The Message from Israel: End the War. Bring them Home, J Street
Nadav Tamir writes, “I wish I could convey to you the energy on the streets this past week. I wish you could stand here with me and feel the red-hot anger. Hear the demands from the mothers and fathers of those still held captive by Hamas. See the proud peace advocates holding up images of Gaza’s children, refusing to let anyone look away.”
Israeli Strike on Yemen Said to Kill Houthi Prime Minister, Other Top Officials, Times of Israel
“Iran-backed group’s Defense Minister, Chief of Staff reportedly among top officials targeted in separate attack Thursday on Sanaa apartment, while gathered to watch leader’s TV speech.”
Inside Trump’s Gaza Meeting with Tony Blair and Jared Kushner, Axios
“Dermer told the assembled senior officials that Israel doesn’t want to occupy Gaza long-term, but needs an acceptable alternative to Hamas to govern the enclave. Kushner and Blair got Trump’s blessing to keep developing such a plan, but right now they don’t have an answer as to who would take over.”
Israeli Army Announces End of Daily Humanitarian Pause in Gaza City, Haaretz
“The Israel Defense Forces said it would cancel the previously announced daily 10-hour ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza City, ahead of its planned military takeover of the city. According to the statement issued Friday morning, ‘the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone.’”
IDF Recovers Body of Slain Hostage Ilan Weiss, Remains of Another Captive, from Gaza, Times of Israel
“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.”
UK, France and Germany Initiate ‘Snapback’ Sanctions on Iran over Status of Nuclear Program, The Associated Press
“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.”
‘We’re Living on Borrowed Time’ | Sick and Elderly Shelter in Gaza City Churches With Nowhere to Go Amid Looming IDF Siege, Haaretz
“Hundreds of Gazans have taken shelter in the compounds of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius and the Latin Church of the Holy Family since the outbreak of the war, with many of them recently becoming ‘weakened and malnourished,’ the statement said.”
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Soldiers in Syria, Officials There Say, New York Times
“The attacks were the latest escalation of Israeli military interventions in Syria since rebels ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December and took power. Israel has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria, targeting military assets, and has seized a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the south of the country.”
Turkey Says it Closed Skies to Israeli Flights, Cut Trade Ties, Ynet
“Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Friday that Ankara has decided to sever all economic and trade ties with Israel and close its airspace to Israeli aircraft, deepening a diplomatic rift over the war in Gaza.”
The Zionist Case for Palestinian statehood (and Against Fatalism), Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Co-President of the Shalom Hartman Institute Yehuda Kurtzer writes, “Right now, the absence of a realistic Zionist ambition for a peaceful future empowers the extremists of Hamas and the empowered extremists in the Israeli government, who unfairly claim the brand of Zionism of their own and do damage to its credibility as a noble movement every day.”
This Summer, a Hostile Reception for Many Israelis Abroad, New York Times
Isabel Kershner and Niki Kitsantonis write, “Travel for Israelis has become increasingly uncomfortable in the charged atmosphere fanned by images from Gaza of devastation and starvation following an Israeli blockade, and amid a diplomatic backlash from some of Israel’s closest European allies.”
The New Hamas Insurgency, Foreign Affairs
Leila Seurat writes, “As Israeli officials have acknowledged, Hamas was able to adapt and rebuild its forces in areas that Israeli forces had previously ‘cleared.’ Now, as the Israeli government has set out to seize and control large parts of Gaza City, Israeli forces must contend with urban guerrilla warfare in a terrain that Hamas knows by heart. These tactics could prove especially effective in the labyrinthine ruins of Gaza City, where Hamas is believed to still have a significant network and where Israeli forces have until now mostly avoided major incursions.”