News Roundup for February 3, 2026

Israeli Democracy Will Not Survive Without Jewish-Arab Partnership, Times of Israel
J Street Israel Executive Director Nadav Tamir writes, “The demonstration was a protest against violence and a call for justice and personal safety in Arab society, and it was also a strong civil statement: Israeli democracy requires Jewish-Arab partnership, and the country’s future requires a joint struggle.”

In Gaza, an ‘Apocalyptic Wasteland’ Foretold, Washington Post
“Food, clean drinking water and medicine were already scarce as Israeli bombardments flattened sections of the embattled territory. The cable, compiled by USAID officials with connections to United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations, cited eyewitness accounts of scattered human remains and dead bodies left to rot in the broken streets.”

A Lifeline for Gaza, New York Times
“Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007, and throughout that period Rafah was the only border crossing not controlled by Israel.”

Iran Willing to Begin Talks With US if Trump Doesn’t Threaten Tehran, President Says, Haaretz
“The announcement marked a major turn for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had broadly warned Iranians for weeks that the turmoil in his country had gone beyond his control.”

Palestinians Line Up to Cross Rafah After Rocky First Day of Reopening of Gaza-Egypt Border Crossing, AP
“The crossing’s reopening on Monday — though hailed as a step forward for the U.S.-backed, fragile ceasefire struck in October — was marred by delays. It took more than 10 hours for only about a dozen returnees and a small group of medical evacuees to cross in each direction.”

Gaza and the Conduct of Urban War: Civilian Harm, Risk, and Responsibility, War on the Rocks
Andy Milburn writes, “This outcome was not the unavoidable result of fighting Hamas in dense urban terrain. It was the product of institutional choices about how force was applied under uncertainty. Israeli targeting practices consistently defined military value broadly, treated intelligence gaps permissively, and shifted risk away from Israeli forces and onto civilians.”

A Hamas Hostage’s Secret Ordeal, New York Times
Isabel Kershner writes, “After months of captivity in the fetid tunnels of Gaza, a hostage quickly learned that a pause in the fighting that offered respite for his captors meant only new horrors for him.”