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☆ With Israel Poised to Invade Rafah, Negotiators Try Again for Cease-Fire Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Isabel Kershner | Edward Wong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As international diplomats converged in the Middle East on Sunday seeking a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, Israel wrestled with whether to go forward with a ground invasion of Rafah, Hamas’s last bastion in the enclave, according to Israeli officials and analysts. Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they plan to move into Rafah, but over the weekend, they made clear they were open to holding off if it meant they could secure the release of Israeli hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, said Sunday that while “entering Rafah is important for the long battle against Hamas,” freeing the remaining hostages, whose number is estimated at about 100, “is urgent and much more important.”As Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken headed for Saudi Arabia on Sunday to meet with officials from a half-dozen Arab nations, an American official said Mr. Blinken’s top priority was a cease-fire deal that would include the release of all hostages.

Persons: Benny Gantz, Antony J, Blinken Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Hamas’s, Saudi Arabia

Arm Ukraine With Fanfare and Israel in Secret? That package will pay for billions of dollars of arms flowing to Ukraine, Israel and other nations. As soon as the bill became law, the administration issued new announcements about weapons shipments to Ukraine, but not about transfers to Israel. Press releases about military aid for Ukraine and Israel Since both wars began, the U.S. government has issued at least 126 press statements or updates describing military aid sent to Ukraine and just three describing military aid sent to Israel. Information on maritime support sent to … Ukraine IsraelInformation on air-based weaponry and drones sent to … Ukraine IsraelThere is another distinction worth noting.

Persons: Biden, Jonathan Ernst, Antony Blinken, ”, Josh Paul, Israel —, Ukraine Israel “, Daniel C, it’s, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Reuters, Israel Defense Forces, Israel . Press, U.S . Department of State, U.S . Department of State ; U.S . Department of Defense, Internet, State Department, Defense Department, State and Defense, Washington Post, Ukraine authorizations, Democratic Party, West Bank, White, New York, Facebook Locations: Israel, Ukraine, U.S, U.S . Department of State ;, Ukraine Israel, Gaza, American, Egypt, Russian, Rafah, Lebanon, Iran, Iranian, Syria, United States

☆ For Fox News, Student Protests Are a Familiar Target
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Well, House Speaker Mike Johnson crashed Hamas’s spring break at Columbia today.”That quip came from the Fox News host Jesse Watters, who was interviewing Mr. Johnson on his prime-time show Wednesday. In response to a standoff between student protesters and the university’s president, Mr. Johnson had visited Columbia University’s campus, where students had set up encampments in solidarity with Palestinians. “So many of them, Jesse, don’t know what the heck they’re talking about,” Mr. Johnson said. Mr. Johnson’s appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime” embodied the chiding and often adversarial tone of conservative media toward the latest wave of protests on college campuses over Israel’s campaign in Gaza. “There’s a difference between educated people and smart people,” Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, said on the network Tuesday.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Jesse Watters, Johnson, Jesse, don’t, ” Mr, “ Jesse Watters, ”, “, ” Mike Huckabee Organizations: Fox News, Columbia University’s, Ivy League Locations: Columbia, Gaza, Arkansas

☆ Signs Suggest That Invasion of Rafah Is All but Inevitable
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After weeks of delays, negotiations and distractions, Israel appeared to hint this week that its assault of Rafah — a city teeming with displaced persons above ground and riddled with Hamas tunnels below — was all but inevitable. In what some analysts and residents of the city saw as a sign of preparations for an invasion, an Israeli military official on Tuesday gave some details that include relocating civilians to a safe zone a few miles away along the Mediterranean coast. Just a day earlier, Israeli warplanes bombed Rafah, increasing fears among some of the civilians sheltering there that a ground assault would soon follow. Such indicators that Israel may be preparing an invasion, said Marwan Shaath, a 57-year-old resident of Rafah, “are terrifying and mean they may really be close to starting an operation.” Mr. Shaath, who lives in Gaza but is employed by Hamas’s Palestinian rivals in the occupied West Bank, added, “Our bags have been packed for months now for the time of the evacuation.”Israel insists that a push into Rafah is necessary for achieving its goals of eliminating the militants sheltering in a network of tunnels beneath the city, capturing or killing Hamas leaders presumed to be there and ensuring the release of the remaining hostages captured during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Persons: Israel, Marwan Shaath, Mr, Shaath Organizations: West Bank Locations: Rafah, Israel, Gaza

