Democracy Now! / January 20, 2025
Guest : Tala Nasir – lawyer with the Palestinian prisoner and human rights organization Addameer
Link : Addameer
As the ceasefire in Gaza has entered its second day and appears to be holding, we begin our coverage in Ramallah. “We’re hoping that it will continue, the Israelis will continue to release prisoners. And, of course, we have no guarantees they will not be rearrested again,” says Tala Nasir, a lawyer with the Palestinian prisoner and human rights organization Addameer. She also notes that many of those released are coming home in poor health. “They were starving inside the prisons,” Nasir notes.
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: The ceasefire in Gaza has entered its second day. On Sunday, Hamas released three Israeli women who had been held captive for 471 days, since October 7th, 2023. All three were reported in stable condition as they reunited with their families. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners — all women and children, the youngest being 15 years old. Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, Hamas will release 30 more Israeli captives, and Israel will release 1,890 Palestinians over the next six weeks.
This comes as thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza have begun trying to return home now that Israel’s 15-month bombing campaign has ended. Amal Abu Eita returned to her home in the Jabaliya refugee camp to find nothing but rubble.
AMAL ABU EITA: [translated] We will try to close this door and stay here. Where should we go? Where should we go? Our home is gone. Our situation is destroyed. Where can we go? Ten children, where should I go with them in the tents? Where should I go with them on the streets? We are trying to find a piece to shelter in. What is our situation? The same as all Arabs. This is what eases our pain a little, knowing that our situation is like that of the rest of the Arabs.
AMY GOODMAN: The ceasefire went into effect Sunday after Israel’s Cabinet approved the deal. Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned from Netanyahu’s Cabinet in protest.
On Saturday, Netanyahu said Israel reserves the right to resume attacks on Gaza.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] Both President Trump and President Biden gave full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel reaches the conclusion that negotiations of the second stage is fruitless. I appreciate it very much. … If we need to resume fighting, we will do that in new ways, and we will do it with great force.
AMY GOODMAN: Israel killed another 200 Palestinians after the ceasefire was first agreed on Wednesday.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Jerusalem, Gershon Baskin is with us, Middle East director of the International Communities Organization, a human rights advocacy group. He’s a longtime backchannel negotiator with Hamas in ceasefire deals. His memoir is titled In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine. And in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, we’re joined by Tala Nasir. She is a lawyer with the Palestinian prisoner and human rights organization Addameer.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Tala, let’s begin with you. If you can talk about — we will talk with Gershon Baskin about who the Israelis are, the three women who were released this weekend. I want to start with you, asking about the 90 Palestinians and who they are, as you are a lawyer with the prisoners organization.
TALA NASIR: Yes. So, yesterday, Palestinian prisoners were supposed to be released after 3 p.m., but, unfortunately, the Israeli authorities delayed their release until 3 a.m. today. Ninety-two Palestinian prisoners were released, including 69 female prisoners. Two of them are child prisoners. Twenty of them are administrative detainees. Five of them were sentenced prisoners, and 44 were under trial. While they also released 23 child prisoners, most of them were under administrative detention, and some of them were under trial. And also, six of the released prisoners yesterday were actually previously released in the November ’23 exchange deal, and then they were rearrested again. So, these are the Palestinians who were released yesterday. And, of course, we’re waiting for the other phases or the other batches of the prisoners to be released.
AMY GOODMAN: And just for people to understand globally who don’t know the Israeli system, when you say they were held administratively, you were saying they were held without charge or trial.
TALA NASIR: Yes. They were actually held without any charges, without any trial. It’s based on a secret file that neither the detainee nor their lawyers know anything about the charges or the accusations and why they are arrested.
AMY GOODMAN: And overall, you’re feeling about the ceasefire, at least for these next 42 days?
TALA NASIR: We’re actually concerned of what will — what will actually going to happen in the next few weeks, because yesterday it was horrible. Families were actually waiting for long hours in front of Ofer Prison. They were assaulted. The Israeli occupation forces started bombing the families, started using sound bombs, gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. There were lots of injuries at or in front of Ofer Prison. So, also, families were also assaulted in the occupied Jerusalem. There were summoned to al-Moscobiyeh by interrogation center. They were subjected to arbitrary conditions that prohibited gatherings and banned marches and fireworks and prevented them from chanting slogans.
So, the situation is still — we’re still concerned of the situation. We’re hoping that it will continue, the Israelis will continue to release prisoners. And, of course, we have no guarantees they will not be rearrested again, but we are hopeful that many other prisoners will be released, especially the ones who are serving life sentences.
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Bad deal better than no deal: ex-Israeli negotiator fears Netanyahu could resume attacks
Democracy Now! / January 20, 2025
Guests :
Gershon Baskin – Middle East director of the International Communities Organization, a human rights advocacy group, and a frequent backchannel negotiator with Hamas
Tala Nasir – lawyer with the Palestinian prisoner and human rights organization Addameer
Link : In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine
We continue our coverage of the long-awaited Gaza ceasefire by going to Jerusalem to speak with Israeli activist Gershon Baskin, who has experience negotiating with Hamas, including during this latest conflict. Baskin says while it’s heartening to see captives returning home, the ceasefire agreement is “a bad deal” because of how fragile it is. “Hamas would not have agreed to enter into this two- or three-phase deal without having guarantees … that in fact the war would end,” says Baskin. “But we don’t know that, because Netanyahu has given alternative promises to members of the government that Israel reserves the right to return to war.”
