BREAKING NEWS: Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts
Will the World Finally Act?
Hamas's announcement to release Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage, comes as a glimmer of humanity amid Israel's relentless genocide in Gaza. While this news may bring relief to one family, it cannot obscure the devastating reality: 19 months of systematic slaughter that has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, the vast majority women and children.
The timing is telling. As President Trump prepares his Middle East visit—conspicuously avoiding Israel—Hamas demonstrates its readiness for serious negotiations. Khalil al-Hayyah's statement that Hamas is prepared to "immediately start intensive negotiations" for a comprehensive ceasefire reveals what Palestinian resistance has always sought: not endless conflict, but justice, freedom, and an end to occupation.
Yet even as diplomatic possibilities emerge, Israel's killing machine continues unabated. Fifteen more Palestinians were murdered overnight, including entire families in Khan Younis' supposed "safe zones." The horrific normalcy of parents carrying their children's remains, of death raining from skies during nights, exposes the true nature of Israel's war: not against Hamas, but against Palestinian existence itself.
The humanitarian catastrophe defies comprehension. Israel has sealed Gaza from all imports for over 10 weeks, weaponizing starvation against 2.3 million civilians. Children chase water tankers through rubble-strewn streets, forced to drink contaminated water that spreads disease with no medicine available. Ninety percent of Gaza's population has been displaced, vast areas lie in ruins, and every hospital has been systematically targeted.
Israel cynically claims it targets only militants while 52,800 corpses—overwhelmingly civilians—tell the truth. The excuse that Hamas operates among civilians is a grotesque justification for collective punishment and genocide. When families return to neighborhoods reduced to dust, when children die of hypothermia in tents, we witness not military strategy but calculated ethnic cleansing.
Hamas's proposal deserves serious consideration: establishing an independent technocratic body in Gaza, prisoner exchanges, and ending hostilities. With 59 hostages still in Gaza and thousands of Palestinians languishing in Israeli prisons—many held without charge under "administrative detention"—there's clear room for negotiation.
But negotiations cannot happen while bombs fall and children starve. The international community's failure to stop this genocide reveals how thoroughly Palestinian lives have been devalued. Trump's upcoming regional tour offers an opportunity, but meaningful peace requires more than diplomatic theater.
As another day passes with Palestinian blood soaking Gaza's soil, one question remains: How many more must die before the world acts? Edan Alexander's release could mark a turning point—but only if it leads to addressing the root cause of this conflict: Israel's brutal occupation and apartheid system that denies Palestinians their most basic human rights.
hopefully this means aid will be allowed in!
It’s simply incredible that the world powers have either stood by and watched this bloody massacre or, worse yet, supplied the bombs, fighter jets, money, and political cover to ensure that it continues. I’m cynical about most governments and their willingness to harm others or even their own people for personal and political gain, but in the past they’d make some attempt to correct their actions when their actions were exposed. The genocide in Gaza has the dubious distinction of being the first to be live-streamed. Yet, even the knowledge that the entire world has been watching these atrocities and has been protesting for over a year seems to have no effect. I never thought I’d live to see this level of depravity on the part of western governments. Israel has never upheld international law or sought peace which would mean permanent borders. They’ve believed themselves superior to all other people, entitled to take whatever land they desire by any means. It’s only been the halfhearted limits on their savagery by the international community that have prevented this brutal campaign of murder and displacement from happening years ago. Israel will never be a country that upholds international law, including humanitarian law, on its own initiative. It will never be a genuine democracy and will remain a racist apartheid state without outside pressure. In short, Israel will never be a true member of the international community, will never respect the human rights of others, will continue to murder and wreak destruction, unless they are held accountable. They have clearly recognized this opportunity, an opportunity that was orchestrated in advance (Gaza 2035 plan) and probably sanctioned by the US at its inception, to be their last chance to finish the destruction of the Palestinian people that began in 1947.
The UNSC is blocked by the US veto and powerless to take any action. It’s incumbent upon the individual member states to abide by their obligations under the UN Charter and place arms and trade embargoes on Israel, to sanction Israel, and take any and all other necessary measures to halt Israel’s genocidal attacks on OPT and their illegal attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen. Israel needs to be barred from the UN their membership suspended. If the international community continues to fail in their obligations the world as we know it - or thought we knew it- will cease to exist.