ah@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n22 February 2025 | 20:00 CAT
\n2 min read<\/p>\nHamas is moving swiftly to complete the first phase of its prisoner exchange deal while simultaneously offering a second phase to pre-empt Donald Trump\u2019s resettlement plan and increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
Dr James Dorsey, on the Middle East Report on Radio Islam, explained that the militant group initially agreed to accelerate the release of hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement. \u201cSo, you saw on Thursday, the release of the first four bodies of the remains of Israeli hostages. In the first phase, there are four more bodies to be released, and Saturday, six still-alive Israeli hostages are scheduled for release,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hamas has now indicated that in the second phase of the ceasefire\u2014terms of which are yet to be negotiated\u2014it is prepared to release all remaining hostages in one exchange. \u201cThere are 59 of them, 35 of whom are presumed to be dead, in one go in exchange for an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip,\u201d Dorsey explained.<\/p>\n
Dorsey highlighted a case of mistaken identity. Complications arose when the first four bodies were returned in a ceremony featuring plaques on the coffins suggesting the individuals had been arrested rather than kidnapped, along with slogans blaming Israel for their deaths. While it remains unclear how these hostages died, but the situation was further muddled when one of the bodies turned out to be misidentified. \u201cIt now turns out that one of the four bodies that was returned yesterday, the body of Shiraz Bivas, was not the body of Shiraz Bivas. It is not clear whose body it is because, according to the Israelis, it does not match the DNA of any of the Israeli hostages,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n
Israel and Hamas dig in their heels<\/strong><\/p>\nAs the ceasefire negotiations progress, both sides appear to be hardening their positions. \u201cHamas has, on the one hand, said that it was willing to cede participation in a postwar administration of Gaza, but that it would not disarm,\u201d said Dorsey.<\/p>\n
Adding further complexity, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan suggested in an Al Jazeera forum that it should be countries like Iran and Turkey\u2014rather than the UAE or Saudi Arabia\u2014that form an interim administration and contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza. \u201cAt the same time, you now have the Israelis, after Thursday\u2019s debacle, potentially calling off the whole thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Arab leaders seek alternative to Trump\u2019s plan<\/strong><\/p>\nWith Arab leaders meeting in Riyadh this weekend and preparing for further discussions in Cairo next month, efforts are underway to propose an alternative to Trump\u2019s resettlement plan for Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The Arab summit has already been postponed. The meeting in Cairo that is now scheduled for March 4 instead of February 27.<\/p>\n
According to Dorsey, the UAE has emerged as the United States\u2019 and Israel\u2019s most reliable Arab ally. \u201cThe UAE has clearly said that it rejects resettlement of the Palestinians outside of Gaza as proposed by US President Trump, but it has also said that at this point, it\u2019s the only proposal on the table,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The key question remains: what alternative will Arab leaders present? \u201cParticularly in Friday\u2019s summit in Riyadh, where Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are represented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As regional powers strategise, the Palestinian leadership remains deeply fractured. Qatar is attempting to mediate between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, but with little success. \u201cPalestinians are at a crossroads,\u201d Dorsey emphasised. He explained that Gaza has been devastated. Talk of expulsion, ethnic cleansing has become legitimate. \u201cThe administration of Gaza at this point is up for grabs. This is a moment at which you need a unified Palestinian leadership,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
As the region braces for the next developments, the question of Gaza\u2019s future remains unresolved, with multiple players vying for control over its postwar governance.<\/p>\n
LISTEN<\/strong>\u00a0to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Dr James M. Dorsey, an Award-winning scholar & journalist,\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\nABOUT THE AUTHOR
\n<\/strong>Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist, scholar, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore\u2019s Middle East Institute. He is the author of \u2018The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Azra Hoosen |\u00a0ah@radioislam.co.za 22 February 2025 | 20:00 CAT 2 min read Hamas is moving swiftly to complete the first phase of its prisoner exchange deal while simultaneously offering a second phase to pre-empt Donald Trump\u2019s resettlement plan and increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dr James Dorsey, on the Middle East Report […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":95323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-and-analysis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Middle-East-Report.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-oNs","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 22:00:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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