the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
February 2, 2026
This article is translated from the January 30 issue, #3000 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
The last remaining body of an Israeli hostage abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, was recovered and formally identified on January 26. In principle, his repatriation to Israel should trigger “phase two” of the ceasefire agreement signed in October.
The second stage of the “Trump plan” calls for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, the deployment of an international force, and the establishment of a Palestinian administration managed by a Board of Peace chaired by Trump himself. On January 22 in Davos, he declared this Board was established. But his bluster has no impact on the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli army continues to operate with impunity.
The ceasefire agreement pledged that the border crossing in Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would reopen as soon as the ceasefire took effect, to let in humanitarian aid. Its partial reopening was only declared on January 26. But the official statement gave no date, specifying only that passage will be “reserved for pedestrians and subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism.” These restrictions will surely keep blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, while the situation for Gazans in terms of food and health stays as dire as ever.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he believes the priority at this stage is to disarm Hamas, “peacefully or forcefully.” The Israeli defense minister was even clearer at the end of December, flatly declaring, “We will never leave Gaza.”
Far from withdrawing, the Israeli army regularly pushes forward the boundary of the area under its control, the “yellow line” supposedly established by the October agreement. This line squeezes more than two million Palestinians into barely 40% of the ravaged territory. Yellow concrete blocks marking this border are relocated daily. Testimonies tell how residents who went to sleep in an area far from the yellow line in the evening discovered yellow blocks in front of their homes when they woke up.
The Israeli army continues its policy of terror and massacre. Nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed since the implementation of the so-called ceasefire. Nearly all fell victim to soldiers’ fire or drone strikes. The Israeli army continues to destroy the remaining buildings east of the yellow line and is building military bases there. More than a dozen such bases have been identified so far. These show the army’s intent to occupy Gaza permanently.
In Davos, Trump indulged in his usual buffoonery before an audience of super-rich individuals and heads of state. He showed off a brochure for luxury hotels—his plan for Gaza. But in Gaza, the reality is that Palestinians continue to live amidst rubble and in tents, with no hope of reconstruction. With Trump’s support, and under the guise of the “new phase,” the Israeli government continues its war against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank—where settlement construction is speeding up.