Trump’s Envoy to the Region to Address Netanyahu’s Deadlock: Unable to Wage War or Make a Deal / 
The Arab Summit After the al-Aqsa flood: Stalled Settlements, the Displacement Plan, and an Operation in Haifa


 March 04, 2025

The political editor wrote

According to a White House announcement, President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to arrive in the region to address the stalled implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. This impasse stems from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to initiate negotiations for the second phase, which was originally scheduled to begin on the 16th day of the first phase, nearly a month ago. Netanyahu has made no secret of his preference for simply extending the first phase, maintaining the ceasefire, allowing humanitarian aid, and facilitating prisoner exchanges without committing to a formal end to the war or a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. He believes that reaching this stage would lead to the collapse of his government, particularly with Bezalel Smotrich threatening to withdraw. At the same time, Netanyahu lacks the political, public, and military capacity to resume the war – an assessment now widely accepted by analysts and experts within the occupying entity.
Notably, the White House has framed Witkoff’s return as an effort to either extend the first phase or resume negotiations on the second, even though Netanyahu had previously claimed that extending the ceasefire was a proposal from Witkoff himself – one that Tel Aviv accepted but Hamas rejected.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian cause looms over the Arab Summit, exposing once again the depth of Arab inaction. While the occupation obstructs the Gaza agreement, violates the ceasefire in Lebanon, and escalates its activities in Syria, doubling down on its annexation of the Golan Heights, it does so with full American backing. This, despite Washington’s formal role as a guarantor in the ceasefire agreements for both Lebanon and Gaza. The U.S. stance, dismissive of Arab concerns, was laid bare in President Donald Trump’s remarks advocating the displacement of Gaza’s population and calling on Egypt and Jordan to receive them.
In response to Israeli aggressions in the West Bank and efforts to manipulate Syria’s sectarian fabric under the pretext of protecting the Druze community, Palestinians struck back with a bold operation in Haifa. Palestinian Druze Petro Shahin carried out the attack, killing one settler and injuring five others, three of whom are in critical condition. Meanwhile, disillusioned by a series of failed Arab and Islamic summits since the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Arab public now watches this summit with waning interest. The key question remains: Will the Arab leaders dare to declare a Palestinian state starting from Gaza and open the Rafah crossing without seeking permission from the occupation?
Lebanese attention is focused on President Joseph Aoun’s return from Saudi Arabia following his participation in the Arab Summit. His appeal for Arab assistance in Lebanon’s reconstruction is of particular interest, especially as it remains unclear whether such aid will come with conditions dictated by the United States, now that Washington has already abandoned its role as a guarantor of the ceasefire and has endorsed the indefinite presence of occupation forces in Lebanese territory. As the Israeli war minister himself put it, a buffer zone in Lebanon now exists with an American green light and no set time frame.