It was an honor to speak with Jaser Abu Mousa on today’s podcast.
A fellow at the Washington, DC-based Middle East Institute and 2025 Yale Peace Fellow, Jaser lost his wife, two of his children, and additional close relatives in an Israeli missile strike on his home in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip shortly after October 7th, 2023.
Please note that we experienced audio difficulties from 2:45 to 6:15. You can skip over those few minutes or simply forego the intro altogether and start the video at 6:15.
The topics Jaser and I covered included:
Jaser’s personal story: Life before October 7th, 2023; the attack that killed and injured his family members (and nearly missed him); his journey to the United Arab Emirates with his two surviving (but seriously injured) children; and his experience as a Yale Peace Fellow
The Gaza "ceasefire”: Serial Israeli violations — including bombings, killings, land seizure — and why Jaser sees the “ceasefire” as a “holding pattern that serves everyone’s interests except those of the people living under it”
The map of control: What Israel retains (in yellow), the unmarked “yellow line” dividing areas under Israeli and Palestinian control, and what life is like for over 2 million Palestinians living in roughly 40% of the densely populated Gaza Strip (roughly 25 miles long by 3.7 to 7.5 miles wide)
Note: As Jaser and I discussed, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared today that Israel will seize more territory, for a total of 70% of the Gaza Strip — in violation of the ceasefire and the UN Security Council-approved Trump plan.
What could happen before Israel’s elections: Why Jaser is “expecting the worst to happen” in the next few months before Israelis go to the polls
Hamas’s exploitation of Palestinian civilians: How Hamas sees Palestinians as pawns in its struggle against Israel
Public opinion of Hamas among Gazans: Jaser estimated that only 18-25% of Gazans approve of Hamas and discussed the 2025 anti-Hamas demonstrations
“Managing the conflict” and the Netanyahu-Hamas relationship: Jaser explained how these policies catastrophically backfired on both Israelis and Palestinians — and why they must end
Disarming Hamas: Jaser explained why he believes the current approach to disarmament is dangerous and designed for Hamas to refuse, while noting that most Hamas weapons have already been eliminated
This Debrief was both intense and deeply informative. I’m so grateful to Jaser for entrusting me with this conversation. I strongly encourage you to head on over to Jaser’s Substack (here), check out his work, and subscribe!
And speaking of subscribing…
Friends, if you appreciate the insights The Debrief brings you, I hope you’ll pitch in to help me continue this work. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber now. You can also leave a one-time donation in any amount. Thank you.
As always, I look forward to your comments on this podcast!
What’s Coming Up?
Thursday, June 4 at 3pm Eastern:
Folks, you will want to mark your calendars for this upcoming podcast with Daniel Levy! You may know him as President of the U.S./Middle East Project, former Israeli negotiator in peace talks and advisor in the Israeli Prime Minister‘s office, and/or Zeteo contributor.
To whet your appetite, watch his testimony before the UN Security Council (from February 2025):
Join Daniel and me on The Debrief next week!
More Resources on Gaza:
In my last few posts, I’ve been recommending additional resources, including previous related episodes of The Debrief for folks who want to take a deeper dive.
I’d love to hear if you’ve found that valuable!
We’ve done many podcasts on Gaza, so I’ll pick a few of them. Of course, you can check out The Debrief’s full podcast archive here.
How Bad Is the UNSC-Endorsed Trump Plan for Gaza? with Zaha Hassan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The post contains clips anyone can check out, but this excellent episode is reserved for paid subscribers… in case you need another reason to upgrade now!
Holocaust and genocide studies scholar Omer Bartov on concluding Israel committed genocide in Gaza
This was The Debrief’s first-ever podcast, not to be confused with our more recent episode on Omer’s new book, Israel: What Went Wrong?. That is here.
A Gazan’s Quest for Palestinian Freedom with Khalil Sayegh
Khalil Sayegh provides another important first-person account. Among other things, we discussed what it was like for Khalil — as a Christian — to live under Hamas’ rule.
One Last Thing…
Just in the last couple of days, The Debrief gained a number of new paid subscribers, which made this possible:
If you’re one of the lovely folks (still less than 5% of total subscribers) who has invested in The Debrief, I have a message for you:
Thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart. You make this work possible. Because of you, I know that it’s worthwhile.
I’m so grateful.
Observing Eid al-Adha, I hope you’ll all join me in wishing The Debrief’s Muslim subscribers an EID MUBARAK!
Warm regards,
Debra
