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.

This week, mass protests broke out in Tel Aviv as demonstrators pressed for a hostage deal and an end to the war. World Food Programme executive director Cindy McCain warned Gaza is at a “breaking point” after witnessing widespread hunger on the ground. The Israeli military said it had recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss and the remains of another captive during operations inside Gaza. In Washington, President Trump convened a meeting on Gaza amid stalled ceasefire efforts, while the UK, France, and Germany triggered UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program; a move that carries a limited practical effect, yet formally ends the JCPOA and risks provoking an Iranian overreaction, including a potential withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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

—
Lily Adelstein
She/Her
Deputy Director of Government Affairs, J Street
Cell: 202-699-2701
J Street’s Congressional Resource Page

This week on j street

Statement

J Street Welcomes House Letters Urging Resumption of Medical Visas and Surging Infant Formula Aid for Gaza

Explainer

What Are “Snapback Sanctions” and What Comes Next?

Word on the Street

No, Antizionism Isn’t Always Antisemitism

Substack

Every Bomb is a Choice

Gaza at ‘breaking point,’ UN food chief says after visit to hunger-stricken Strip

The head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme warned Thursday that Gaza is “at breaking point” and appealed for the urgent revival of the agency’s network of 200 food distribution points, a day after the Israel Defense Forces announced that it was planning to open an additional aid distribution site in southern Gaza over the coming days. “Enough is enough,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said after visiting the besieged territory, where Israel is pressing operations in its offensive against Hamas. “Gaza is at a breaking point. Desperation is soaring — and I saw it firsthand,” McCain said.

Israeli protesters push harder for hostage deal as divide with Netanyahu deepens

Worlds away from the public outrage and cries of protest echoing through Tel Aviv’s packed streets on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beamed from the podium in Jerusalem, his words greeted with laughter and applause. The contrast was unmistakable. In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of protesters demanded a ceasefire and the return of the hostages held in Gaza. In Jerusalem, Netanyahu spoke of “the unity of the people.” On the streets, mothers and fathers of hostages cried for their release, begging the government to take the ceasefire deal on the table. But at a posh restaurant outside the Old City of Jerusalem, Netanyahu promised Israel was on “the path to victory” with a plan to widen the 22-month war in the battered enclave.

IDF recovers body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss, remains of another captive, from Gaza

Forces from the military and Shin Bet security service recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss in an operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday. His body was recovered along with the remains of a second hostage, whose name was not immediately published as the identification process was still ongoing at the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine. Weiss, 56, was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023, while defending Kibbutz Be’eri from Hamas-led terrorists as a member of the emergency response team.

Israel hits Gaza hospital, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists

Israel struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others. Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed near a live broadcasting position operated by Reuters on an upper floor just below the roof of the hospital in Khan Younis in an initial strike, Palestinian health officials said. Officials at the hospital and witnesses said Israel then struck the site a second time, killing other journalists as well as rescue workers and medics who had rushed to the scene to help… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel deeply regretted what he called a “tragic mishap”. Israel valued the work of journalists and medical staff, he said, adding that Israel’s war was with Hamas.

UK, France and Germany initiate ‘snapback’ sanctions on Iran over status of nuclear program

France, Germany and the United Kingdom moved Thursday to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, further isolating Tehran after its atomic sites were repeatedly bombed during a 12-day war with Israel. The process, termed a “snapback” by the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. and could take effect in a month. It would again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures, further squeezing the country’s reeling economy. The move starts a 30-day clock for sanctions to return, a period that likely will see intensified diplomacy from Iran, whose refusal to cooperate with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, started the crisis. Iran will also probably emerge as a top focus of the U.N. General Assembly when it meets next month in New York.

Trump Hosts Meeting on Gaza. How Close Is a Cease-Fire?

President Trump chaired a meeting on Wednesday focusing on plans for postwar Gaza, as the United States and Israel seek a comprehensive deal that would end the conflict and return all of the remaining Israeli hostages. For nearly two years, international mediators have sought to pause the war in Gaza. They managed to achieve partial agreements that freed some hostages and briefly stopped the fighting in Gaza, but they did not ultimately end the war. On Tuesday, Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, appeared to rule out any piecemeal agreement that would bring home only some of the captives in exchange for a truce. “We think we’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year,” Mr. Witkoff told Fox News in an interview.

Israel’s Exhausted Soldiers Complicate Plans for Gaza Assault

Israel is preparing to call up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers for its Gaza City offensive, but military officials say it’s not clear how many of them will return to the fight after nearly two years of grinding war. Over the past few months, an increasing number of Israeli reserve soldiers have not been showing up for military service. Some cite exhaustion, as well as the need to save strained marriages or foundering careers. Others say they are increasingly disillusioned with the war. The rising discontent in the ranks threatens to complicate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of Gaza City in an effort to decisively rout Hamas. The military has said it plans to call up an additional 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.

Opinion | Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State

“I will leave it to historians to debate whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. But what is absolutely clear to me right now is that this Israeli government is committing suicide, homicide and fratricide. It is destroying Israel’s standing in the world, it is killing Gazan civilians with seemingly no regard for innocent human life, and it is tearing apart Israeli society and world Jewry, between those Jews who want to still stand with Israel no matter what and those who can no longer tolerate, explain or justify where this Israeli government is taking the Jewish state and now want to distance themselves from it.”

J STREET GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS DIGEST | August 29, 2025