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Biden: There’s Lots in Retrospect I Wish I Had Been Able to Convince the Israelis to Do During Gaza War, Haaretz
“We pushed it really hard – Israel was occasionally less than cooperative,” Biden acknowledged at a NATO summit press conference. “This war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel, and there’s no ultimate answer other than the two-state solution here.” “The day-after in Gaza has to be the end. The end of the day has to be no occupation by Israel in the Gaza Strip,” he continued, admitting that “I’ve been disappointed with the things that I put forward have not succeeded as well. Like the port we attached from Cyprus – I was hopeful that would be more successful.”
Israel Toughens Gaza Ceasefire Demands Just as Optimism for Deal Growing, Axios
Netanyahu has responded to intelligence suggesting Hamas wants a ceasefire because of its weak military position by toughening his own stance. “Netanyahu gave these tough demands because he is trying to use Hamas’ weakness to get as much as he can out of the negotiations. But there is a risk that he will go too far and the negotiations collapse,” an Israeli official involved in the talks said.
Israeli Military Says It Failed to Protect Gaza Border Town on Oct. 7, The Washington Post
The report said “severe mistakes and errors” were made in the army response as Hamas overran the community. The army was underprepared, it said, and did not always prioritize civilian lives. The report detailed how in the afternoon, Israel Defense Forces units waited nearby even as residents were killed. “From the afternoon hours onwards, forces were waiting outside the kibbutz while the massacre continued inside,” it said. “The IDF did not fulfill its mission to defend the residents in the most grave manner and failed in its mission.”
US Steps up Sanctions Against Israeli Settlers and ‘Outposts’ in Occupied West Bank, The Guardian
The new sanctions cover the far-right group Lehava, already listed by the UK, and two founding members of Tsav9, a campaign group that blocked aid from reaching Gaza. The new measures also target outposts, suggesting the Biden administration is prepared to take at least some steps to confront Israel’s creeping land grab on the West Bank.
Gaza City Residents Say They Won’t Leave, Despite Warnings From the Israeli Military, The New York Times
“Gaza City will remain a dangerous combat zone,” the fliers warned. But few appeared to be heeding the warning. In interviews, people in the city said they had decided to stay in their homes or in places where they have been sheltering — including relatives’ homes, hospitals and schools — fearing the potential dangers from Israeli forces on the evacuation routes, and knowing there is no safety in the south.
‘Tomorrow, I Kill You:’ Rescued Hostage Details Psychological Abuse During Eight Months of Hamas Captivity, CNN
When the Gaza sunshine was at its hottest, Andrey Kozlov said the Hamas fighters would cover him with blankets, leaving him to stew in his sweat. When he asked about his family, they would say they had forgotten him. When they pulled the blindfold from his eyes, they said they would kill him and film his murder.
Biden Indicates Israel Can Pursue Hamas Leadership after War, Which ‘Should End Now’, The Times of Israel
“It’s time to end this war,” Biden said, addressing Israel. “It doesn’t mean walk away from going after [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas.” While US officials privately told the Times of Israel in May that the administration would still support Israel going after Hamas’s leadership after the war is over, this appeared to be the furthest Washington has gone in saying as much publicly.
Gaza Talks Explore Alternative to Israeli Troops on Gaza-Egypt Border, Reuters
Israel is worried that if its troops leave the border zone, referred to by Israel as the Philadelphi corridor, Hamas’ armed wing could smuggle in weapons and supplies from Egypt into Gaza via tunnels that would allow it to re-arm and again threaten Israel. A surveillance system could therefore smooth the path to agreeing a ceasefire.
The US Says the End of Its Pier for Gaza Aid Is Coming Soon, AP
The White House and the Defense Department both said the pier will cease operations “soon” but would not specify timing. Other U.S. officials said the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command were actively discussing an early end to pier operations because weather and some maintenance problems make it far less desirable to reconnect it for just a short time.
Israeli Forces Pull Back after Gaza City Offensive, Leaving Dozens of Bodies, Rescue Service Says, Reuters
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said teams had collected around 60 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces over the past week from the area of Tel Al-Hawa and the edges of the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. Both residents and rescue teams cautioned that while tanks withdrew from some areas, Israeli snipers and tanks continued to control high ground at some locations, and warned residents from there against trying to return home.
Israel Sends UNRWA List of 108 Employees It Says Are Hamas, PIJ, Terrorists, The Times of Israel
Ambassador Amir Weissbrod, who serves as Deputy Director General for UN and International Organisations Division at the ministry, sent the letter to Lazzarini on July 4. It includes the names, passports, and “military ID numbers” of the suspected terrorists who, it says, are “currently employed by UNRWA-Gaza.
Erdogan Says Turkey Will Not Approve NATO Attempts to Cooperate with Israel, Reuters
“Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey,” Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit.
Head of US Aid Agency Says Israel Has Pledged to Improve Safety for Humanitarian Workers in Gaza, AP
Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said that Israel has also taken new steps to increase the flow of aid through its port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza. The move could give donors a new option for delivering aid as the U.S. shutters its troubled maritime pier off Gaza’s coast.
Gallant Calls for State Inquiry Into Oct. 7 That Will Probe Him, Netanyahu and IDF, The Times of Israel
Gallant, in an address at a ceremony for graduating IDF officers, with Netanyahu watching in the audience, said the probe should not wait any longer and argued that it should be all-encompassing. “We need an investigation at the national level that will clarify the facts – a state commission of inquiry,” he declared.
Smotrich Has Completed Israel’s Annexation of the West Bank, Haaretz
Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard shares, “The regime revolution in the West Bank is being conducted in accordance with the commitments Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave to Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich as part of the coalition agreement. Its essence is the transfer of all the governing powers in the West Bank, except those directly relating to security, from the army to an apparatus headed by Smotrich himself. At the end of May, it happened.”
Project 2025 Would Be the End of the American Jewish Dream, The Forward
Jay Michaelson writes, “The crucial thing to understand about Project 2025 is that it is not small-government conservatism. It is big-government authoritarianism. While some agencies – the Department of Education and Department of Commerce, for example – would be eliminated, most would be pressed into service to create a Christian Nationalist state in which any non-Christian (or non-conservative-Christian) is rendered a second-class citizen.”
Here’s How Biden Loses Michigan [Video], The New York Times
Does President Biden realize how angry some voters in Michigan are — specifically, Arab Americans? That anger is on full display in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit that has one of the highest percentages of Arab Americans among U.S. cities. Opinion Video traveled to Dearborn to understand voter sentiment in a population that has the power to sway the election.
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