that, if it isn't, "I hold you [Bessent] and you [looking at Huang} responsible."
Sept. 21—Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement on Sept. 17. This brings together Pakistan as a nuclear power into the circle of Arab states, now getting more serious about challenging Israel’s Gaza genocide and sowing chaos throughout the region. With this pact, Israel is no longer the only nuclear power in the region.
“This agreement, which reflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieving security and peace in the region and the world, aims to develop aspects of defense cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression. The agreement states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,” a statement from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
When a journalist asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella under the pact, an unnamed Saudi official replied, “This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means.”
During the signing, Prime Minister Sharif was accompanied by Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
While Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed close political and military ties for decades, the timing of the agreement is significant. It occurred following both the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar on Sept. 9 and the joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit on Sept. 15. Both Pakistani and Saudi leaders attended that summit, and Sharif and Mohammed bin Salman also held a brief bilateral meeting. Also in the days before the signing of the pact, Iran dispatched Ali Larijani, who now serves as the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, to visit Saudi Arabia, where he was assured that the pact was not directed at Iran. China has been mediating a détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran since 2023.
The Saudi-Pakistani agreement comes at a time when Saudi Arabia has been closely cooperating with Egypt, whose President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has also taken the lead in urging for more unity and active measures to deal with the Israeli threat, and who for the first time by and Egyptian leader since 1977, called Israel an "enemy."
The pact is not directed only at Israel but also serves as a warning to the United States because of its failure to defend its Arab allies. After Washington failed to stop the Israeli attack in Qatar, of which Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance, where the U.S. has its largest military base in the region, the Gulf States’ confidence in any U.S. security guarantees has collapsed. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which the Trump administration considers an ally, are seeking security guarantees elsewhere.
Sept. 21—As the plight of 2 million Gazans worsens amidst a full-scale invasion into Gaza City and continuing “restrictions” of humanitarian aid, the UN Security Council remains frozen from the sole veto of the United States. A Sept. 18 resolution was introduced to the UN Security Council by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia. According to Al Jazeera, which had seen a draft of the resolution, it called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the “unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups,” and unrestricted flows of humanitarian aid. The resolution also pointed to UN findings that famine is already occurring in Gaza City and is expected to expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.
The vote was 14 in favor, including the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, and a single “No” vote by the U.S.—its sixth veto against a Gaza ceasefire resolution in the Security Council since October 2023.
The U.S. representative said the resolution “fails to condemn Hamas or recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimizes the false narratives benefiting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council.”
Sources report that there was no effort to work with the U.S. on a resolution it could have supported, which would not have included any references to Israeli "genocide." The matter is now expected to be brought up in the General Assembly, where the U.S. has no veto power.
Algeria’s representative Amar Bendjama responded passionately to the U.S. veto: “Forgive us, in particular in Gaza, where fire consumes, where rubber suffocates, forgive us, because this council could not save your children. Because Israel is shielded, because it is immune. Immune, not by international law, but by the bias of this international system…. Israel kills every day and nothing happens. Israel starves a people and nothing happens. Israel bombs hospitals, schools, shelters and nothing happens. Israel attacks a mediator and steps on diplomacy, and nothing happened. And with every act, every act unpunished, humanity itself is diminished.”
Sept. 21—The 22nd China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit took place in Nanning starting Sept. 17, with the grand theme of: “Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development—Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future.”
CAEXPO, under the theme “Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development—Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future,” Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Sept. 16 met with leaders from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, who are in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to attend the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
May 12—Sources report that European leaders, led by British Prime Minister Sir Keith Starmer, sabotaged a plan that would have brought Ukrainian and Russian officials into direct talks to end NATO’s war against Russia in Ukraine, with a full-stop 30-day ceasefire in place.
President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had reportedly worked out a plan designed to address Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objections to what he called a “fake” ceasefire—one that would allow Ukraine to resupply and reposition its frontline forces. Witkoff’s proposal called for Ukraine and its European allies to recognize the three-day truce Putin had declared to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat as a step toward broader peace.
Under the plan, they would then request an extension of the truce, with a commitment that Ukraine’s allies would halt arms shipments for 30 days and that both sides would agree to freeze military movements along the front lines—a ceasefire in place.
European Opposition Derails the Plan
Sources report that Trump briefed NATO-backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the deal in a phone conversation and instructed him to agree. But when European leaders—led by Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron—gathered in Kyiv last weekend, the situation shifted.
According to sources, Starmer and Macron told Zelenskyy that he should make no concessions on arms resupply or troop movements and that the truce should come without conditions. They reportedly argued that Trump and the U.S. were “caving in” to Putin’s demands. Zelenskyy agreed, maintaining that he would only consider a ceasefire without conditions before engaging in direct talks.
Furious over what he saw as European sabotage, Trump then instructed Witkoff to tell the Russians to proceed with direct negotiations—without a ceasefire—and pledged to bring Zelenskyy to the table. Putin made his offer in a Moscow press conference overnight on May 10-11.
Initially, Zelenskyy—backed by European leaders—rejected the proposal, insisting that Russia must first implement a 30-day ceasefire to demonstrate “good faith.” In response, Trump erupted in a social media post, demanding that Zelenskyy immediately accept the Russian offer.
Next Steps in Negotiations
After some hesitation, Zelenskyy announced that he would travel to Istanbul on May 15 to meet with Russian representatives, adding that they “had better show up.”
“Trump has told people that this war could have been over a long time ago if it weren’t for Europe and NATO, who want the bloodbath to continue,” a source familiar with the discussions said. “If it were up to Trump, the Europeans would have no part in any of this. He remains totally committed to ending the war on fair and reasonable terms. If the Europeans don’t agree, then ‘maybe I should consider bombing London.’”
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