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I hope you are doing well.
I’m writing to share important updates from the region, as well as J Street’s statements and resources from this past week. As a reminder, you can always find our most recent statements on J Street crisis response page.
All the best,
Hannah
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Hannah Morris
She/Her
Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 832-606-1817
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page
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This week on j street
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J STREET U COLUMBIA STATEMENT ON ONGOING TENSIONS ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
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J STREET STATEMENT ON POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF LEAHY LAW TO NETZAH YEHUDA BATTALION
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STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY SUPPLEMENTAL
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What we’re reading
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Top Israeli and Egyptian officials secretly meet to discuss possible Rafah invasion
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| Israel has for weeks said it would invade Rafah but faces pushback from the U.S. and other countries about the more than 1 million displaced Palestinian estimated to be sheltering in the city and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Senior Israeli officials said that significant progress has been made in preparing for the evacuation of the civilian population from Rafah. According to the officials, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have set up large tent shelters between Rafah and Khan Yunis as well as in the Muassi area northwest of Rafah along the coast. “Everyone is waiting for Netanyahu’s directive to start evacuating the civilian population from Rafah. It’s parked at his desk. He needs to resolve the matter with both the Americans and the Egyptians,” a senior Israeli official said. |
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After U.N. Report, Germany Says It Will Resume Funding for UNRWA
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| Germany said on Wednesday that it would resume funding for the main U.N. agency aiding Palestinians in Gaza, known as UNRWA, after an independent review found that Israel had not provided evidence of an allegation that led many donor nations to withdraw support for the agency. The announcement was likely to cause further strain in Germany’s longstanding close ties with Israel, which have deteriorated because of differences over the war in Gaza. |
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Israel Planned Bigger Attack on Iran, but Scaled It Back to Avoid War
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| Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials… Such a broad and damaging attack would have been far harder for Iran to overlook, increasing the chances of a forceful Iranian counterattack that could have brought the Middle East to the brink of a major regional conflict. In the end — after President Biden, along with the British and German foreign ministers, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent a wider war — Israel opted for a more limited strike on Friday that avoided significant damage, diminishing the likelihood of an escalation, at least for now. |
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US holds off on sanctioning Israeli military units accused of human rights violations in West Bank before start of war with Hamas
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| The Biden administration has determined that three military battalions with the Israel Defense Forces committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank but will remain eligible for U.S. military aid regardless because of steps Israel says it’s taking to address the problem… The US determination “will not delay the delivery of any US assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress,” Blinken wrote. The allegations involving each of the units occurred before the Oct. 7 war began when Hamas attacked Israel. None of the cases involves operations against Hamas in Gaza or against Iran or its proxies. |
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Hamas releases video of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
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| “This distressing video serves as an urgent call to take swift and decisive action to resolve this horrific humanitarian crisis and ensure the safe return of our loved ones,” the statement said. A U.S. official confirmed that the administration received the video Monday and was in touch with Goldberg-Polin’s family. The FBI’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell is examining the video for any information about his captivity. In an interview with NBC News earlier this month, Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who has become a vocal advocate in the effort to free the remaining hostages in Gaza, talked about the uncertainty and the unbearable wait that families like hers have had to endure. |
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More than 300 bodies found in mass grave at Gaza hospital, says Gaza Civil Defense
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| A mass grave with more than 300 bodies has been uncovered at a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Gaza Civil Defense workers said, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month. Col. Yamen Abu Suleiman, Director of Civil Defense in Khan Younis told CNN that 35 bodies had been discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex on Tuesday, bringing the total to 310. Some 73 bodies had been discovered on Monday, Suleiman said. |
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Analysis | After Passover, Israel Faces a Choice: Hostages or War
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| If Israel still wants to rescue all the hostages alive, before they die in the harsh conditions of captivity or are murdered by Hamas, it will have to consider an alternative solution: to cut its losses, declare an end to the war and withdraw from Gaza. Then, when the hostages and bodies of their friends are home, find the excuse (which Hamas will provide) to continue the campaign under better conditions. That is the approach made by some of the IDF Hostages and Missing Center. On Saturday night, the war cabinet convened to discuss the hostages for the first time in almost two weeks. That is not the behavior of leaders who view their return as urgent. |
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