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 the past week. This week, J Street welcomed, with overwhelming relief, the return of Edan Alexander after 584 days in Hamas captivity. We continue to support a permanent ceasefire and hostage release deal as the best path forward to ensure the safe return of all the remaining hostages and to allow for aid to civilians in Gaza. As Trump traveled to the Middle East this week, he continued to explore a nuclear deal with Iran, struck an agreement to end strikes on the Houthis, and ended sanctions against Syria, notably, out of step with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Israeli officials privately acknowledged that Gaza is teetering on the edge of famine and a new poll found that 69% of Israelis support a hostage deal that ends the war.

You can find more on each of these developments and others below, along with our most recent statements here.

Please feel free to reach out if you have 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

A Moral and Strategic Tragedy for Israel

STATEMENT

J Street Welcomes Release of Israeli-American Hostage Edan Alexander, Urges Full Ceasefire and Hostage Deal

EXPERT ANALYSIS

Trump’s Trip to Saudi Arabia – What Are the Implications for Israel?

BLOG

Grappling with The Trump Doctrine in the Middle East

In Private, Some Israeli Officers Admit That Gaza Is on the Brink of Starvation

Some Israeli military officials have privately concluded that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks, according to three Israeli defense officials familiar with conditions in the enclave. For months, Israel has maintained that its blockade on food and fuel to Gaza did not pose a major threat to civilian life in the territory, even as the United Nations and other aid agencies have said a famine was looming. But Israeli military officers who monitor humanitarian conditions in Gaza have warned their commanders in recent days that unless the blockade is lifted quickly, many areas of the enclave will likely run out of enough food to meet minimum daily nutritional needs, according to the defense officials.

Witkoff told mediators US not planning to force Israel to end Gaza war, officials say

Since hostage talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha on Wednesday, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told other mediators that Washington doesn’t plan to force Israel to end the war in Gaza amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staunch refusal to do so, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Thursday. Qatari and Egyptian mediators had hoped the US would move in this direction, given comments from President Donald Trump and other top aides about their desire to end the war following Hamas’s Monday release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. Netanyahu has insisted on only agreeing to a temporary ceasefire of roughly 45 days, which would begin with Hamas releasing about 10 hostages.

Poll: 61% of Israelis back Saudi normalization; 69% support hostage deal, ending war

A substantial majority — 68.9% — said they would back a Trump-led regional political initiative that included the return of all Israeli hostages, an end to the war in Gaza, normalization with Saudi Arabia, a pathway toward separation from the Palestinians, and the formation of a US-led regional security coalition against Iran. Only 9.7% said no, while 21.5% were neutral.

Construction sites appear in Gaza ahead of Israeli-US aid plan rejected by UN

Israel is preparing a series of sites in Gaza that could be used as distribution centres for humanitarian aid in a controversial new plan, satellite images show. The Israeli government suspended food and medicine deliveries into Gaza in March… UN agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with the plan – which is in line with one previously approved by Israel’s government – saying it contradicted fundamental humanitarian principles. A spokesperson for the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accused Israel of seeking to use “food and fuel as leverage, as part of a military strategy”.

Hamas Celebrates Shooting That Killed Israeli Mother en Route to Deliver Baby

An Israeli woman on the way to a hospital to give birth was shot and killed in the West Bank on Wednesday, in an attack that Hamas applauded as a “heroic act.” The baby boy survived after being delivered in an emergency cesarean section, Israeli health officials said, and remained in “serious but stable” condition. No Palestinian militant group took responsibility for the attack, but a Hamas spokesman praised the shooting in a statement.

Trump Says Negotiations on Iran’s Nuclear Program Are ‘Very Serious’

President Trump said on Thursday that his administration was nearing a nuclear deal with Iran, one of the key objectives of his second term. “We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Mr. Trump said at a business round table in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of a four-nation tour of the Middle East. “And if we do that, it’ll be fantastic.” “Iran has sort of agreed to the terms,” he said, according to a White House pool report. “We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal.” Exactly what that deal, and its terms, would look like remained unclear. Both sides are far from a consensus on key issues. A major sticking point is whether, under a new deal, Iran would be able to enrich uranium at a lower grade for civilian use or would have to dismantle its program completely, as the Trump administration has, at times, demanded.

Analysis | In Middle East, Trump marginalizes Israel without helping Gaza

He extended a hand to Iran, gesturing to potential future talks over its nuclear program. He announced a truce with Yemen’s Houthi rebels after authorizing a $1 billion bombing campaign that hasn’t dented the Houthis’ capacity to target Israel or Red Sea shipping. To the surprise of even some U.S. officials, he announced the cessation of sanctions on Syria, a critical move to boost the country’s fledgling, transitional regime. And he decried a legacy of U.S. interventionism in the region. The signals he sent caused consternation in Israel… All the while, Israeli forces pounded the embattled Gaza Strip… Humanitarian conditions remain dire, with 1 in 5 people in the territory facing starvation amid a months-long Israeli blockade.

J STREET GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS NEWS DIGEST | May 16, 2025