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: Gershon Baskin, you’re in Jerusalem right now. If you could respond, overall, to how the ceasefire was achieved? Talk about the three Israeli women, as well as the 92 Palestinians who were released.
GERSHON BASKIN: Right. The ceasefire deal that was negotiated primarily in Doha over the last weeks happened because Donald Trump told Benjamin Netanyahu to make the deal now. He wanted this deal done before he entered the White House. The deal was actually almost the same deal that was presented by President Biden way back in May. And cynically, it wasn’t achieved until a day — a few days before January 20th, when Donald Trump takes the Oval Office. Steve Witkoff, the Middle East emissary of Donald Trump, worked hand in hand with Brett McGurk from the Biden administration to make sure that the deal was done in Doha. And as I said, it’s more or less the same deal that was presented back in May.
I have to comment. It is a bad deal. It is a bad deal for Israel. It’s a bad deal for the Palestinians. It’s a deal which will take months to implement and create a lot more suffering for the families, for the families of hostages, for the families of prisoners. And the chances of it derailing in the Gaza Strip are very high.
The three women who were released are Romi Gonen, 24 years old; Emily Damari, 28 years old; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 years old. Two of them were from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, next to the Gaza Strip, and one of them was taken from the Nova festival on October 7th. They’re all civilians. None of them are military. None of them had anything to do with the Israeli occupation. They were Israeli citizens trying to live their lives.
AMY GOODMAN: And the Palestinians that were released, and then the additional, what, I think, 1,890 Palestinians who will be released, to underscore what Tala was just saying about the — well, they were all women and children, but the overall — the overwhelming majority had not been tried or charged.
GERSHON BASKIN: Yeah, I understand there are about a thousand administrative detainees who will be released in this first part of the deal for 33 of the Israeli hostages. Ninety-four hostages will remain in Gaza until the negotiations are completed on phase two, which will begin on day 16 and are supposed to be completed by day 30, before we enter another 42-week period. Hopefully, it will happen. Hopefully, the ceasefire will hold. And this is supposed to lead to an end to the war.
It seems to me that Hamas would not have agreed to enter into this two- or three-phase deal without having guarantees both from Qatar and from Egypt, through the United States, that in fact the war would end and will not continue beyond this first phase of the first 42 days. But we don’t know that, because Netanyahu has given alternative promises to members of the government that Israel reserves the right to return to war if the negotiations don’t end up moving in the direction that they want.
AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of Ben-Gvir, along with another MK, a member of Knesset, or known around the world as member of parliament — the significance of the far-right member of the Cabinet and member of the Knesset, Ben-Gvir, quitting?
GERSHON BASKIN: Right. Well, Ben-Gvir also admitted that he was successful in holding up this deal for months, which should be criminal. And he should be treated as criminal in the eyes of the Israeli public. I started by saying that this is a bad deal, but a bad deal is better than no deal. Certainly, Ben-Gvir’s resignation from the Cabinet and not being our minister for national security is a cherry on the cake that was unexpected. And it certainly made the deal a little bit sweeter for us Israelis who would like to live in a normal country. Ben-Gvir is a danger to our society. He’s a danger to our democracy. I think he’s a danger to the entire region. And the further away he is from power, the better it is for all of us.
AMY GOODMAN: Does he remain in the parliament, in the Knesset, or just quit as a Cabinet member?
GERSHON BASKIN: He just quits as a Cabinet member. He remains in the parliament. But a number of the parliamentarians from his party became members of parliament in what’s called the Norwegian [Law] here. When ministers enter the government, they can resign their Knesset seat, their parliament seat, and bring in additional people from the party. Apparently, two of the members of his party now have to also be removed from the Knesset, which is also a blessing.
AMY GOODMAN: And Bezalel Smotrich did, ultimately, though he threatened to leave, remain.
GERSHON BASKIN: Yeah, he remained. He cynically put out a tweet on X congratulating the return of the hostages, that he tried to block. He voted against the deal. There is no end to the cynicism within the Israeli government.
AMY GOODMAN: Tala, if you can talk about the release of Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian parliamentarian, a member of the PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine?
TALA NASIR: Yes. So, Khalida was released also yesterday. She was completely isolated from the outside world for four — five months now. She was released with a horrible — in a horrible condition, actually, because of the isolation, because of the starvation imposed at least her and other women prisoners, because of the lack of personal hygiene tools, the confiscation of clothes and electrical appliances, the denial of medical care. So, she was released in a very horrible situation. And people around the world saw the pictures of how she was released. And it’s not only about Khalida Jarrar, but it’s also other women prisoners who were also released in a very bad situation. And they were subjected to different torture and ill-treatment methods, which led to them lose so much of their weight. They were starving inside the prisons, and that’s why we saw them in this horrible situation.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you both for being with us. Of course, we will continue to follow this extremely closely. Tala Nasir is lawyer with Addameer, the Palestinian prisoners organization. She’s speaking to us from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. And Gershon Baskin, longtime backchannel negotiator with Hamas in ceasefire deals.
