BPalestinian Red Crescent teams say they treated nine people in the West Bank tonight — six of them children — for tear gas exposure.
BAnd that's in Halhul, where the Israeli army has been operating since Friday. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and the operation has expanded.
BThis is the kind of story that gets lost in the big headlines. Nine people. Six kids. Suffocation from tear gas. That's a hospital report, not a rumor.
BRight, and it's the cost of how Israel is fighting in the West Bank right now. They're going after the cells behind those killings, but the operation is in populated areas.
BAnd the Red Crescent is the main medical responder there. When they say six children, they're not making a political point. They're triaging.
BExactly. The Israeli military says it's targeting militant infrastructure, but when the operation moves into a town like Halhul, civilians get caught in it.
BAnd this is the second straight day of operations around Hebron. That's a city where tensions are already high, and now you have search operations and crowds.
BI think that's the thing to watch. The West Bank has been on edge for months. You add a military operation after soldiers are killed, and it escalates fast.
BAnd it's not just the tear gas. The Red Crescent says the total number of injured is higher. We're getting the confirmed count on the suffocation cases.
BLet's turn to diplomacy. Putin says Russia can reach a deal with Ukraine.
BWhile vowing to achieve all war objectives. Those two sentences doing a lot of work together.
BThat's the Putin formula, isn't it? Talk about peace, but never actually give up anything. He's said this before.
BAnd the timing matters. The Trump administration has been trying to get a ceasefire moving. Putin saying this now is part of the negotiation.
BI think it's more than that. He's signaling to his own people and to the West that any deal will be on his terms. 'We can negotiate, but we're keeping what we took.'
BWhich is why it might actually be progress. If he's openly saying a deal is possible, even with that caveat, it's a shift from total war rhetoric.
BBut that's exactly what frustrates me. We keep hearing 'deal is possible' for three years. Meanwhile, Russian forces are still advancing in places.
BBut the reality is a negotiated settlement is the only way this ends without a much bigger war. Neither side can win outright.
BAnd that's where I think you're wrong. Ukraine can absolutely outlast Russia if the West keeps supplying them. Putin's economy is strained.
BOutlast how? Russia has three times the population and a war economy that's fully mobilized. Ukraine is running out of men.
BThen why is Putin talking about a deal at all? If he could just grind it out, he'd never say the word 'negotiate.' He's under pressure.
BBecause he wants sanctions relief. That's the leverage. He's not under military pressure; he's under economic pressure.
BOkay, so if he wants sanctions relief, that means the West has leverage. Which means Ukraine is not doomed to lose. That's my point.
BFine. But the question is what Ukraine gives up. Crimea? The land bridge? That's a terrible deal for Zelensky.
BWhich is why it matters who's at the table. If Trump pushes a deal that gives Putin Crimea, you'll see a revolt in Kyiv.
BAnd if there's no deal, this war goes on for years. I'm not sure which is worse.
BThat's the honest answer. Neither of us knows. But Putin saying 'deal is possible' is not the same as peace.
BPutin's comments came through social media. We haven't confirmed the exact wording from Russian state media. What we do know is the pattern — he has said this for months.
BAnd meanwhile, on X there are people literally writing peace proposals to world leaders like they're sending a letter to the editor.
BI saw that. Someone named Joseph posted a 'Russia–Ukraine Peace and Reconciliation Framework' and tagged POTUS, Musk, Zelensky, and Carney.
BTagged Mark Carney, who isn't even in government. And Elon Musk, like he's the Secretary of Peace.
BYou know what? At least someone's trying. It's easy to mock, but the thread had a real framework. Ceasefire, withdrawal, monitoring.
BI'm not mocking the effort. I'm mocking the idea that tagging a Canadian ex-central banker on a social media post is diplomacy.
BFair. But the responses were interesting. Some people actually engaged with the proposal, others said it was fantasy.
BBecause it kind of is. Putin isn't checking his mentions. The war doesn't end because a guy named Joseph had a good idea on X.
BBut ideas have to start somewhere. What's the alternative? Screaming at each other on cable news?
BI'll take the screaming. At least it's honest about how far apart these sides actually are.
BThat's the whole segment, really. Tear gas in Halhul, Putin talking peace, and a stranger's proposal going viral. The world is on edge.
BAnd the edgiest part is none of it has a clean ending. Every story tonight is a question mark.
BThat's Saturday evening in 2026 for you. We'll keep watching all of it.