Almost 180,000 Palestinians Displaced by Latest Israeli Military Offensive, NPR
“A picturesque harbor is now blanketed in tents. A building belonging to the Qatari diplomatic mission is now a refugee camp. Nearly 180,000 Palestinians have been on the move seeking new shelter since Israel launched an intensified military offensive two weeks ago, a United Nations-led humanitarian group said Tuesday. Israel’s military has ordered the evacuations, saying its ultimate aim is to capture 75% of the territory, send civilians to a zone in the south secured by its forces, and defeat the Palestinian militant group Hamas after more than a year and a half of war.”
Hungry Gazans Flood New US and Israel-Backed Aid Center, NBC News
“Thousands of hungry Palestinians flooded a controversial new aid distribution center in Gaza on Tuesday and made off with boxes of food while Israeli soldiers fired live rounds in the air to disperse the crowds. It was a violent debut for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation facility near the city of Rafah, the first of four food distribution sites set up by the US-backed organization and the Israeli military to control the flow of humanitarian aid into the crowded Palestinian territory.”
Trump Is Frustrated, but He’s Still Letting Netanyahu Set the Terms on Gaza, Haaretz
Amir Tibon writes, “The only way this nightmare will reach a turning point is if Trump and Witkoff will decide to no longer allow Netanyahu and his confidant Ron Dermer to set the terms of the negotiations. When that happens, a fast deal to end the war, bring back all the hostages, replace Hamas with a different Palestinian government and foster a new era of normalization agreements between Israel and important Arab countries will become possible. But for now, we are stuck in the same loop we all already lived through in 2024 under Biden.”
Israeli Officials Stay Vague on Chances of Hostage Deal With Hamas in Coming Days, Haaretz
“Publicly, Israeli officials stress that the only version they are willing to discuss is the updated version of the ‘Witkoff Plan’ that was presented about a week ago, under which 10 hostages would be released on the first day and a 60-day cease-fire would be declared, without an Israeli commitment to end the war.”
Hundreds of Lawyers Call for UK Sanctions on Israel Over Gaza War, BBC
“Hundreds of lawyers have called on the UK government to use ‘all available means’ to stop the fighting in Gaza, including reviewing trade ties with Israel and imposing sanctions and travel bans on Israeli ministers. Some 828 UK-based or qualified legal experts, among them former Supreme Court justices, signed a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.”
Exclusive: Syria and Israel in Direct Talks Focused on Security, Sources Say, Reuters
“The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its bombardment of Syria.”
Germany Threatens ‘Steps’ Against Israel Over Gaza, Escalating Criticism of War, The Times of Israel
“‘The massive military strikes by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip no longer reveal any logic to me. How they serve the goal of confronting terror… In this respect, I view this very, very critically,’ Merz said at a leaders summit in Turku, Finland. ‘I am also not among those who said it first… But it seemed and seems to me that the time has come when I must say publicly – what is currently happening is no longer comprehensible.’”
As Trump Seeks Iran Deal, Israel Again Raises Possible Strikes on Nuclear Sites, The New York Times
“The clash over how best to ensure that Iran cannot produce a nuclear weapon has led to at least one tense phone call between President Trump and Netanyahu and a flurry of meetings in recent days between top administration officials and senior Israeli officials. Trump said on Sunday that there could be ‘something good’ coming about his effort to limit Iran’s nuclear program in the ‘next two days.’”
The Flashing Signals That I Just Saw in Israel, The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman writes, “When Netanyahu was elected in November 2022 and began forming his Jewish supremacist coalition, I wrote a column the next morning headlined, ‘The Israel We Knew Is Gone.’ I hope I was premature – but I hope even more that I won’t soon have to write the same column about America. The year 2026 will have a lot to say about whether the Netanyahu and Trump cults can be contained. That year, Netanyahu will have to hold national elections and Trump will have to face the midterms. Those committed to democracy and decency in both countries have one job between now and then: organize, organize, organize to win power. Nothing else matters. And everything is riding on it.”
Netanyahu Is At a Crossroads: Endless War, or Peace?, The Forward
Dan Perry writes, “Right now, the Israeli government is on autopilot, flying toward political defeat in the election that must be held by late 2026. Hostages languish. Soldiers die. International sympathy evaporates. Israel’s international legal difficulties are only the visible tip of growing diplomatic and generational alienation. Israel is losing the narrative. Netanyahu, for all his flaws, understands narratives. This is his last chance: agree to end the war as part of a new narrative, which will have regional and global support. Trump will likely approve it as well – forever wars are for losers.”
Beware: We Are Entering a New Phase of the Trump Era , The New York Times
M. Gessen writes, “Once you’ve wrapped your mind around the Trump administration’s revoking the legal status of individual international students, a blanket ban on international enrollment at Harvard isn’t entirely unexpected. Once you’ve realized that the administration is intent on driving thousands of trans people out of the US military, a ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, which could have devastating effects for hundreds of thousands, just becomes more of the same. As in a country at war, reports of human tragedy and extreme cruelty have become routine – not news.”