News Roundup for October 11, 2024

October 11, 2024
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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.

J Street In the News

One Year After October 7: Impact on Palestinians and the Wider Middle East [Video], J Street
The J Street Policy Center in conjunction with PIN hosted a conversation to analyze the October 7 attack’s broader impact. It focused on the devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including on the future of Palestinian leadership, governance, and society.

Top News and Analysis

At Least 22 Killed in Airstrikes in Central Beirut, with Israel Also Firing on UN Peacekeepers, AP
Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut Thursday left two neighborhoods smoldering, killing 22 people and wounding dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said, as well as further escalating Israel’s bloody conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Biden and Netanyahu Closer to Consensus on Israel’s Plans to Attack Iran, Axios
The Biden administration accepts that Israel will soon launch a major attack on Iran, but it fears that strikes on certain targets could dramatically escalate the regional war. The current plans are still a bit more aggressive than the White House would like, a senior Israeli official said.

Israel’s Security Cabinet Met to Discuss Response to Iran Attack, The New York Times
Israel’s security cabinet convened on Thursday to discuss Israel’s response to an Iranian barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles that sent nearly the entire country into reinforced shelters last week, officials said.

News

130 Israeli Soldiers Declare They Will Refuse to Serve Unless Gov’t Seeks Hostage Deal, Haaretz
A letter signed by 130 Israeli soldiers warns that they will no longer serve unless the government works to obtain a hostage and cease-fire deal.

Senior Hezbollah Official Survives Israeli Assassination Attempt, Sources Say, Reuters
Wafiq Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, was targeted by Israel on Thursday night but survived, the security sources said.

‘Relentless’ Israeli Attacks on Gaza Medical Workers Are War Crime, U.N. Panel Says, The New York Times
A U.N. report said the Israelis had imposed “collective punishment” on Palestinians in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks Hamas militants led on Israel a year ago from Gaza. The Israeli siege that followed, it said, has prevented hospitals from receiving food, fuel, water and medical supplies, and has also limited the number of patients allowed to leave Gaza for treatment.

Peacekeepers Wounded by Israeli Fire in Lebanon, U.N. Says, as Tensions Rise, The Washington Post
Israeli forces have fired at three U.N. positions in the south of Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the United Nations said Thursday, dramatically escalating a nearly week-long standoff between international peacekeepers and advancing Israeli ground troops.

France, U.S. Push at UN for Stronger Lebanese Army, Reuters
Strengthening Lebanon’s army will be crucial to implementing a key United Nations Security Council resolution that aims to keep peace on the country’s border with Israel, the United States and France said on Thursday.

Opinion and Analysis

‘We Won’t Leave’: North Gaza Residents Staying Put as Israeli Army Steps Up Pressure, Haaretz
Jack Khoury shares, “In northern Gaza, much like the rest of the coastal enclave, there are no longer expectations of a pause in the fighting or a cease-fire. Diplomatic sources said they expected the situation to worsen in the coming weeks, despite talk of efforts to restart indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.”

There Is No Purely Military Solution to Israel’s Security Woes, The Washington Post
Max Boot argues, “Sooner or later, Israel will have to implement a ‘day after’ plan for Gaza — but no such plan has been unveiled yet, after a year of war. Unless there is some moderate force capable of governing Gaza, the reemergence of a ‘Hamastan’ is likely. But Netanyahu refuses to have anything to do with bringing back an enhanced Palestinian Authority to Gaza or entering into negotiations to create a Palestinian state.”

Israel’s Paradoxical Crusade Against UNRWA, +972
Jonathan Adler writes, “This is not to discount the vital importance of UNRWA’s work: if Israel succeeds in banishing the agency from Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians will only suffer more. But the troubling reality is that UNRWA has now been debilitated to such a degree that it can only deliver lifesaving aid to Palestinians when doing so serves Israel’s interest.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Israel: ‘I Felt Lied To’ [Podcast], The Ezra Klein Show
Ezra Klein shares, “Coates’s essay is a searing portrait of Palestinian life under Israeli rule. It has also been criticized for leaving much out: Hamas is never mentioned. Nor is Oct. 7. Nor are any of the peace processes. So I asked him on the show to discuss what he saw when he was there and what he chose to leave outside the frame.”


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