Gaza: "Hearts will harden" against its people

Gaza: "Hearts will harden" against its people | GZERO World

What is to become of the Palestinian people? As war rages on both sides of the Gazan border, one thing, says Middle East scholar Shibley Telhami, is already clear: hearts will harden on both sides.

"Look, we know what happens in war," Telhami tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. "We know what happens when people suffer so dramatically every day of their lives. And we saw what happened in Israel just after the horrific attack, how people's hearts hardened so much that many in Israel are calling for leveling Gaza. And look at the results now, with thousands of Palestinian civilians being killed and wounded and up to 300,000 as of today have been rendered. Homeless. People's hearts get hardened."

Is there a diplomatic way out of all this carnage, or will the pain of these days result in more division and more conflict?

Watch the full GZERO World interview: Israel at war
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld or on US public television. Check local listings.

More from GZERO Media

A woman votes during the parliamentary elections, in Pristina, Kosovo, February 9, 2025. R
REUTERS/Florion Goga

The Republic of Kosovo held parliamentary elections on Sunday, and with 88% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's party, Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement), is ahead with 41% of the vote – a drop from the 50% Kurti got in 2021. This means he will likely need to form a coalition to stay in power.

Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, are released by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel on Feb. 8, 2025.

REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners. But the return of Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy sparked outrage in Israel due to their severely malnourished state.

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2025.
REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday halting all “non-essential” assistance to South Africa. He also ordered American agencies to assist white South Africans fleeing racial discrimination and resettle them as refugees in the US.

Spanish Vox party leader Santiago Abascal presided over the European Patriots Summit in Madrid over the weekend. The event brought together numerous conservative leaders from across Europe under the banner of "Make Europe Great Again."

Photo by David Cruz Sanz/Alter Photos/Sipa USA via Reuters

Leaders of the far-right Patriots for Europe bloc addressed 2,000 supporters in Madrid on Saturday under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again.”

Listen: President Trump has already made sweeping changes to US public health policy—from RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the health department to withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. On the GZERO World Podcast, New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth look at health policy in the Trump administration, and what it could mean, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world.

- YouTube

From RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the health department to an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, President Trump has already made sweeping changes to public health policy, and this may be just the beginning. On GZERO World, New York Times Science and Global Health Reporter Apoorva Mandavilli joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth look at health and medicine in the second Trump administration—and what it could mean, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world.

Elon Musk walks on Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD), in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

As the deadline for federal employees to resign in exchange for eight months of pay closed in on Thursday, a federal judge in Massachusetts stepped in and temporarily blocked it. Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. ordered that a hearing be held on Monday afternoon. In response, the Office of Personnel Management – the agency Elon Musk has harnessed to carry out the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to downsize the government – has postponed the deadline until Monday.