☆ Opinion | Joe Biden and the Israel-Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “How Joe Biden Lost His Way in Gaza,” by Nicholas Kristof (column, April 21):The masterful, balanced and well-reasoned column by Mr. Kristof, written not in anger but in deep sorrow, should serve as a warning to President Biden. In standing by Israel’s atrocious conduct of the war and letting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poke a finger in America’s eye, Mr. Biden not only cedes his moral standing but also risks destroying the unity of the Democratic Party; the possibility of a turbulent convention; and the loss of Michigan and the election to Donald Trump. One only hopes that he adopts a course that reduces the chance of any of these outcomes. Masood HaiderPrinceton Junction, N.J.To the Editor:The war started by Hamas is a test of whether a civilized world will accept Hamas’s barbaric tactics — including its atrocities on Oct. 7 and hiding its terrorists, arms and Israeli captives among and beneath a dense civilian population.

Persons: Joe Biden, Nicholas Kristof, Mr, Kristof, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Masood Haider Organizations: Democratic Party, Hamas Locations: Gaza, ”, Michigan, N.J

☆ Middle East Crisis Review of U.N. Agency Prompts New Calls to Restore Its Funding
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | Matt Surman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The United Nations had commissioned an independent review of the agency in January, before Israel circulated its claims, but those charges gave added significance to the inquiry, whose findings were released on Monday. The report issued a series of recommendations for the agency to protect its neutrality, but said that “Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence” for its accusation that a significant number of agency employees are members of terrorist organizations. The United Nations has fired 10 of the 12 employees accused by Israel. Ireland, which has strongly condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza, increased aid to UNRWA as other countries were cutting it, he noted. UNRWA has argued that Israel has targeted it with a “deliberate and concerted campaign” to undermine its operations when its services are most needed.

Persons: Israel, Stéphane, António Guterres, Guterres, “, Caroline Gennez, ”, Micheál Martin, Israel’s, Japan —, Matthew Miller, Biden, ” Mr, Miller, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: The United Nations, United Nations, UNRWA, United, State Department, ”, European Union Locations: United States, Gaza, Israel, United, Palestine, Belgium, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Japan

I think the theme for last week was the return of adult supervision. And Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, authorized the police to arrest pro-Palestinian student protesters who had occupied part of the campus in violation of university policies. Gail Collins: Bret, as a former college sit-inner myself, back in days of yore, I have mixed feelings. Not saying President Shafik was wrong, just that I just can’t get into cheering administrators who try to solve nonviolent campus demonstrations by calling in the cops. If it were up to me, I’d sentence them to six months of hard academic time at the University of Chicago.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Gail Collins, Bret, Shafik, Israel, That’s, idealists Organizations: House, Columbia University, Palestinian, Columbia, University of Chicago Locations: yore

☆ Live Updates: Yale Students Arrested as Campus Chaos Spreads
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

Some reportedly shouted at Jewish students and made antisemitic statements. Still, some Jewish students who are supporting the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus said they felt solidarity, not a sense of danger, even as they denounced the acts of antisemitism. Image Grant Miner, a Jewish graduate student at Columbia University, says he doesn’t feel unsafe on campus. Jewish students get harassed trying to leave @Columbia’s campus tonight. Image At the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Columbia campus, tents were crowded together Sunday night.

Persons: Eric Adams, ” Andrew Bates, Nemat Shafik, Minouche, “ Al, Adams, Grant Miner, Bing Guan, New York Times “, “, U2Ii5GTuLm — David lederer, @Davidlederer6, ”, Eliana Goldin, Aryeh, . Goldin, Samantha Slater, Shafik, Mr, Miner, ” Makayla, Gubbay, —, “ There’s, ” Ms, Elie Buechler, Rabbi Buechler, Hillel, ” Brian Cohen, Noah Levine, “ I’m, Xavier Westergaard, Sharon Otterman Organizations: Columbia, Jewish, White, New, ”, Columbia University, Credit, New York Times, Palestinian, Israel, University, New York Police Department, Barnard College, Gaza Solidarity, New York Times Students, Ivy League, Campus, “, Hillel, Broadway, Jewish Voice, Peace Locations: Upper Manhattan, New York City, American, Israel, Columbia, Poland, @Columbia’s, Europe, Chabad, Gaza, Palestine, Amsterdam

