J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.
Latest Violence Highlights Urgency of a Ceasefire, Hostage Release, and De-escalation, J Street
“Our hearts break for the 12 young people killed in an attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights and we send our deepest condolences to their families and community. While Hezbollah has denied responsibility for this attack, the organization is clearly behind the many months of attacks on Israel’s north since October 8 and runs the risk of provoking an all-out war. J Street is also deeply alarmed by reports that strikes in Gaza may have killed dozens of people, including, tragically, many women and children.”
Israel Weighs Response to Hezbollah After a Rocket From Lebanon Kills 12 Youths on a Soccer Field, AP
The White House National Security Council said it was speaking with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts and working on a diplomatic solution to “end all attacks once and for all” in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli military said it struck a number of targets inside Lebanon overnight into Sunday, though their intensity was similar to months of cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah said it also carried out strikes.
Negotiators Meet to Revive Push for Hostage Release and Cease-Fire in Gaza, The New York Times
Despite progress in recent weeks, the monthslong negotiations remain stalled over several critical issues, particularly the extent to which Israeli forces would remain in Gaza during a truce, according to seven officials involved in or briefed on the talks. Earlier in July, Israel hardened its position on maintaining checkpoints along a strategic highway south of Gaza City, weeks after suggesting that it could compromise. The length of the truce is also a source of dispute: Hamas wants a permanent truce, while Israel wants the option to resume fighting.
US Warned Israel Against Targeting Hezbollah in Beirut After Deadly Strike, Axios
On Saturday, President Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein spoke to Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and told him Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah, but must avoid an all out escalation and minimize civilian casualties, an Israeli official said. The Israeli official said Hochstein expressed concern that if the IDF strikes Beirut, Hezbollah would respond by firing long-range missiles at Israel, which would likely lead to even further escalation.
Israeli Airstrike Hits Girls’ School That Houses Displaced People in Central Gaza, Killing at Least 30, CBS News
CBS News’ team in Gaza reported many women and children were among the casualties. The Gaza health ministry said at least 11 other people were killed in separate attacks. Inside the school, classrooms were in ruins. People were seen searching for victims under the rubble and some were gathering remains of those who were killed.
A Village’s Anguish Over 12 Children Lost to a Rocket Strike, The New York Times
A stunned hush of collective mourning fell over Majdal Shams, a town of about 11,000 people for much of Sunday. Stores and restaurants were shuttered. Weddings were postponed. People, young and old, stopped to hug each other in the streets, in tears. The whole town wore black.
Israeli Army Commanders Gave Order to Blow Up Rafah Reservoir. IDF Suspects Breach of Int’l Law, Haaretz
The reservoir, in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, was destroyed last week with the approval of the commander of the soldiers, who belong to the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps, but without the approval of senior officers from the IDF Southern Command.
Away From the War in Gaza, Another Palestinian Economy Is Wrecked, The New York Times
With the closure of checkpoints, Israeli Arabs cannot come to Jenin and Tulkarm to shop, and West Bank Palestinians cannot leave to work in Israel, cutting incomes and building militancy.
Global Leaders Try to Dissuade Israel From Increasing Attacks on Lebanon, The Guardian
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was clear. “We also don’t want to see the conflict escalate. We don’t want to see it spread,” he said. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has also spoken to Netanyahu, telling him that France remained committed to doing “everything to avoid a new escalation in the region by passing messages to all parties involved in the conflict.”
Harris’ Support for Israel ‘Ironclad’ after Attack on Golan Heights, Reuters
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for Israel’s security is “ironclad,” her national security adviser Phil Gordon said on Sunday, adding that she has been briefed and is closely monitoring a rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
‘You Criminal, You Murderer’: Residents Berate Israeli Official at Site of Deadly Rocket Attack [Video], CNN
Residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights village Majdal Shams berated far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich after the funeral of 12 children who died in a strike the previous day.
Netanyahu Said to Freeze Plan to Send Sick Gazan Children Abroad After Golan Attack, The Times of Israel
The report said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who earlier this month vetoed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s decision to treat the children at a field hospital near the Israel-Gaza border, has now ordered the move frozen for the time being.
Israeli Military Police Raid Sde Teiman Prison, Detain Soldiers Suspected of Abusing Palestinian Detainee, Haaretz
Israeli soldiers reportedly confronted the police and barricaded themselves, pepper spraying the military personnel that arrived to detain the suspects, and protesters broke into the detention center. Sources said the soldiers were detained due to reports that they abused a Palestinian prisoner.
Netanyahu Must Return to Israel With a Solid Plan if He Wants Peace, The Jerusalem Post
Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka write, “The departing US president, free from considerations related to an election campaign, can now speak to the Israeli people with a message of hope. This last war has been one too many, and Israelis and the Palestinians should marginalize the radicals, religious fundamentalists, and terrorists on both sides and switch tracks: from allowing chaos and anarchy to rule to stability, security, mutual respect, hope and eventual peace.”
Kamala Harris Will Be an Honest Broker Between Israel and the Palestinians, Haaretz
Tom Dine shares, “Watching her boss being mistreated by Netanyahu in recent months will likely only sharpen her resolve not to tolerate his foolishness should he still be in power during what will hopefully be her watch in the White House. Harris will be the president the region needs for the next stage in Israeli and Palestinian history, one not of continued blood-soaked revenge and extreme suffering, but of a brick-by-brick building a peaceful path forward for both peoples.”
The Weaponization of Antisemitism and Jewish Victimhood, Americans for Peace Now
Larry Gellman, board member of J Street and Americans for Peace Now, shares, “Not only do legacy Jewish organizations fail to acknowledge how much better things are today for virtually all Jews here, they don’t provide a venue where the complicating factors can even be discussed. Instead they have pursued an agenda in partnership with the Republicans to pressure government leaders to pass the clearly unconstitutional IHRA definition of antisemitism as the one and only legitimate definition and move to make it the law of the land.”
Why Israel Should Embrace the US-Saudi Deal and Pursue a Two-State Solution, The Jerusalem Post
Shaul Arieli writes, “The vision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is one of a Jewish ethnocracy that seeks to entrench Jewish supremacy throughout the whole Land of Israel under the ideology of ‘a nation dwelling alone.’ Bennett promises that “the world will get used to it.” […] The vision has damaged Israel’s relations with the US, jeopardized its peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, impaired the economy, inspired stronger populations to leave the country, and brought soaring institutionalized corruption.”