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.

Following the killing of Palestinian-American Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet by settlers in the West Bank, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called for Israel to conduct an aggressive investigation into the “criminal and terrorist act.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the rise in settler violence against Palestinians as “unacceptable,” and more than 600 U.S. and Israeli rabbis, educators, and communal leaders signed a public letter condemning settler attacks. In Gaza, three people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a Catholic church—an unintended result of stray ammunition, according to the Israeli government—and UN reports indicate that over 875 Palestinians have been killed near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites, which the State Department approved $30 million for in June. Finally, on Wednesday, negotiators presented Israel and Hamas with an updated ceasefire and hostage release proposal, with hopes that significant Israeli concessions could help move the deal forward.

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

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Huckabee calls on Israel to ‘aggressively’ probe ‘terrorist murder’ of US-Palestinian in West Bank

In a highly rare statement weighing in on Israeli policy in the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says that he has asked Jerusalem to “aggressively investigate the murder” of Palestinian-American Saif Musalat after he was allegedly beaten to death by settlers in the village of Sinjil near Ramallah last week. “There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old,” Huckabee says in a post on X.

Gaza mediators present updated offer, hope for ceasefire and hostage deal soon

Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. presented Israel and Hamas with an updated Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal proposal on Wednesday, two sources with direct knowledge tell Axios. The mediators believe recent concessions from Israel, which are incorporated into the updated proposal, could enable the parties to reach a deal soon, the sources say. The deal under negotiation involves a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, the release of 10 live hostages and the remains of 18 deceased hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, and a massive increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to Pope Francis

An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest, according to church officials. The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken to the priest about the war’s toll on civilians. The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it was investigating. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack.

U.S. ambassador makes an unprecedented visit to Netanyahu’s trial

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, arrived on Wednesday at the district court in Tel Aviv to attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial… Huckabee’s attendance at the court hearing is a significantly unusual and unprecedented move by a U.S. ambassador to Israel. The move was a way for Huckabee and the Trump administration to express support for Israel’s prime minister and to signal what seems to be distrust in the nation’s judicial system… In the weeks since the war between Israel and Iran ended, Trump has been pressing publicly to halt Netanyahu’s corruption trial, dangling an implicit threat to suspend military assistance if the “witch hunt” continues against the prime minister.

UN says 875 Palestinians have been killed near Gaza aid sites

The U.N. rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys. The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation. The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the U.N. of misinformation, which it denies.

Israel strikes in Damascus as Syrian forces clash with Druze groups

Clashes raged in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Wednesday after a ceasefire between government forces and Druze armed groups collapsed and as Israel threatened to escalate its involvement, saying it’s in support of the Druze religious minority. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that it struck near the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus. Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on convoys of government forces in southern Syria since the clashes erupted and has beefed up forces on the border, saying that it is acting to protect the Druze. Syria’s Defense Ministry had earlier blamed militias in Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.

Netanyahu’s Ultra-Orthodox Allies Threaten His Coalition Government

The future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was thrown into doubt when an ultra-Orthodox party in Israel announced it was pulling out of the ruling coalition on Monday night. If more parties quit, they could weaken Mr. Netanyahu’s grip on power and bring Israel a step closer to its first elections since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. At issue was a longstanding debate in the country over whether ultra-Orthodox religious students, who have long received exemptions from military service, can be conscripted. They argue that serving threatens their way of life, but many other Jewish Israelis resent what they regard as special treatment… The coalition fight is unlikely to topple Mr. Netanyahu’s government immediately, analysts say. But it will inject further instability into Israeli politics as the leaders of different parties clash over a cease-fire to end the war in Gaza and as fighting continues in Lebanon and Syria.

Contrary to Morality of the Torah’: Jewish Leaders Condemn Settler Violence in West Bank

More than 600 rabbis, educators, and Jewish communal leaders from the United States and Israel have signed a public letter condemning settler violence following the killing of a Palestinian and a Palestinian-American last Friday near the West Bank town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. The deadly assault, allegedly carried out by settlers, claimed the lives of two young Palestinians – Saif Mussallet, 21, an American citizen, and Mohammad Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, 23 – in an area that had recently been seized by settlers who had previously carried out attacks there.

J STREET GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS DIGEST | July 18, 2025