☆ Opinion | Biden’s Small Win — and Bigger Failure — in the Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Trita Parsi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden’s behind-the-scenes crisis management appears to have helped stop a wider war from igniting in the Middle East — for now. But that tactical win for the administration is actually part of its much larger strategic failure in the region. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t heed the order, but Israel’s response was so muted that Tehran effectively ignored it. Mr. Netanyahu’s minister of national security called it “lame.”Mr. Biden deserves credit for orchestrating this crucial de-escalation. Instead, he has followed Mr. Netanyahu’s lead, even as Israel has put vengeance over interest.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, Israel, Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t, Netanyahu’s Organizations: Iranian Consulate Locations: Israel, Iran, Iranian, Syria, Tehran’s, Tehran

☆ Pro-Israel Groups Promised to Be Active in Democratic Primaries. They Haven’t Done Much Yet.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Jonathan Weisman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, pro-Israel political groups put the Democratic Party’s most outspoken critics of the Jewish state on notice: An avalanche of spending was coming to either unseat them or force them to change their posture on the Middle East. But the first expeted target of that avalanche, Representative Summer Lee of Pittsburgh, will face only nominal opposition in the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday. And though groups like Democratic Majority for Israel and United Democracy Project, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, have raised tens of millions of dollars to make good on their threats, they have so far mostly declined to spend it. Pro-Israel groups were unable to recruit an experienced, well-known primary challenger to Ms. Lee. That is not the case in primaries to come, especially Representative Jamaal Bowman’s in New York in June and Representative Cori Bush’s in Missouri in August.

Persons: Summer Lee, Lee, Jamaal Bowman’s, Cori Bush’s Organizations: Israel, Democratic, United Democracy Project, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Synagogue Locations: Israel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Squirrel, New York, Missouri

☆ An Uneasy Arab-Israeli Alliance
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To understand the current confrontation between Iran and Israel, it helps to think about three recent phases of Middle East geopolitics. Phase 1: Before Oct. 7 of last year, Iran was arguably the most isolated power in the region. Israel, Iran’s longtime enemy, had signed a diplomatic deal during the Trump administration with Bahrain, Morocco and the U.A.E. Together, these developments pointed to the emergence of a broad alliance — among Arab countries, Israel, the U.S. and Western Europe — to check Iranian influence and aggression. Arab leaders condemned Israel, while the U.S. and other countries pressured Israeli leaders to reduce suffering in Gaza and devise an end to the war.

Persons: Biden, Iran’s, Trump Locations: Iran, Israel, East, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, . Iran, U.S, Europe, Gaza

☆ Here’s Where Israel’s Military Offensive in Gaza Stands
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran’s attack on Israel has shifted focus from the war in Gaza, but Israeli military operations press on there with the aim of eliminating Hamas, the armed group that controlled the territory before the fighting began. Israel’s military launched its assault in Gaza after Oct. 7, when Hamas led an attack that Israeli authorities say killed around 1,200 people. Israel said its aims were to defeat Hamas and free the hostages taken that day, around 100 of whom remain in Gaza. Local health authorities say the war has killed more than 33,000 people, and the United Nations says the population is on the brink of famine. Here is a look at where the military conflict stands:Southern GazaIsrael withdrew its forces from southern Gaza this month, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the military still plans to invade Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, to “complete the elimination of Hamas’s battalions” and to destroy its tunnel networks.

Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, “ Organizations: Hamas, United Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, Local, Southern Gaza Israel, Rafah, Gaza’s

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel’s Conflict With Iran Overshadows Fighting in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Image Mourning over the bodies of relatives in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Tuesday. Rafah’s population has swelled to over a million, as people have flocked there for shelter from fighting elsewhere, and border crossings in southern Gaza are a main conduit for humanitarian aid. Much of the north, including Gaza City, has been destroyed by airstrikes and ground combat. Image Israeli soldiers outside Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, during a tour by the Israeli army last month. Credit... Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAcross the territoryExperts say the Israeli military has had considerable success in dismantling Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, Biden, Avishag Shaar, Deir al, Robert Blecher, Yahya Sinwar, Mr, Blecher, ” Organizations: Hamas, United Nations, ., Agence France, Shifa, Yashuv, The New York Times, Gaza, Qassam, Group Locations: Israel, Gaza, Local, Southern Gaza Israel, Rafah, Gaza’s, Egypt, Northern Gaza Israel, Al, Gaza City, Deir, Deir al Balah

