Palestine This Week

In this episode, we assess where the war with Iran stands at the six-week mark, examine whether Tehran is emerging stronger from the conflict, and consider where Donald Trump’s latest deadline could lead. We also look at the murky story of the downed US pilot, Trump’s admission that Washington sent weapons to Iranian protesters, the wider regional risks for the Gulf states, the striking critique of American power by the doyen of neoconservatism Robert Kagan, and what Israel’s moves in Lebanon could mean for the next phase of the war.Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:16 Is Iran winning the war?08:32 Trump’s deadline: where is the war headed next?13:44 The downed US pilot story: rescue mission or cover for something else?21:40 Trump admits arming Iranian protesters26:13 The Gulf states and the regional fallout of a longer war34:26 America as a rogue superpower44:24 Israel, Hezbollah and the future of Lebanon

In this episode, we discuss the shocking abuse of toddler Karim Abu Nassar in Gaza, Israel’s proposed death penalty law for Palestinians, the rise of Kahanism and signs of internal crisis within Israel. We also examine growing anti-Zionism among US Jews, whether the Strait of Hormuz could become America’s Suez and why Israel’s tactical gains may be masking a deeper strategic defeat.Chapters:00:00 Introduction & Overview01:19 The torture of Karim Abu Nassar and Israel’s normalisation of torture12:41 Israel’s death penalty law for Palestinians21:29 The Kahanification of Israel26:52 Is Israel collapsing from within?33:24 The rise of anti-Zionism among US Jews38:38 Why Hormuz could become America’s Suez?45:33 Tactical victories, strategic defeat: Israel and Iran49:54 Are Gulf states betting on a weakening US?

Is Trump really in control? In this episode, we break down the US and Israel war on Iran, the false intelligence and bad-faith negotiations behind it, the UAE’s harder line, the plagiarised report used to sell the case for war, whether Israel’s project of regional hegemony is coming to an end, and the growing backlash to settler violence.Chapters:00:00 Introduction & Overview01:04 How is the war with Iran going?06:10 Is Trump really in control?18:46 Why the UAE is taking a harder line on Iran24:18 How the case for war was manufactured30:44 The plagiarised report behind the war narrative37:06 Is Israel’s regional dominance unravelling?46:22 Why Israel’s “right to exist” argument is fraying53:18 Why settler violence is triggering backlash

In this episode, we explore why Palestine remains central to understanding the region’s escalating crises, from the war on Iran and Gaza to Lebanon and the mounting pressure on Gulf states. We unpack the dangerous assumptions, political delusions and power plays driving the Middle East deeper into chaos.

We begin this week’s episode with a tribute to the late Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi before turning to the stories being overshadowed by the war on Iran. Muhammed Shehada unpacks what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank while global attention shifts elsewhere, and explains why rising settler violence and deepening Israeli control should not be ignored. We also examine his report on Trump’s dystopian vision for Gaza, ask whether that plan can survive the regional fallout from the Iran war, and explore the disturbing similarities between Israel’s conduct in Iran and its genocidal war on Gaza. From Israel’s wider regional strategy to the religious rhetoric driving this conflict, this is a sharp and essential conversation you do not want to miss.Chapters:00:00 Introduction & Overview00:01:32 Remembering Walid Khalidi and his lifelong work documenting the Nakba.00:04:10 What has happened while Israel and the US focus on bombing Iran?00:13:15 What does Muhammed Shehada’s report reveal about the future being planned for Gaza?00:23:12 Can Trump’s Gaza plan survive the war with Iran?00:30:11 What similarities are visible in Israel’s conduct across both wars?00:37:45 What does the war on Iran reveal about Israel’s wider ambitions in the Middle East?00:47:48 Did the architects of 7 October foresee a scenario in which Israel would be fighting on so many fronts?00:54:37 How are the US and Israel framing this conflict in religious terms, and how influential is that view?01:04:46 Has Israel become defined by the toxic mix of ultimate victimhood, overwhelming power and impunity?

