Featured Photo by Emad El Byed on Unsplash

By Jawed Anwar

Global and regional politics are shifting quickly these days. The so-called peace deal pushed by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu isn't about peace at all. It's really a plan to wipe Palestine off the map and expand into "Greater Israel."

The first step? Freeing Israeli prisoners and forcing Hamas to disarm. So far, they've managed the prisoner part.

Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey pressured Hamas leaders—some say by holding them hostage—to sign the deal. But Hamas refused to give up its weapons.

Those Israeli prisoners? Many are trapped under tons of rubble from Israeli bombs. Digging them out is nearly impossible without heavy equipment. Israel knows this and won't provide the tools Hamas needs. Instead, it's using the "missing" bodies as an excuse to keep attacking Palestine and carrying out genocide. All that's left now is to drag America back into another round of bombings. If that happens, the killing will start up again soon. Fresh reports say two dead Israeli prisoners—the remains of Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch—were just returned amid a fragile truce.

But the threats keep coming. In a recent escalation defying the ceasefire, Israeli strikes killed at least 100 Palestinians, including 46 children.

Israel stands exposed before the world—no more hiding behind lies. Its global network of lobbies, politicians, media, money, and propaganda is crumbling. The loudest protests against Israel aren't from Muslim countries anymore. They're coming from America, Australia, and Europe. People's sense of right and wrong is finally waking up. Even The New York Times—a paper long accused of pro-Israel bias—is facing a revolt. Over 300 writers, scholars, and public figures, including dozens of past contributors, have pledged to boycott its opinion pages. They won't contribute until the paper owns up to its one-sided Gaza coverage, commits to ethical reporting on the U.S.-Israeli war, and calls for an arms embargo on Israel.

This is huge news for journalism in our time. The Times is 174 years old, famous as the "Newspaper of Record" for chronicling history. But it built its pro-Israel stance into official policy.

Remember how it hyped fake "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq? That shaped U.S. opinion, led to the invasion, and toppled Saddam Hussein. Now, the paper looks like it's on the chopping block. The pro-Israel lobby might prop it up, but its credibility is in ruins.

It's sad that leaders in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt have bought into Trump and Netanyahu's trickery. They've all teamed up to sideline Hamas—Palestine's only real political and military force—through joint governance plans that include exiling its leaders.

Before this, they helped Egypt's dictator smash the Muslim Brotherhood, with Israel cheering them on. They got billions in U.S. dollars for the Brotherhood's mass killings. Now, they want the same for Hamas, teaming up with Israel to end Palestine's last line of defense. Why do the Brotherhood and Hamas scare them? These groups push for true Islamic governance. That threatens the Muslim world's kings, generals, fake democrats, and puppet regimes. Too weak to act alone, these leaders beg Israel and America to do their dirty work. That's the real reason for the "normalize Israel" push—and why they've dumped billions in "gifts" on the U.S.  At the Sharm El-Sheikh summit—co-hosted by Trump and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi—it was a gathering of the shameless.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saluted Trump and shattered every limit of dignity. He even renominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming he "saved millions" by ending the India-Pakistan tensions and brokering the Gaza ceasefire.

A bartender or waiter would look noble by comparison. The Nobel committee should create a "Hall of Shame" award—and Trump should nominate Sharif for it. This was a worldwide competition in bootlicking, flattery, groveling, and phony grins. Sharif took the gold. No surprise—the Peace Prize often goes to Israel's biggest enablers. Sharm El-Sheikh is where Egypt first shook hands with Israel in the Muslim world.

A plea to Muslim scholars and thinkers: Stop parroting your governments' spin with blinders on. Dig into Palestine's true story—and the plots brewing in Washington and Tel Aviv. Never forget Al-Quds (Jerusalem) at the heart of it all. Tune into American experts on the Israel-Palestine conflict who back Palestine and blast Israel's genocide.

Ditch over-reliance on local news. Explore global alternatives instead. On Palestine, some Indian YouTubers outshine Muslim media—delivering sharp analysis in Urdu/Hindi. Check out Ashok Kumar Pandey from The Credible History, Saurabh Shahi from The Red Mike, and the anonymous host of KAY Rated. They're top-notch, packed with facts.

Since October 2023, Israel's terror campaign in Gaza has killed over 70,000 people—mostly civilians, including more than 20,000 children.

Tens of thousands more are disabled or homeless. Bombs have flattened buildings, leaving Gaza as a mountain of ruins.

Israel even turned food into a weapon, starving thousands to death. No other "state" has sunk that low. Trump and Netanyahu's "plan" offers zero hope for a Palestinian state.

Their 20-point outline—in points 1, 5, 11, and 20—demands stripping Hamas fighters of weapons, kicking them from power, and exiling anyone who surrenders.

Hamas was democratically elected to lead Gaza and Palestine. This blueprint ignores that completely. And now, Israel is brazenly breaking even these terms, with aid trucks down to a trickle.

Genocide in Gaza could restart any day. Pakistani ulema (Islamic scholars) must advise the armed forces of nuclear-powered Pakistan—whose air force has demonstrated exemplary performance in wars against India—issue fatwas, and insist that they attack Israel to liberate the oppressed Palestine.

Iran, without deploying its air force, struck from ground to air and shook Israel so much that Netanyahu's own secretariat was hit in the attack. Pakistan undoubtedly has air superiority. The advice should be to end the atmosphere of war with Afghanistan and India (an enemy conspiracy to divert attention from Palestine) and focus on war against Israel.