In Fiery Presidential Debate, Harris Says Gaza War Must End as Trump Accuses Her of Hating Israel, Haaretz
“The split debate screen was like a split reality, one dangerous and unhinged and the other sane and forward-looking. Kamala Harris made clear tonight that she is a leader with the temperament, compassion and vision to bring our country back together, and to bring peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.
Qatari and Egyptian Leaders Press Hamas in Effort to Break Gaza Deal Stalemate, Axios
The meeting in Doha was aimed at trying to get Hamas to lessen its new demands about the release of Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, the sources said. The White House has been reassessing its strategy for a Gaza deal with President Biden’s top aides deliberating whether there is a point in presenting a new proposal as Hamas and Israel both take tougher positions in negotiations.
Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills 18, Officials Say, Including 6 UN Workers, The New York Times
The chief U.N. relief agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, said the strike on the Jaouni School building in Nuseirat was the deadliest single incident for its staff over the 11 months of a war that has killed more than 200 of its workers. The Gaza Civil Defense emergency services said that those killed included women and children and that, in addition to 18 confirmed dead, a similar number were wounded, some of them critically. It said the strike was the fifth time the school, which housed displaced people, had been hit during the war.
Harris Says Two-State Solution, End of Israel-Hamas War Is Crucial [Video], PBS
“The one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself and in particular, as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies posed to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve.”
Israeli Soldier Killed in West Bank Truck Ramming, Haaretz
The truck driver purposely accelerated towards troops who were at a bus station, and killed the soldier, later identified as Israeli soldier Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal.
Hamas Leader Meets with Qatari and Egyptian Mediators for Talks on Gaza Deal, The Times of Israel
The Hamas statement said the terror group group remains committed to implementing a ceasefire based on the original US proposal and won’t accept new conditions from any party.
Israel’s Crackdown on West Bank Insurgency Is Killing Palestinian Youths [Video], AP
More than 150 teens and children 17 or younger have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas’ brutal attack on communities in southern Israel set off the war last October. Most died in nearly daily raids by the Israeli army that Amnesty International says have used disproportionate and unlawful force.
100 Rockets From Lebanon Batter North; IDF Reservist Injured by Anti-tank Missile, The Times of Israel
More than 60 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel in the space of around an hour Wednesday afternoon. Then in the early evening, another 40 were fired.
UN Chief Says Lack of Accountability on UN Staff Killings in Gaza ‘Unacceptable’, Reuters
Describing Israel’s retaliation against Hamas in Gaza, Guterres said there have been “very dramatic violations of the international humanitarian law and the total absence of an effective protection of civilians.”
Amid Gaza Talks, US Releases $1.3 Billion in Military Aid to Egypt, The Washington Post
The Biden administration leans heavily on Egypt in its effort to end Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, a top priority for President Joe Biden in his final months in office. The government of President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi has played a key role in attempts to broker a cease-fire.
Turkey Seeks International Arrest Warrants After IDF Fire Kills Citizen in West Bank, Haaretz
Turkey has opened an investigation into the death of a Turkish-American activist believed to have been shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank and will request international arrest warrants, Ankara said on Thursday.
Harris Said What Israeli Center-left Leaders Won’t: We Need the Two-state Solution, Haaretz
The Haaretz Editorial Board writes, “One cannot overstate the importance of presenting a political vision and linking it to ending the war, when the only people presenting a (nightmarish) vision in Israel at present are on the radical right, whose members are exploiting a historical window of opportunity provided by Yahya Sinwar, which they can realize with the help of their accomplice, or their ‘messiah’s donkey,’ Benjamin Netanyahu.”
How Israel Keeps Evading Responsiblity for Killing Americans, Vox
Ellen Ioanes shares, “The administration could invoke the Leahy Law, which prohibits US weapons transfers to military units that commit gross violations of human rights. That, however, appears unlikely: The law hasn’t been meaningfully applied to Israel, despite pressure to do so, including from former Sen. Patrick Leahy, after whom the law is named. The State Department reportedly recommended several IDF and Israeli police units for sanctioning under the Leahy Law, but so far that has not materialized.”
How a UN Agency Became a Flashpoint in the Gaza War, The New York Times
Ben Hubbard reports, “Current and former UNRWA officials say the agency cannot be blamed for the world’s failure to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ‘Many say UNRWA is part of the problem, and it perpetuates the conflict, but we all know that what perpetuates the conflict is the absence of a political solution,’ Lazzarini says. Many Palestinians, and some UNRWA officials, told me that they view Israeli attacks on the agency as fueled by the hope that getting rid of UNRWA will somehow get rid of the refugees.”
Donald Trump’s Pro-Israel Supporters Take Issue with His Prediction of Its Potentially Imminent Demise, JTA
Ron Kampeas writes, “Saying that Israel’s existence is contingent on a single person or event is a third rail for many in Israel and the pro-Israel community, who see the country as the culmination of the lives and hard work of generations of Jews — and a military powerhouse highly capable of defending itself in a region rife with enemies.”