Episode 47: Building a new Gaza, with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
Ask Haviv Anything
Haviv Rettig Gur
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 October 2025
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The day after Trump's release of his 20-point plan for an end to the Gaza war, Haviv sat down with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian-American analyst and director of the Atlantic Council's Realign for Palestine project, to discuss what it means.
Can Hamas really be disarmed and removed from power in Gaza, as the plan envisions? Can an international force in Gaza succeed where the likes of UNIFIL and countless other international interventions in the region have failed miserably? Who in Palestinian society can push back against Hamas or build out political and military power to rival and ultimately suppress Hamas? Can Gazan society be deradicalized?
Two tweets are mentioned in the conversation.
1. On his transitional force idea: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1971747726220984541
2. On Hamas's withdrawal from Gaza City and regrouping in Nuseirat: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1972114914069086285
Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand, which I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, the show dives into Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments. It’s smart, nuanced, and never afraid of complexity, taking the headlines we think we know and uncovering the deeper story of how we got here.
If you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here at AHA, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://unpacked.bio/havivUIH.
And if you like what we do here at AHA, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything.
If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.
Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to Ask Haviv Anything. |
| 0:07.3 | This is an interview that I have been looking forward to for some time with Ahmed Fuad al-Khattib. |
| 0:14.4 | That is an Israeli pronunciation of his name. |
| 0:16.6 | I'm going to let him pronounce it more accurately to its proper cultural context. |
| 0:22.3 | I have been following Ahmed for a while. |
| 0:25.4 | I disagree with him on much. |
| 0:27.2 | I agree with him on much. |
| 0:29.0 | And we are recording this a day after the presentation by President Trump and Benjamin |
| 0:34.6 | Netanyahu of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, of the plan to end the war. |
| 0:39.5 | The day after, the way the plan deals with Hamas, we're going to dive into all of it. |
| 0:44.3 | So the timing is amazing. |
| 0:46.7 | And I'm really glad Ahmed is here. |
| 0:49.4 | Just to lay it out, he is the director of realign for Palestine. |
| 0:57.0 | It's a new, fairly atlantic council project that tries to challenge entrenched narratives in the israel and |
| 1:02.0 | Palestine discourse and develops a new policy framework for rejuvenated pro-Palestine |
| 1:06.8 | advocacy that's reading their description god knows we can't be doing the same old thing |
| 1:12.5 | forever and ever. So before we get into it, I want to tell you that today's episode, |
| 1:18.2 | I'm very happy to tell you, is sponsored by my very good friends at Unpacking Israeli History, |
| 1:23.2 | a podcast from Unpacked, which is a series of podcasts, a brand from Open Door Media. |
| 1:30.1 | I have joined that podcast several times to talk about different aspects of Israeli history. |
| 1:33.9 | It's hosted by my good friend Norm Weissman, who, you know, people who listen to this podcast will know. |
| 1:40.8 | The show dives into Israel's most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments and all the issues surrounding the debates around Israeli history. |
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