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.
Qatar Can Be Part of the Solution, and Not Just Part of the Problem, Haaretz
J Street Israel Director Nadav Tamir shares, “I propose using Qatar to help advance a settlement with the Palestinians as part of a regional agreement. Similarly, it is important to leverage Qatar, one of the five key countries assisting governance in Lebanon, to help weaken Hezbollah domination in Lebanon.”
Egypt Proposed “Small” Gaza Hostage-Ceasefire Deal, Israeli Officials Say, Axios
The Egyptians are proposing to start with a “small deal” that would include the release of a small number of hostages held by Hamas in return for a few days of ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli officials said.
Hospitals Under Fire as Israeli Forces Deepen Operations in Northern Gaza, Reuters
The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said Israeli authorities were preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas in the north of the Palestinian enclave with critical supplies, including medicine and food.
Over a Dozen Killed in Israeli Strikes Near One of Main Beirut Hospitals, AP
Israeli airstrikes in and around Beirut caused significant damage to the country’s largest public hospital and killed more than a dozen people, Lebanese health officials said, as Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region.
Israel Still Preventing Humanitarian Missions to North Gaza, UNRWA Says, BBC
The Israeli military has been intensifying a weeks-long offensive in parts of northern Gaza against what it said were Hamas fighters who had regrouped there. On Monday residents and medics said Israeli forces were besieging hospitals and shelters for displaced people.
‘We Don’t Want Aid. We Want Dignity.’ Air-Dropped Aid Kills 3-Year-Old Palestinian Boy in Southern Gaza, Family Says, CNN
Sami Ayyad, a 3-year-old Palestinian boy, was killed by air-dropped aid in the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, according to his relatives, as the humanitarian crisis spawned by the Israeli offensive compounds severe hunger across the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State Blinken Arrives in Israel to Revive Ceasefire Talks, Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli leaders, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire.
US Official: PA Has Met Israeli Requirements for Smotrich to Extend Banking Deal, The Times of Israel
US officials have warned that failure to maintain banking relations between Israel and the Palestinians would turn the West Bank into a “cash economy,” which would benefit terrorist organizations in the territory and make it harder for the already-weakened PA to fight such groups.
DOD, FBI Investigating Suspected Major Intelligence Leak, ABC News
According to one person familiar with the investigation, the FBI was investigating the leak as part of a criminal probe. The White House said Monday the Defense Department was also investigating the disclosure and that officials have discussed the suspected breach with Israel.
War Has Knocked Gaza Back to the 1950s, UNDP Says, Reuters
Launching a study on the war’s socioeconomic impacts, the UNDP’s Chitose Noguchi said the economy of the Palestinian territories – the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank – was now 35% smaller than it was at the start of Israel’s invasion of Gaza a year ago.
‘Conquer, Kick Out, Resettle’: At the ‘Preparing to Resettle Gaza’ Conference, Wishful Thinking Made Way to Concrete Plans, Haaretz
Rachel Fink reports, “At a Sukkot-themed gathering near the Gaza border, settlers and far-right leaders outlined plans to reestablish Jewish settlements in the Strip ‘within a year.’ Police blocked counterprotesters from entering the event, as speakers called for the ‘voluntary transfer’ of Gazans and the redrawing of Israel’s borders to stretch ‘from the Euphrates to the Nile.’”
Hamas’s Guerrilla Tactics in North Gaza Make It Hard to Defeat, The New York Times
Patrick Kingsley and Aaron Boxerman share shares. “Hamas has also benefited from Israel’s refusal to either hold ground or transfer power in Gaza to an alternative Palestinian leadership. Time and again, Israeli soldiers have forced Hamas from a neighborhood, only to retreat within weeks without handing power to Hamas’s Palestinian rivals. That has allowed the group to return and re-exert control, often prompting the Israeli military to return months or even weeks later.”
‘I See My Wife and Son Burning Every Time I Close My Eyes’, +972
Ibtisam Mahdi writes, “Monday’s airstrike was only the latest in a line of Israeli attacks on civilian buildings in Deir Al-Balah — further proof that, despite any claims about humanitarian areas, safety is nowhere to be found in Gaza. According to medical sources at Al-Aqsa Hospital, 200 people have been killed across Deir Al-Balah and registered at the hospital since the beginning of this month.”
Dozens of Hostages Remain in Gaza: What We Know, The New York Times
Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Ephrat Livni and Aryn Baker write, “More than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of about 35 others taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, but believed to be dead, are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.”