I also have zero hopes that Witkoff or Trump is going to propose/impose a resolution that provides justice for Palestinians in Gaza an/or the West Bank. The administration's disdain for Netanyahu doesn't translate into sensitivity towards Palestinian's needs for safety and sovereignty.

It feels important to stress that despite the analysis and attendant pessimism, this is a moment we have waited 14 months for. For the tens of thousands stuck under the rubble, for those who have yet to be buried, for those we have yet to mourn, for those who haven't seen their families in months.

How Israel manages the spoilers in the 1st phase will be interesting. The true test is what's next? They will insist on retaining IDF presence & carrying out strikes in the strip whenever they please. Gazans will not have safety. Trump will be busy with other pressing foreign policy issues by then.

In the weeks after October 7, a sign on the storefront said “on vacation, return soon.” The metal gate has remained closed ever since. I walk past the store everyday and think about him, and the life he tried to build. I pray he and his family are safe. But the reality is likely very grim.

I think about all the displacement. I think about the dozens of friends and family I would be mourning. About how entire families would be wiped out, how cemeteries, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, and the social fabric of society completely destroyed. And it continues…

While completely incomparable, I often imagine what Brooklyn would be like if it had to endure the conditions the residents of Gaza have survived. We are roughly the same population size. I think about what starvation, bombardment, and besiegement would do to us.

He knew my name, and knew I had spent time in Palestine/Israel and that my family was from Lebanon. He was always polite and friendly. He shared that all of his family was still in Khan Yunis. Once we started to discuss the Nakba but other customers entered and we dropped it.