Palestine This Week

This week’s episode takes apart Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace”—or as some are calling it, a board of chaos—and the move to install a National Committee to run Gaza. Is this about rebuilding, or reshaping Gaza to fit Israel’s terms? We dig into the UN’s report showing a staggering 10.6 per cent drop in Gaza’s population. In Beit Jala, we look at how Palestinian Christians are being wiped from the map, and in the US, ICE tactics are starting to look eerily like the tools of colonial control. Plus: why the UAE is being called Israel’s Trojan horse in the region.

In this episode of Palestine This Week we break down a turbulent and revealing few days in regional and global politics. The conversation moves from Trump’s proposed “Gaza Board of Peace” and what it says about the push to sideline the UN and reshape global governance, to Israel’s own contradictions over Gaza’s future and the demolition of UNRWA’s headquarters in Jerusalem. We also look at a rare and forceful intervention by Christian leaders in Jerusalem warning against Christian Zionism and rising tensions involving Iran and Syria. The episode closes with shifting alliances across the region, especially the deepening rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and what all of this could mean for Palestine.

From Gaza to Tehran, the region is hitting a breaking point. We expose Israel’s crackdown on humanitarian groups, the fiction of a “peace process,” the quiet Israeli exodus, and the lawfare campaign against Palestine advocates — before turning to Iran’s unrest and the new fault lines splitting the Arab worldChapters:00:00 Introduction00:48 Israel bans aid groups and silences medical witnesses10:37 Phase two without foundations: the US pushes a broken Gaza deal16:53 West Bank annexation: the settlement plan to kill the Palestinian state23:23 A crisis in Zionism: why Israelis are leaving29:25 Lawfare backfires: Ghassan Abu-Sittah and the collapse of Israel’s censorship strategy39:57 Iran in revolt: protests, crackdowns, and the push toward war49:03 The Muslim Brotherhood bogeyman and the Gulf power struggle

This week we talk about how the fallout from Gaza is reshaping politics far beyond Palestine. We start with Israel shutting down humanitarian groups and the growing scale of displacement in Gaza and the West Bank, then move to Venezuela and the claim that Israel played a role in pushing the US toward regime change and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.From there, the conversation widens to how power is being used more openly and aggressively—from Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and talk of relocating Palestinians, to cracks between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, new Arab alliances, and what all of this could mean for the world heading into 2026.

This week’s episode starts with Gaza and the forced displacement of Palestinians, using the No Place Under Heaven report to explain how people are being pushed from place to place while basic conditions for life are deliberately denied We then look at Israel’s wider plan in Gaza: building permanent military control, changing the geography on the ground, and trying to rule through local proxy forces, and why that approach is now failing.The episode then moves to the political fallout beyond Gaza. We discuss the generational divide among Jewish voters highlighted by support for Zohran Mamdani, before looking at how Israel is once again pushing the US toward a possible war with Iran and the role neoconservative thinking still plays in Washington. We also ask whether Gaza has become a red line for Arab states, examine the UAE’s role in influence operations and disinformation, and end by reflecting on what Gaza forces us to confront about complicity and responsibility as this genocide continues.

This episode kicks off with a discussion about how companies are profiteering from the Gaza genocide. We examine the proposed Gaza “Board of Peace” and International Stabilisation Force, revealing how these initiatives risk becoming a façade for a new phase of foreign control under a US-led security regime.Against this backdrop, we spotlight how blackmail and bribery have become central tools of Israeli statecraft — from NATO’s suspension of Israel’s largest weapons firm over a bribery scandal to explosive claims that the UK threatened the ICC over Netanyahu’s arrest warrant. Plus: the co-optation of Christian leaders in the service of Israel, suppression of pro-Palestinian dissent, and the political exploitation of anti-Semitism