In this episode, we examine explosive new documents exposing Israel’s systematic ethnic cleansing in 1948 and trace how its unending quest for security has fuelled decades of expansion, war and regional upheaval. We unpack the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, question whether Trump torpedoed diplomacy at the very moment negotiations were gaining traction, and ask whether Tehran's bombing of Gulf states is a strategic miscalculation. With Washington’s credibility fraying and uncomfortable parallels to the 2003 Iraq invasion resurfacing, we confront the stark possibility that the region is being driven, step by step, towards another devastating and entirely avoidable war.Chapters:00:00 Introduction & Overview02:31 Smoking gun: new documents reveal Israel’s 1948 ethnic cleansing blueprint17:37 Security or supremacy? Israel’s relentless drive for regional domination23:58 Regime decapitation? The assassination talk around Khamenei35:27 War over diplomacy? Did trump bomb Iran to kill a deal?40:58 Strategic blunder? Has Iran’s gulf gamble backfired?46:27 Abandoned allies: Has Washington left the gulf exposed?49:06 Iraq 2.0? Is the drumbeat for war on Iran following the 2003 script?

In this week’s episode, we unpack the implications of remarks made by Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, whose unapologetic defence of Israeli expansionism reflects the enduring influence of Christian Zionism on American foreign policy. We explore how this radical theological current has shaped political discourse and helped sustain Israel. The discussion also examines the latest Lancet report suggesting Gaza’s death toll may be significantly higher than previously recorded. Finally, we assess the significance of the newly convened Board of Peace.

Mouin Rabbani, independent analyst of Palestine and Middle East politics, digs into Oslo’s unraveling and the rise of raw power politics. He maps Israel’s tightening control in the West Bank and the rewriting of diplomatic frameworks. He also examines new narratives around Gaza casualties, a parallel aid system, Netanyahu’s Washington visit, and the influence of global networks tied to the Epstein files.

Is Israel collapsing before its centenary? In this episode of Palestine This Week, we examine warnings from a former Israeli major general that the state may not exist by 2048, citing internal fracture and growing international isolation. We analyse how the language of ceasefire now functions to manage, rather than end, Palestinian death and destruction, while dismantling Israeli claims used to justify the high civilian toll. The episode investigates evidence that prohibited weapons have erased thousands of bodies in Gaza, the killing of a 14-year-old boy left to bleed to death in the illegally occupied West Bank amid accelerated settler expansion, signs of democratic retrenchment in the UK through the criminalisation of Palestine solidarity, and a looming scandal inside Human Rights Watch over the Palestinian right of return.Chapters:00:00 Introduction & Overview01:52 Ceasefire as cover for continuing genocide 08:14 Hearing voices from Gaza09:30 Gaza and the collapse of legal and moral limits on killing18:03 Urban warfare and the deliberate devaluing of Palestinian life22:13 The killing of 14-year-old Jadallah Jadallah in the West Bank32:15 Christian Zionism and the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land38:35 Former Israeli general warns of Israel’s collapse by 204846:52 Human Rights Watch shelves right of return report54:19 UK jury acquits Palestine Action defendantsSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/447fpn8kVisit our website: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/Follow us on social media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middleeastmonitorFacebook https://www.facebook.com/middleeastmonitorTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@middleeastmonitorX https://www.x.com/middleeastmnt

Israel now admits Gaza’s death toll—but only after years of denial. Mouin Rabbani joins to explore what this shift means, and how media and political elites helped enable genocide. We look at US complicity, the BBC’s Gaza coverage collapse, and the ideology of Jewish supremacy inside Israel’s government. Plus: the Epstein files, vice as political currency, and Arab states scrambling to prevent war with Iran. 00:00 Introduction & Overview02:30 Why has Israel now accepted Gaza’s death toll after years of denial?14:46 Has the media become Israel’s ‘getaway car’ in genocide?21:28 Did US envoys help suppress warnings of Gaza becoming an 'apocalyptic wasteland'?26:37 Is Jewish supremacy ideology now mainstream in Israeli politics?30:04 What does Mike Huckabee’s tribute to Ze’ev Jabotinsky reveal about Israel’s historical trajectory?34:42 Is virtue signalling being replaced by vice signalling in Western politics?40:15 Why is the global far right flocking to Jerusalem and promoting the ‘great replacement’ myth?42:18 Do the Epstein files point to Mossad ties and deeper political compromise?51:27 Are Arab states trying to prevent a catastrophic US-Israel war on Iran?Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/447fpn8kVisit our website: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/Follow us on social media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middleeastmonitorFacebook https://www.facebook.com/middleeastmonitorTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@middleeastmonitorX https://www.x.com/middleeastmnt