US President Appears in Israel, Ignorance of International Law Persists
The 'ceasefire' Al-Monitor spotlights (Reuters report; al-monitor.com) as holding for a third day omits crucial context: this pause follows weeks of devastating bombardment, not a sudden outbreak of peace. Thousands of Palestinians are 'traveling north towards Gaza City,' the very area Israel obliterated just days ago. The 'hostage release' is framed as a standalone event, rather than a direct
consequence of decades of occupation and the ongoing illegal detention of thousands of Palestinians, many without charges—a fact routinely ignored by US media and politicians. Donald Trump's planned visit to 'Israel's parliament' isn't about fostering peace; it's a political endorsement repackaged as statesmanship. His prior administration saw the unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's
capital and the 'Abraham Accords,' initiatives that further marginalized Palestinians and solidified unchecked Israeli expansion. One might wonder if his speech will address the 2.3 million people living under siege, or if it will be another opportunity to greenlight more 'security operations' while conveniently overlooking international law—a tradition well-funded by the $3.8 billion in annual
U.S. military aid (Congressional Research Service, 2023) that props up this unsustainable status quo from afar.