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I hope you are doing well.
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 this past week. This week, Hamas committed to release additional hostages this Saturday after initially threatening to indefinitely postpone their release; over two-thirds of the House Democratic caucus pushed back against President Trump’s Gaza plans, in addition to international opposition; and the King of Jordan agreed to take in 2,000 sick Gazan children, amid President Trump’s threats to withhold assistance.
You can find more on each of these topics below, and you can always find 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 |
This week on j street
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| STATEMENT |
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J Street Thanks 146 Members of the House for Clear Rejection of Trump’s Gaza Displacement Plan
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| STATEMENT |
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J Street Welcomes Changes to Palestinian Prisoner Payment Program; Urges US Action
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| STATEMENT |
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J Street Welcomes Release of Three More Hostages Under Ceasefire Deal As Negotiations on Phase II Commence
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| ISSUE BRIEF |
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TRUMP’S “PLAN” FOR GAZA: HOW DID ISRAELI POLITICIANS REACT?
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| WORD ON THE STREET WITH JEREMY BEN-AMI |
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Fighting Fascism: One Person Can Make a Difference
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What we’re reading
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Hamas says it will release hostages as scheduled this weekend
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| The militant group Hamas said Thursday that it plans to release the next group of Israeli hostages this Saturday, as was scheduled in the ceasefire deal. In a statement, Hamas indicated that three Israeli hostages would be freed this weekend, and it thanked the efforts of the mediators, Qatar and Egypt. Israeli officials did not immediately comment on Hamas’ announcement… Hamas said Monday it would postpone the release of the next group of Israeli hostages scheduled for this Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire deal that went into effect Jan. 19. Israel threatened Tuesday to resume hostilities with Hamas in Gaza unless the militant group releases hostages under the ceasefire agreement. |
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“High on Trump”: Netanyahu sees Trump’s Gaza gambits as Israel’s big chance
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| President Trump’s public ultimatum to Hamas this week and his stunning Gaza takeover plan have thrown the Israeli government into a frenzy of both excitement and confusion, Israeli officials tell Axios… Trump has twice now taken far more hawkish public positions on Gaza than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — himself a hardliner — at a very delicate stage of the ceasefire. In the short term, that’s complicated Netanyahu’s decision-making… But in the longer term, Netanyahu and his allies are beginning to believe Trump will help them get anything they want. “Bibi and the cabinet ministers are high on Trump,” the senior Israeli official told Axios. |
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Israel completes withdrawal from key road dividing Gaza as part of ceasefire deal
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| Israel completed its withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor on Sunday, a militarized zone that splits Gaza in half, as part of its commitments under a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have filed through the area, many of them returning to decimated homes in the north, by foot, car and in some cases, by donkeys. People traveling through the corridor must still navigate a checkpoint and the destruction wrought by 15 months of Israeli bombardment. “I was displaced a long time ago. I have seen people arriving on this road, sometimes even sleeping on it while waiting for the Israeli army to withdraw,” said Osama Saleem, who was waiting for his vehicle to be inspected. |
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Israel likely to strike Iran in coming months, warns U.S. intelligence
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| The report warned that Israel is likely to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025…The U.S. assessment found that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would at best set back its activities by months, and potentially only by weeks, said current and former officials. Any attack also would incentivize Iran to pursue weapons-grade enrichment of uranium, the officials said, a long-standing red line for the United States and Israel. |
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‘Last nail in the coffin’: Israeli settlers push on with fresh West Bank land grab
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| Israeli settlers are pushing ahead with a largely unnoticed de facto annexation of large areas of rural land in the occupied West Bank that has already seen the almost total displacement of Bedouin in large areas. While settler activity, including violence, has long been well-documented in the section of the West Bank designated by the 1993 Oslo accords as under Israeli security and administrative control – the so-called Area C of the occupied territory, including the south Hebron Hills – settlers have switched their focus to mostly rural Area B, which was designated to be under Palestinian civil control initially. All three of the Oslo areas – Area A being the major Palestinian cities – were intended under the accords to be transferred to a future Palestinian state. |
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UAE president tells US a two-state solution is key for peace in region, state news agency says
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| United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that peace efforts in the region should be on the basis of a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict, state news agency WAM reported. It said the UAE, one of the few Arab countries that normalised relations with Israel, categorically rejected any attempt to displace the Palestinians and deny them “inalienable rights”. U.S. President Trump caused outrage in the Arab world earlier this week when he proposed the U.S. should take over the Gaza Strip and Gazans should be resettled elsewhere. |
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Abdullah says Jordan will take in 2,000 sick Gazan kids as Trump pushes relocation plan
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| Sitting alongside Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah announced that Amman would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza, seeking to curry favor with a US president who had threatened to withhold aid if Jordan did not agree to take in Palestinians as part of his plan for Washington to take over the enclave and relocate its population. The figure proposed by Abdullah amounts to roughly 0.1% of the Gaza Strip’s population, but Trump was delighted nonetheless. “That’s so beautiful. It’s music to my ears,” said the US president. |
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[VIDEO] In Gaza and Jerusalem, People React to Trump’s Proposal for Palestinians
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