Witness List for Senate Antisemitism Hearing Draws from Wide Array of Backgrounds, Jewish Insider
“Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to call witnesses from a wide range of backgrounds for Wednesday’s hearing on antisemitism […] Democrats will call Kevin Rachlin, the Washington director of the Nexus Leadership Project, and Meirav Solomon, a Jewish student at Tufts University and co-vice president of J Street U’s New England branch, as their witnesses.”
Arab Leaders Gather To Endorse Counterproposal to Trump’s Gaza Plan, With Ceasefire’s Fate Uncertain, AP
“Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Tuesday are set to endorse a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be depopulated and transformed into a beach destination, even as the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is uncertain. The summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is expected to include the leaders of regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose support is crucial for any postwar plan.”
Israel Strikes Syria Again as Tensions Rise, The New York Times
“Israel has conducted new airstrikes on Syria’s coast and ground raids in the country’s south, part of a wave of attacks that Israel says is necessary for its security that has raised tensions with Syria’s new government. The strikes appeared to be the latest attempt to keep weapons from the Assad regime out of the hands of groups that may be hostile to Israel.”
Lebanon’s Aoun, Saudi Crown Prince Call for Israeli Pullout From All of Lebanon, The Times of Israel
“Lebanon’s president on Tuesday ended a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he discussed regional affairs with the kingdom’s crown prince, after which both countries said Israeli troops should withdraw from south Lebanon and only the Lebanese state should have weapons. The visit by Joseph Aoun, the first by a Lebanese head of state to the oil-rich kingdom in eight years, improves ties between the two countries that have been cold for years over Iran’s influence in Lebanon.”
Gazans Worry as Israeli Border Block Sends Food Prices Climbing, The New York Times
“The U.N. under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Tom Fletcher, condemned Israel’s action. ‘International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid,’ he said on Sunday. And Hamas itself denounced the Israeli move as ‘blackmail.’ Israeli officials have said that the government believes that the aid and goods that have entered Gaza in recent months and during the cease-fire meant there were enough supplies for several more months.”
Israeli Fire Kills Two Palestinians in Gaza Amid Impasse Over Ceasefire, Reuters
“Israeli fire killed at least two people in Rafah and injured three others in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, raising fear among Palestinians that the ceasefire could collapse altogether after Israel imposed a total blockade on the shattered enclave.A first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas that began in January ended over the weekend with no agreement on what will happen next.”
IDF Decides Not to Investigate Illegal Expulsion of Palestinian Families by Soldiers in West Bank, Haaretz
“The Israel Defense Forces has decided not to launch a Military Police investigation into the actions of soldiers who expelled Palestinian families near the West Bank settlement of Beit Arye last week, instead opting to reprimand the troops and clarify procedures despite officials acknowledging that they breached protocol and acted on their own initiative.”
Russian Missile Experts Flew to Iran Amid Clashes With Israel, Reuters
“Several senior Russian missile specialists have visited Iran over the past year as the Islamic Republic has deepened its defense cooperation with Moscow, a Reuters review of travel records and employment data indicates.”
A Political Dilemma for Israel’s Prime Minister [Audio], NPR – State of the World Podcast
“[NPR] correspondent takes a look at the near future of the the war with Hamas in Gaza through the eyes of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He is being pulled in opposite directions politically: President Trump wants the ceasefire in Gaza to continue, while influential right-wing members of Netanyahu’s political coalition want fighting to resume.”
Why I Refused to Be a Cog in Israel’s War Machine, Haaretz
Noam Yonai, a former IDF Reservist who left after witnessing the horrors of the war, writes, “This is what I wrote to my commander in September: ‘There has been much talk of the Holocaust since October 7. You’ve told us of your grandmother, who would go to sleep and scream, of how the nation and the country’s security is in your blood. You are smart people, the senior officers of this unit. So I ask myself how could it be that the lesson you took from the Holocaust is that we have to continue fighting in Gaza? How could it be that the basic assumption guiding you is that we will have to live by the sword forever?’”