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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.
This week, Iranian protests and the possibility of a US military response dominated the news cycle. Following a brutal crackdown by the Iranian regime that killed thousands, the protests have largely subsided. In response to the violence, the administration imposed new tariffs and sanctions. J Street hosted a webinar on Tuesday with expert speakers and issued a statement expressing solidarity with the Iranian protesters. This week, the administration also announced the launch of Phase II of the Gaza peace plan—a deal J Street supports for its emphasis on technocratic Palestinian governance, rebuilding Gaza, the return of the final hostage, and the demilitarization of Hamas. While the UN has recently reported that for the first time since 2023 partners have sufficient stock to meet 100 percent of Gaza’s basic food needs, ongoing aid restrictions and demolitions place severe strain on conditions in the territory. Finally, we would be remiss not to mention the groundbreaking legislation introduced this week by Senator Wyden, which addresses these very issues of aid restrictions—not only in Gaza, but globally. We applaud his leadership and encourage readers to check out J Street’s statement welcoming the legislation.
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
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This week on j street
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J Street Welcomes Senator Wyden’s AWARE Act Sanctioning Officials Who Obstruct Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
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A Major Earthquake in the US-Israel Security Relationship
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J Street Welcomes Next Phase of Ceasefire, Urges Swift Action to Deliver Relief
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J Street Inspired by Iranian Protest Movement, Horrified by Brutal Iranian Government Crackdown
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What we’re reading
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U.S. announces launch of second phase of Gaza peace plan
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| White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday announced the long-delayed launch of Phase 2 of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, establishing a committee of Palestinian technocrats to administer the enclave and beginning the “full demilitarization and reconstruction.” In a social media post, Witkoff said a failure of Hamas to disarm and return the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage from Gaza would bring “serious consequences”… In a news conference in Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said consensus has been reached on the composition of the 15-member body. “This will pave the way for deploying this committee to the Gaza Strip to assume responsibility for managing daily life and providing basic services to the steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza,” he said. |
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Scoop: Mossad director visits U.S. for Iran consultations
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| The director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, arrived in the U.S. on Friday morning for talks on the situation in Iran, according to an Israeli source and another source with knowledge of the meeting. Why it matters: Barnea’s visit is part of the consultations between the U.S. and Israel over the protests in Iran and possible U.S. military action in response to the regime’s crackdown. Barnea is expected to meet in Miami with White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who is managing the direct channel of communication between the U.S. and Iran… U.S. officials say military action is still on the table if Iran resumes the killing of protesters. Israeli officials think that despite the delay, a U.S. military strike could take place in the coming days. |
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Trump’s Gulf Allies Do Not Want Him to Bomb Iran
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| President Trump’s powerful Gulf Arab allies fear the repercussions of a potential American strike on Iran, and some of them are publicly and privately lobbying his administration to choose diplomacy instead… That is partly because the monarchies of the Gulf worry that the ripple effects of escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, or possible state failure in Iran, would harm their own security, undermining their reputation as regional safe havens for business and tourism. But it is also because some Gulf governments have come to see Israel, Iran’s archenemy, as a belligerent state seeking to dominate the Middle East. They believe that Israel could pose a greater threat to regional stability than an already weakened Iran does. |
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The Trump-backed Palestinian who wants to push Gaza’s rubble into the sea
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| Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years. The appointment of the civil engineer and former deputy planning minister on Thursday marked the start of the next phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza. Shaath will chair a group of 15 Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the Palestinian enclave after years of rule by Hamas militants. |
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Israeli Settler Violence Against Palestinians in West Bank Rose 25 Percent in 2025, IDF Finds
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| The number of incidents of nationalist crimes committed by Jews against Palestinians in the West Bank has risen continuously and sharply since October 7, 2023, with a total of 1,720 such incidents recorded in that time, according to data from the Israeli defense establishment. The trend, which worries the IDF and undermines security and stability in the area, does not receive an adequate response on the part of the Israel Police and Shin Bet security service against the lawbreakers… Figures from the defense establishment show that in 2025, 845 incidents of nationalist crimes committed by settlers were recorded, in which 200 people were injured and four were killed. This data points to a rise of about 25 percent in the number of such incidents compared to 2024, when 675 such cases were reported, and 149 Palestinians were injured and six were killed. |
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On the verge of strikes in Iran, the US held off. What happens next is up to Trump
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| Emerging on Tuesday from a late-night Situation Room meeting to discuss options for striking Iran, some of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials were relatively sure a decision on military action was close at hand… Behind the scenes, however, an urgent effort has been underway by some top US allies to forestall military action. And Trump, wary of taking action with an uncertain outcome that could put US service members in harm’s way, appeared receptive to the arguments, multiple US officials said. Ahead of his appearance Wednesday afternoon, Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who encouraged the president to hold off plans for an attack, a person familiar with the call said. Israelis didn’t believe the regime would fall quickly without a prolonged campaign, and there was concern over the state of the country’s missile defenses, which were extensively used during conflict between Israel and Iran last year… US officials are not ruling out potential military action going forward and are continuing to prepare as such, including the movement of military assets, in order to give the president that option should he decide to go forward. The current approach is to wait and see, US officials said early Thursday. |
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School resumes in tents under shadow of Gaza’s ‘yellow line’
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| She spends her lessons in the wintry cold on the floor of a crowded tent, her teacher interrupted by regular gunfire and explosions from Israeli-controlled territory less than 1,000 metres away. But Toulin Al-Hindi, 7, is grateful to be in school at last after more than two years of war. She is one of some 400 children attending lessons at the makeshift North Educational School, set up in blue plastic tents in the ruins of northern Gaza’s community of Beit Lahiya, within eyesight of the “yellow line” held by Israeli forces. |
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Israel Is Still Demolishing Gaza, Building by Building
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| As part of the cease-fire agreement reached earlier that month, the Israeli military withdrew its forces beyond an agreed-upon boundary inside Gaza[.]That left Israel in control of about half of the enclave. Most of the demolitions since the cease-fire began have been in those Israeli-controlled areas. But dozens of buildings have been destroyed beyond the yellow line in areas effectively under Hamas control, where the Israeli military had agreed to halt its operations… Israeli officials say the widespread demolitions are happening as part of efforts to “demilitarize” Gaza. Since the cease-fire, they say the military has destroyed underground tunnels that were once used by militant groups, and has leveled buildings that were booby-trapped. |
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A letter from Iran: I don’t trust those who say they have the answers
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| “I am writing this from Tehran after three days of trying to find a way to send it: things may get a lot worse before they get any better. There is no internet. Only a few people still have access to Starlink, and even that works only in patches. Messages fail. Calls fail. Most of the time, there is nothing. The killing has been unprecedented. I know that word is used too easily, so let me explain what I mean. Almost everyone you see or speak to knows a victim. I personally know five. One is dead. Two are injured. Two have been missing for three days.” |
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