Labour prospects in May elections may be irrevocably damaged by Birmingham Council’s costly refusal to settle the year-long dispute, warns STEVE WRIGHT
THE world breathed a sigh of relief at the “pause” in the Gaza bombings. Most shared something of the relief expressed by families of the released hostages and of the aid getting into Gaza. Many connected with the anxiety of those still waiting for more. And many more just wonder what will follow.
Inside Gaza, the injured could move to safer hospitals. Aid and medical supplies could be shipped in. The newly homeless could seek shelter elsewhere. Babies in incubators were transferred to other intensive care units (though not in Israel). And the bodies of the dead began to be salvaged from the rubble.
For a moment, the world was invited to forget the overstretched (and understaffed) hospital units, struggling to keep people alive without the basics of water, electricity and medical supplies.
Israeli media awash with leaks and rumours of Netanyahu’s plans to seize Gaza. Meanwhile, the unrelenting siege of Gaza continues unabated
Israel’s messianic settler regime has moved beyond military containment to mass ethnic cleansing, making any two-state solution based on differential rights impossible — we must support the Palestinian demand for decolonisation, writes HUGH LANNING



