Welcome to +972’s Sunday Recap!

The 21st Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Ceremony took place on Monday evening at an undisclosed location in Tel Aviv for the safety of participants. As +972 Magazine reported in partnership with Local Call, the ceremony offered bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families a rare space to jointly mourn loved ones lost to the conflict, and to raise their voices in calling for an end to war and Israeli occupation.

As talk of postwar reconstruction in Gaza grows –– despite the ongoing blockade that renders it largely impossible –– and calls intensify for what more and more Israelis call “voluntary emigration” of the Strip’s 2 million residents, Yahav Erez considered what a real “day after” might look like. Many of those displaced by the genocide are already Nakba refugees. Activists are mapping out how they could return to their original homes from pre-1948.

Amid U.S.-brokered talks to extend the “ceasefire,” Elia Ayoub argued that Israel’s ongoing attacks are weakening the Lebanese government, creating an opening for Hezbollah and raising the possibility of new sectarian strife by further isolating Lebanese Shi’a communities.

Israel’s pursuit of “total victory” has entangled it in an unwinnable war with Iran, wrote Local Call editor Meron Rapoport and Ameer Fakhoury, eroding legitimacy abroad and deepening moral decay within (originally published on Local Call). Just as Netanyahu’s “conflict management” approach unraveled two and a half years ago, they argue, so too is the doctrine of  “permanent security” against Iran now faltering.

And Shatha Yaish and Ibtisam Mahdi reported on elections held yesterday across the West bank and one city in Gaza, laying out what’s at stake as Palestinians vote for the first time in years, with residents split as to the vote’s legitimacy and potential for change.

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