Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
US Bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.
Just as Israel is set to approve the IDF’s plans for the mission to conquer Gaza City, Hamas on Monday informed mediators that it accepted the ceasefire-hostage release deal proposal that was submitted to the group a day earlier by the Egyptians and Qataris. Sources said the proposal involves a 60-day pause and the release of 10 living captives — in other words, a partial release deal, which Israel has seemingly stepped away from in the past few weeks. Magid weighs in with the backstory to the negotiation reboot and how Israel may respond.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced yesterday that it is launching a new system to enable families to reserve a box of aid in advance, to reduce the chaos surrounding its distribution sites that the UN says has led to the deaths of hundreds of aid seekers. This comes after other attempts, such as women’s-only distribution times, in an effort to serve more vulnerable populations. Magid tells us more.
The US State Department on Saturday said it was halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts “a full and thorough” review. The move to stop these medical-humanitarian visas came after Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and an ally of President Donald Trump, said on social media on Friday that the Palestinian “refugees” had entered the US this month. We learn about Loomer and how this post affected the visa program so far.
Two former senior Biden administration officials — Jack Lew, who served as US ambassador to Israel, and David Satterfield, who served as US envoy for Mideast humanitarian issues — have revealed that it was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who asked US President Joe Biden last year to set up a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to help deliver more aid. We hear highlights from their joint op-ed in Foreign Affairs magazine, including their thoughts on how the UN should cooperate with GHF.
Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Hamas says it agrees to latest ceasefire proposal; Netanyahu sounds dismissive
GHF says it is launching new reserve system to help families with food collection
US State Department halts all visitor visas for Gazans, after far-right activist’s post
Former Biden officials say Netanyahu asked US to set up floating Gaza aid pier last year
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Adina Karpuj.
Check out yesterday’s episode here:
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