This week we kick off with the killing of Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of an Israeli-backed militia in Gaza, before moving to CNN’s chilling investigation revealing how Israeli forces bulldozed the bodies of Palestinian civilians into unmarked graves. We break down Netanyahu’s admission that Israel’s war “can never truly end,” and the ICC’s pushback against US intimidation. Plus, we look at Trump’s emerging Gaza plan, the fallout over Tony Blair’s role, and what Washington’s new national security strategy signals for the Middle East.We also explore Gaza’s internal dynamics, the regional frustration with Israel’s ongoing violations of ceasefire, and the deep moral crisis emerging within segments of the Israeli military. Finally, we examine Syria one year after the fall of Bashar al Assad and what this shifting landscape means for regional politics.02:42 Gaza Update: Killing of Yasser Abu Shabab & Shift in Militia Dynamics09:37 Trump’s Gaza Plan & the ‘Board of Peace’-Saudi Frustration and Regional Pushback on Ceasefire Redefinition-Israel’s Escalating Assault on UN Institutions & ICJ Context22:41 CNN Investigation: Bulldozed Corpses and Gaza’s Missing Aid Seekers30:38 Netanyahu’s ‘Never-Ending War’ Doctrine36:42 ICC Rejects U.S. Pressure to Halt War Crimes Probe45:07 Consolidating a New Authoritarianism in Service of Israel, Trump’s New National Security Strategy 54:45 Syria One Year After Assad’s Fall

In this episode we unpacks a series of explosive new reports exposing the full scale of Israel’s assault on Gaza. We examine a groundbreaking study estimating more than 112,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, Amnesty International’s warning that the so-called ceasefire is creating a “dangerous illusion” while genocide continues at a slower pace, and UN findings that 69 years of development have been erased alongside credible evidence of a state policy of widespread torture.We also break down revelations that Israel backed looters of aid convoys, Mahmoud Abbas’s move to change election laws to effectively ban opposition, and new footage of Israeli forces executing surrendered Palestinians in the West Bank. Plus, we explore how the narrative of Jewish refugees from Arab countries is weaponised today, and revisit Jeffrey Epstein’s role in efforts to silence critics of the Israel lobby. Tune in for essential analysis cutting through propaganda and exposing the realities on the ground.

In this episode of Palestine This Week, with Mouin Rabbani, we unpack the latest developments in Gaza and beyond. We examine the shutdown of the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as American military contractors ramp up recruitment for new deployment. We dissect the UN’s endorsement of Trump’s Gaza plan and what it means for Palestine.We also cover a major Human Rights Watch report on mass displacement in the West Bank, Netanyahu’s electoral crackdown on Arab parties, and a scandal involving a French ICC judge targeted by US sanctions. Plus: a US ambassador meets a convicted Israeli spy, and Israel strikes Beirut in violation of a ceasefire.

In this episode of Palestine This Week, Gaza-born analyst and human rights advocate Muhammad Shehada joins us to unpack the UN Security Council's endorsement of a US-backed resolution modelled on President Donald Trump's so-called "Peace Plan"—one that envisions international forces in Gaza and a conditional path to Palestinian statehood.We also examine:The shocking new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel: 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since 7 October.Racist roots of the rape of Palestinian detainees.A shadowy Israeli-Estonian operation smuggling Palestinians from Gaza.Escalating settler violence and open arson attacks in the occupied West Bank.The US-Israel alliance: a potential 20-year military agreement, and Saudi normalisation via arms deals.00:00 Intro: Welcome to Palestine This Week with Muhammad Shehada02:17 UN Endorses Trump’s Gaza 'Peace Plan' Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood – Netanyahu’s Position10:16 China and Russia Abstain – What’s Behind the Vote?13:29 The Real Plan for Gaza: Temporary Zones Becoming Permanent26:30 Shadowy Firm 'Al-Majd' Smuggles Gazans to South Africa37:36 Physicians for Human Rights: 98 Palestinians Dead in Israeli Custody38:43 Systematic Torture and Disappearances in Israeli Detention Camps42:10 Sde Teiman Torture Camp – Soldiers Applauded in Court43:05 Racist Roots of the Rape of Palestinian Detainees.52:23 West Bank: Settler Arson and Rising Theocratic Extremism01:07:18 Israel's F-35 Deal with Saudi Arabia 01:07:26 Israel Seeks 20-Year Security Pact with the US – What’s at Stake?01:15:31 Closing Reflections - Israeli Hegemony?