And less than 24 hours after Donald announced this “everlasting peace”, Palestinians were still being killed in Gaza, aid trucks stopped from going into Gaza and a row broke out about the failure of Hamas to return the bodies of dead Israeli hostages.
All of these grim, and sadly all too predictable factors, threaten to topple the whole ceasefire process.
Palestinian health officials reported that seven people inspecting their homes in east Gazawere killed by Israeli drones, violating the fragile ceasefire.
The Israeli military denied this, telling The Independent that the individuals had passed through a “yellow line” to which they had withdrawn. Israeli journalists, however, suggest that the military has invisible lines that Palestinians unknowingly cross.
The tax on non Muslims (jizyah) was in a way beneficial to creating a heterogenous environment. Anybody who tried to expel members of different faiths suffered an immediate loss of income and soon saw the err of their ways. And the more prosperous non-muslims are, the more tax they can pay, so it also gives a reason to take special care of them and help them to prosper.