News Roundup for January 24, 2025

January 24, 2025
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J Street In the News

Did Israel “Win” the Post-October 7 War?, Vox
At an event hosted by the lobbying group J Street last week, Ilan Goldenberg, who until last summer served as a senior Middle East adviser on Biden’s national security council, said that “the most likely scenario is the parties kind of paper over the arrangements in post-conflict Gaza to a point where enough aid is going in and Hamas sustains the deal and the hostages come out.”

Could Donald Trump Be the Next Liberal Zionist Hero?, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
What does J Street advocate for? “The 23-state solution” entails regional integration with the Arab states surrounding Israel, with the end result of a Palestinian state. Crucially, Ben-Ami said, Trump has built up enough credibility with Israelis at large as well as Netanyahu that he may be able to withstand opposition from the Israeli right. “It’s going to take very heavy pressure on Netanyahu from the White House, and no one has more chits and credit and credibility with the Israeli public than Donald Trump.” Ben-Ami said.

Top News and Analysis

Israel and Hamas Prepare for Next Round of Hostage and Prisoner Releases, The New York Times
The terms of the deal state that Hamas is expected this week to send the names of four female hostages who will be released on Saturday. In response, Israel is expected to publish the names of the more than 100 Palestinian prisoners it would free in exchange. The truce also stipulated that Israeli forces would have to partly withdraw from a wide zone in central Gaza to allow displaced Palestinians to begin heading back home to the devastated north. Hamas has committed to supplying Israel on Saturday with information about the condition of the remaining hostages to be released during the six-week truce.

Israel Says It Won’t Withdraw From Lebanon by Sunday Deadline, CNN
The Israeli military invaded Southern Lebanon on October 1 2024 – the culmination of a yearlong, low-level war with Hezbollah. Yesterday, Israel’s ambassador to the US stated that he’d like to keep military positions in Southern Lebanon for 30 more days past the 60-day Sunday withdrawal deadline that was set in November between Israel and Hezbollah.

News

Ceasefire Brings Flood of Aid to Gaza, but Security Challenges Remain, The Washington Post
More than 3,800 trucks carrying fuel and humanitarian relief have entered Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on Sunday, according to the United Nations, a massive increase compared with the volume of aid going in each day during the war. But violence near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday and Thursday suggests the security around aid distribution within Gaza remains uncertain, even as U.N. and other aid workers reported near-unhindered access as they scale up assistance to more than 2 million people.

Freedom Is Bittersweet for Palestinians Released From Israeli Jails, AP
According to the Israeli legal group Hamoked, the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000 since the start of the war, a figure that includes detainees from Gaza and several thousand arrested in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many prisoners are never told why they were detained.

Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu Between Trump and Far-Right Allies, Reuters
Netanyahu’s nationalist ally – Itamar Ben Gvir has quit over the Gaza ceasefire, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will stay in government only if war resumes after the first phase. However, the first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By Feb. 4 Israel and Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that he will be on the ground overseeing the ceasefire, a signal that he will keep up the pressure he applied during the deal’s negotiations.

Opinion and Analysis

‘My Neighborhood Was One of the Most Beautiful in Gaza. All That’s Left Is Rubble’, +972
Ahmed Ahmed writes, “Many more Palestinians displaced from the northern district to Gaza City in recent months have been returning to their homes since the ceasefire — only to find them unrecognizable due to bombing, burning, or demolition by Israeli forces. Families are having to sift through rubble to try and locate personal belongings or the remains of loved ones killed by Israeli attacks so they can give them a proper burial. Some are identifiable only by their clothes; others are now just bones.”

The Israeli Lawyer Filing a Landmark Incitement to Genocide Case Against Israel at the ICC, Haaretz
Etan Nechin writes, “For over a year, Shatz’s legal team analyzed Israeli officials’ statements within the broader context of Israeli public discourse, emphasizing decades of dehumanizing rhetoric from figures like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. This pattern, Shatz says, proves criminal intent. ‘Our case shows that Israeli officials’ statements meet the legal criteria for direct and public incitement to genocide. For example, Gallant’s [October 2023] statement referring to Palestinians as ‘human animals.’”