Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 18h

I wouldn't recommend holding your breath all the way through reading a short story, you don't need to do that as some can leave you breathless just from reading them. 😊❤️

Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 22h

A short story is a single held breath, a life, a death, a revelation, all in miniature. From Chekhov to Shirley Jackson, the best of them end before you’re ready, leaving the echo of a door closing. #BookWormSat

Art: Van Gogh

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

#WRP #YS #publicmeeting #London

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Those questions will be deferred to a later round if the ceasefire takes hold.

A source close to the Palestinian negotiators said: ‘The next round of negotiations will be very tricky, but going back to genocide will not be easy, even though it’s probable.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Hamas said its mandate extended only to issues directly tied to the Gaza war.

....sweeping matters such as demilitarisation, disarmament & any deployment of foreign troops would require a broader Palestinian consensus involving all factions.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Palestinian & Israeli officials estimate there are 20 living Israeli captives, & 28 believed to be deceased.

Hamas figures said some of the bodies lie under rubble from Israeli air strikes or in areas under Israeli control, & additional time would be needed to recover remains.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Hamas has demanded freedom for Marwan Barghouti, widely regarded as the most popular Palestinian political leader, but Netanyahu has reportedly assured far-right interior minister Itamar Ben-Gvir he will not release Barghouti.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'The draft provides for Israel to free about 2,000 Palestinians held in prisons & military camps, majority taken from Gaza after 7 October, including all women & children.

Negotiations remain live over the final lists & whether any of the most prominent figures will be freed.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Israel abandoned that agreement in March, imposing a full blockade and resuming a bombing campaign that later expanded into a ground assault on Gaza City in August.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'A senior Hamas official said mediators had assured the Palestinian side that the Rafah crossing would be reopened in both directions.

...a source close to the negotiators said deliveries would resume at levels set by the Jan 2025 ceasefire, with 600 trucks a day entering Gaza.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

‘This is something they were not able to move,’ said a source close to the talks, noting that the exact lines for redeployment were still under discussion and that Israeli units would remain entrenched in parts of Gaza for now.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Despite months of insisting that no deal could stand without a complete pull-out of occupation forces, the Palestinian side accepted a framework that would keep Israeli troops inside Gaza at positions still being mapped as part of the exchange and redeployment process.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

‘Had there been no commitment from the American president, we would never have agreed to take the risk, because we do not trust Netanyahu or his extremist right-wing team in the current Israeli government.’

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

They said Israel has repeatedly violated past ceasefires with Hamas and with Lebanon, and any new arrangement would be a high-stakes gamble.....‘This is a risk, but we trusted President Trump to be the guarantor of all the commitments made.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Palestinian negotiators told US based Dropsite News that their central concern had been to avoid surrendering all leverage by handing over every Israeli captive without a full withdrawal of Israeli forces.'

1

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Qatar’s foreign ministry, together with Egypt led the shuttle talks: ‘An agreement was reached on all the provisions & implementation of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages & Palestinian prisoners, & aid.’

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

‘I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan.

This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps....'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Shortly after those remarks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed Trump a note at an event, prompting the president to say he had been told ‘we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East’ and that he would be needed ‘pretty quickly’.

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Earlier on Wednesday Trump had hinted that an announcement was imminent. ‘We have a great team over there, great negotiators. And there are unfortunately great negotiators on the other side also,’ he said on Wednesday.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'HAMAS & other Palestinian factions agreed on Thursday to a framework for a Gaza ceasefire after months of mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

‘From our side, yes,’ a Hamas official told US based Dropsite News, adding that they still needed to ‘finalise some points’ with mediators.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

'Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are expected to be released in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.

Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is not expected to be released by Israel'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 19h

Gaza ceasefire framework agreed
wrp.org.uk/features/gaz...

Gaza ceasefire framework agreed - Workers Revolutionary Party

HAMAS and other Palestinian factions agreed on Thursday to a framework for a Gaza ceasefire after months of mediation by Qatar and Egypt. ‘From our side, yes,’ a Hamas official told US based Dropsite ...

wrp.org.uk

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 21h

‘Stopping the war means a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,’ said senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk, describing earlier Israeli maps as ‘hand-drawn and unprofessional’.

1

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 21h

'Despite these developments, reports of continuing Israeli attacks raised doubts about the durability of the truce and whether Tel Aviv intends to comply with the agreed withdrawal.'

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 21h

'The ceasefire’s provisions include the reopening of the Rafah crossing and the release of 250 Palestinians serving life sentences alongside 1,700 detained since October 2023.'

1

Roger Alan Blackwell @rogera.bsky.social · 21h

‘We have received guarantees from our brothers, the mediators and the US administration, all confirming that the war has ended completely.’

1