Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the sc and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the scant details in the Israel-Hamas peace deal that are more about the destination than how to get there with Hamas displaying its priority of taking control of Gaza

and executing its Palestinian enemies rather than handing over the remains of Israeli hostages.

Joining us to discuss the gulf between Trump's declaration of peace and actual peace

is Asha Kaufman, director of the Crock Institute for International Peace Studies, and a

professor of history and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Prior to that, he taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was a research fellow at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to that, he taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem

and was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute

for the Advancement of Peace and headed its Middle East unit.

Kauffman is the author of Contested Frontiers,

cartography, sovereignty, and conflict of the Syria, Lebanon-Israel tri-border region,

and his latest article at the conversation is Trump's Gaza peace plan,

a bit of the old, a bit of the new and the same stumbling blocks.

Then with Trump, Miller, and Vance calling Democrats,

far-left lunatics, communists and terrorists,

we'll look into the reality of an inchoate and fractured American left, as well as divisions

amongst Democratic socialists, and speak with Harold Meyerson, one of the nation's best-known

progressive columnists and Edift at large at the American prospect.

He also writes regularly about California politics for the Los Angeles Times and other national

publications, and we'll discuss his latest article at the American prospect, The Rift in American Socialism.

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