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I’m writing as a J Street advocacy leader to share important updates from the region as well as J Street’s statements and resources from the past week.
In the US, public support for Israel’s military campaign continued to decline, with a new Gallup poll showing approval among Democrats dropping to just eight percent. This week, food security experts described the situation in Gaza as a “worst-case scenario” amid severely restricted humanitarian access. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly floated a proposal to annex parts of Gaza to appease far-right members of his coalition if ceasefire negotiations with Hamas fail. In the West Bank, the killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen by an extremist settler drew renewed attention to escalating settler violence. Meanwhile, a United Nations summit reiterated international support for a two-state solution and urged Israel to formally commit to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
You can find more on each of these developments and others below, along with our most recent statements here.
I invite you to reach out to your J Street Public Affairs staff with any questions.
All the best,
Lily
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Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page
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This week on j street
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J Street Welcomes Over Half of Democratic Caucus in the Senate Sending Vital Message of Disapproval to Netanyahu
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| Statement |
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J Street Mourns Killing of Palestinian Activist Awdah Hathaleen, Calls for Israel to Hold Perpetrators Accountable
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| Expert Analysis |
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Israel Has the Power to End the War in Gaza and It Must
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J Street and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Say “Enough”
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J Street Welcomes French and British Pledges to Recognize Palestinian Statehood
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What we’re reading
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‘Worst-case scenario of famine’ is happening in Gaza, food crisis experts warn
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| The “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting “widespread death” without immediate action. The alert, still short of a formal famine declaration, follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths after nearly 22 months of war. International pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops. The UN and Palestinians on the ground say little has changed, and desperate crowds continue to overwhelm delivery trucks before they reach their destinations. |
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Netanyahu Proposes to Annex Parts of Gaza in Attempt to Appease Far-right Minister if Hamas Does Not Agree to a Deal
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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to propose to the political-security cabinet a plan to annex areas in the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to keep Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in his government. According to the plan, Israel will declare that it is giving Hamas a few days to agree to a cease-fire, and if not, will begin annexing areas of the Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to propose to the political-security cabinet a plan to annex areas in the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to keep Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in his government. According to the plan, Israel will declare that it is giving Hamas a few days to agree to a cease-fire, and if not, will begin annexing areas of the Strip. |
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32% in US Back Israel’s Military Action in Gaza, a New Low
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| Americans’ approval of Israel’s military action in Gaza has fallen 10 percentage points since the prior measurement in September, and it is now at 32%, the lowest reading since Gallup first asked the question in November 2023. Disapproval of the military action has now reached 60%. These findings are from a July 7-21, 2025, Gallup poll, as Israel’s campaign against Hamas stretched into its 21st month. Americans supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in its initial reading in 2023, taken several weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Since then, disapproval has outpaced approval in each survey, peaking at 55% in March 2024 before dipping to 48% in two readings later in the year. |
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No Proof Hamas Routinely Stole UN Aid, Israeli Military Officials Say
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| For nearly two years, Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organizations. The government has used that claim as its main rationale for restricting food from entering Gaza. But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter. In fact, the Israeli military officials said, the UN aid delivery system, which Israel derided and undermined, was largely effective in providing food to Gaza’s desperate and hungry population. |
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In 1st, entire Arab League condemns Oct. 7, urges Hamas to disarm, at 2-state confab
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| Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, signed a declaration Tuesday condemning for the first time Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, and calling on the Palestinian terror group to release all the hostages it is holding, disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Strip. Seventeen countries, plus the 22-member Arab League and the entire European Union, threw their weight behind a seven-page text — obtained by The Times of Israel — agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. |
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Trump to approve new Gaza aid plan after Witkoff visits Friday: White House
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| President Trump is expected to approve a new Gaza humanitarian aid plan on Friday after his envoy Steve Witkoff visits the enclave and briefs him about the situation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Thursday. Why it matters: Trump has made clear in recent days that he thinks there is starvation in Gaza and has committed to increasing US aid. At the same time, he said he expects other Western countries and Israel to do their share. |
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Opinion | Awdah Hathaleen Was Shot Dead on His Land in the West Bank. No Israeli Settler Will Be Held Accountable
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| Israeli settlers shot and murdered Awdah Hathaleen on his own land in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Kheir in the West Bank yesterday. Yinon Levi, a violent settler so well-known that former US President Joe Biden sanctioned him, was filmed on location, at the time, opening fire…. Awdah was my friend. It doesn’t matter if he was a good person, because there is no justification for his murder, nor for the daily violence his community faces, nor for the regular attempts to usurp the private land of Umm al-Kheir and displace the community. But Awdah really was an incredible person. He was a leader and human rights defender who fought every day to improve life in Umm al-Kheir, despite years of home demolitions and, more recently, increased settler violence. |
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