I Never Thought I’d Support Blocking an Arms Sale to Israel, Substack
J Street Chief Policy Officer and Senior Vice President Ilan Goldenberg writes, “The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Starvation is spreading. Images of suffering children are unbearable. Israel has a legal and moral obligation to allow humanitarian aid in. While there have been some improvements recently, it was vital for the Senate to send a clear message: this cannot continue. If it does, it threatens the US-Israel relationship itself.”
Recognizing Palestine is an Act of True Zionism, Times of Israel
Executive Director of J Street Israel Nadav Tamir writes, “The Zionist vision of a democratic nation-state for the Jewish people desperately needs a Palestinian state and will not be able to exist much longer without it. The October 7th massacre deeply shattered Israeli society, and the horrors of the Gaza war further heightened the Palestinian sense of victimhood. However, nearly two years later, we are once again returning to the starting point – there will be no future for us without a Palestinian state.”
J Street Calls for US Opposition to Netanyahu’s Disastrous Gaza Occupation Plan, J Street
J Street Vice President and Chief of Staff Adina Vogel Ayalon said, “President Trump needs to wake up. If he truly wants to end the horror and get hostages home, he must exert real pressure now.”
Trump Declines to Say if He Supports or Opposes Potential Gaza Takeover by Israel, Reuters
“‘As far as the rest of it, I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel,’ Trump told reporters on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior security officials on Tuesday, with media reporting he favored a complete military takeover of Gaza.”
Netanyahu Attacks His Top General as He Runs Out of Scapegoats for Gaza Failure, Haaretz
Amir Tibon writes, “IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir was hand-picked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead the military. To get the ‘forever war’ he wants in Gaza, Netanyahu may now be ready to chuck him under the bus.”
Trump Plans to “Take Over” Gaza Aid Effort, US Officials Say, Axios
“A US official said it was decided that the Trump administration will ‘take over’ management of the humanitarian effort in Gaza because Israel isn’t handling it adequately.”
20 Said Killed, Dozens Wounded in Overturning of Gaza Aid Truck, The Times of Israel
“Media outlets in Gaza report that 20 people were killed and dozens injured overnight when a truck carrying goods into Gaza overturned in Deir al-Balah, in the central part of the enclave.”
Women of Umm al-Khair Continue Hunger Strike for Sixth Day as Israel Refuses to Hand Over Awdah Hathaleen’s Body, The Times of Israel
“According to the family, the army conditioned the return of his body on holding a small funeral with restricted attendance in the evening hours. It also demanded that he be buried outside the village, claiming the local cemetery is illegal.”
‘Survival of the Strongest’: Gaza Looters Wreak Havoc as Aid Seekers Remain Empty Handed, Haaretz
“While Gazans risk their lives seeking supplies, armed individuals and gangs are stealing food from aid trucks and the hands of residents, only to resell it on the black market. Palestinians warn that the trickling of aid is creating perfect conditions for thieves.”
Terrible Thirst Hits Gaza with Polluted Aquifers and Broken Pipelines, Reuters
“Though some water comes from small desalination units run by aid agencies, most is drawn from wells in a brackish aquifer that has been further polluted by sewage and chemicals seeping through the rubble, spreading diarrhoea and hepatitis.”
Gaza Health Ministry Reports Spike in Neurological Diseases, With 95 New Cases in Past Day, Haaretz
“A rare neurological disease is spreading in the Gaza Strip, particularly among children, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday. It attributed the spread of Guillain-Barre syndrome to increasingly poor nutrition and severe pollution of the drinking water in the enclave.”
The Trump Administration Tried to Silence Mahmoud Khalil, So I Asked Him to Talk [Audio], The New York Times
In an interview with Ezra Klein, Mahmoud Khalil said, “I never felt that this would happen to me in the United States — where they would show up without any arrest warrant, without anything, and just take me. That’s why I keep saying it felt like a kidnapping. Because from Saturday evening until Monday morning, I had no contact with anyone. No lawyers, no family, nothing.”
Israel Is Fighting a War It Cannot Win, Foreign Affairs
Former Director of the Shin Bet Ami Ayalon writes, “In a 1997 interview, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’s founder, made a chilling prediction, envisioning that by 2027, a unified Islamic state would rise between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, governed by sharia law. When asked what could prevent that, he replied: ‘The only thing I fear is a reality in which Palestinians believe the Jews will allow a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel.’”
The Pro-Israel Right Is Shifting the Definition of Anti-Semitism, The Atlantic
Jonathan Chait writes, “Anti-Semites often insist they are being targeted merely for criticizing Israel; their defense becomes more effective when many people are, in fact, being called anti-Semitic merely for criticizing Israel.”