☆ Analysis: Can Netanyahu avoid triggering a regional war?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a paradigm shift after decades of shadow proxy war, Tehran is usurping Israel’s strategy. “We have decided to create a new equation,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami said. When faced with existential threats in the past, Israel has executed the most audacious raids the region has ever witnessed. The damage that can be inflicted on Iran is huge, is huge.”So the most important question right now must be, can Netanyahu read the room right – with Iran threatening to attack, allies warning him not to – and avoid triggering a regional war. Iran, he implied, won’t attack Israel as long as it fears America’s reaction.

Persons: CNN —, Joe Biden’s, Ebrahim Raisi’s, ” Israel, Hossein, “, Bashar al, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Ganz –, David Barnea, Staff Herzi Halevi, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, of National Security Itamar Ben, Gvir, Ganz, Gallant, – Ganz, ” Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu’s, Saleh Al, Amos Yadlin, Yadlin, ” Yadlin, Bashar, Iran’s, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Biden Organizations: CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, –, Staff, of National Security, IDF’s Military Intelligence, UN Security Locations: CNN — Israel, Israel, Iran, Tehran, Osirak, Syria, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Lebanese, Beirut, Lebanon, Damascus, America

Our Electoral College maps below lay out the best scenarios for him and Mr. Trump. In a Wall Street Journal battleground poll taken in March, Mr. Biden had only 37 percent job approval in the state. … orand The second and harder path for Mr. Trump would be if he carried only one Southern swing state – most likely North Carolina. By carrying these states, Mr. Biden has several paths to 270, but the first three scenarios are his most viable. Scenario 4 They involve Mr. Biden winning Georgia and Arizona … They involve Mr. Biden winningand Scenario 5 … or Michigan and Georgia.

Persons: Biden, Akshita Chandra, Yuji Sakai, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden’s, Court’s, … orand, Hamas’s, Mr, …, —, Bill Clinton’s, Doug Sosnik, Bill Clinton Organizations: Presidency, Trump, New York Times, Electoral, Wisconsin –, Sun, Siena, Black, The Arizona, Michigan, Mr, North Carolina, Republicans, Georgia, Democrats, Congressional District, Michigan …, Wisconsin, Democratic, House Locations: Arizona, – Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Mich, Pa, Nev, N.C, Ariz . Ga, Wis, Ariz ., Michigan, Arizona , Michigan, Arizona , Nevada, Israel, Gaza, Nebraska, Minnesota, United States, Michigan , Pennsylvania

☆ N.Y.C. Schools Chief to Testify as Congress Expands Antisemitism Inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Troy Closson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The chancellor of New York City’s public schools will testify about how the district is handling antisemitism before a congressional committee next month. A spokesman for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce confirmed that Mr. Banks was asked to attend the hearing, but did not identify the other districts. The earlier congressional hearings helped trigger the resignations of the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. Columbia University’s president is appearing before a congressional committee next week. The inquiry next month will offer a window into how the tensions on American college campuses are also stirring painful debates in public school communities.

Persons: David C, Banks Organizations: New, Education, Workforce, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Locations: New York, Israel

☆ Israel Announces New Operation Against Hamas, After Killing Top Leader’s Sons
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Israeli military announced what it called a precise operation to kill members of Hamas in Gaza on Thursday, a day after a strike there killed relatives of one of the group’s most senior leaders. Ismail Haniyeh, who leads the political wing of Hamas from exile, said three of his sons had been killed in the Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli military said that the three Haniyeh sons it killed — Amir, Mohammad and Hazem — were active in Hamas’s military operations, Amir as a cell commander and his brothers as lower-level operatives. One of the brothers was also involved in holding hostages, the Israeli military said, without specifying which one. The strike came as international negotiators work to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the enclave.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh’s, — Amir, Mohammad, Hazem —, Amir Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza

☆ Opinion | Israel: Cease-Fire, Get Hostages, Leave Gaza, Rethink Everything
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It is so dangerous and troubling that Israel’s best option, when all is said and done, might be to leave a rump Hamas leadership in power in Gaza. I argued in October that Israel was making a terrible mistake by rushing headlong into invading Gaza, the way America did in Afghanistan after 9/11. I thought Israel should have focused first on getting back its hostages, delegitimizing Hamas for its murderous and rapacious Oct. 7 rampage, and going after Hamas’s leadership in a targeted way — more Munich, less Dresden. That is, a military response akin to how Israel tracked down the killers of its athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and not how the U.S. turned Dresden into a pile of rubble in World War II. That approach would have won the support, funding and, I think, even peacekeeping troops of moderate Arab states like the U.A.E.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Israel, “ Organizations: U.S, Hamas, Hamas Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Palestinian Authority Locations: Israel, Gaza, Afghanistan, Munich, Dresden, U.S

A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that Hamas did not have 40 living hostages in Gaza who met the criteria for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement with Israel being negotiated. A senior Israeli official said Israel had been relayed Hamas’s claim, and the senior Hamas official said that the group had informed mediators facilitating the negotiations. The Israeli official and the Hamas official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. Israeli officials believe there are about 130 hostages remaining in Gaza, and Israeli intelligence officers have concluded that at least 30 of those have died in captivity. It was not immediately clear if Israel would now demand that young men and soldiers be included among the first 40 released captives.

Persons: Israel Organizations: Hamas, Israeli Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Opinion | Netanyahu Must Go
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Israel must destroy Hamas as a military and political force in the territory while minimizing harm to civilians. And for all of that to happen effectively, Benjamin Netanyahu must go. Why — to paraphrase Scarborough and his co-hosts — was Netanyahu asking Qatar to fund Hamas to the tune of hundreds of millions just weeks before the massacre? Why was the bulk of the Israeli military nowhere near Gaza in the first hours of the attack? When an Israeli minister is forced to humiliate himself on American TV because he can muster neither the sophistry nor the servility that a smoother answer would require, it’s a sign he’s in the wrong government.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Nir Barkat, Joe, ”, Joe Scarborough, Scarborough, —, Netanyahu, Barkat Locations: Gaza, Israel, Lebanon’s, Damascus, Hamas’s, Syria, Qatar, Iran, Jerusalem

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel’s Troop Drawdown in South Leaves Gaza With No Active Battles
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

A Palestinian woman walks past damaged buildings in Khan Younis on Monday, after Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip. Deir al Balah ISRAEL GAZA STRIP Khan Younis The Israeli military said it withdrew a division from the city of Khan Younis. GAZA STRIP ISRAEL Deir al Balah The Israeli military said it withdrew a division from the city of Khan Younis. Khan Younis Rafah The military was preparing for “follow-up missions” that included Rafah, the defense minister said. The 98th Division’s operations in southern Gaza were “extremely impressive,” the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a statement.

Persons: Khan Younis, Israel, Hamas’s, Deir al, ISRAEL Deir al Balah, Yoav Gallant, “, ”, Nahum Barnea, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, ” Mr, Netanyahu, Biden, Abu Bakr Bashir, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck, Johnatan Reiss Organizations: BANK, The New York Times, ”, Israel Locations: Khan, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Erez, Sderot, BANK GAZA, Deir, ISRAEL GAZA, Rafah Rafah, EGYPT, Shalom, WEST, GAZA, ISRAEL, Khan Younis Rafah, EGYPT Rafah, Kerem Shalom, Cairo

☆ Active Fighting Subsides in Gaza, but the War Is Not Over, Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Israeli military’s departure from southern Gaza over the weekend has left the devastated territory in a state of suspense as active fighting there receded on Monday to its lowest ebb since a brief truce with Hamas in November. But even as some observers hoped Israel’s withdrawal from the area might portend a new cease-fire, both Hamas and Israeli officials suggested the war was not yet over. Analysts said the withdrawal of Israeli troops suggested only that the war had entered a new phase, one in which Israel would continue to mount small-scale operations across Gaza to prevent Hamas’s resurgence. That strategy, they said, could occupy a middle ground between reaching a lasting truce with Hamas and ordering a major ground assault into Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold in southern Gaza where more than one million of Palestinians have taken refuge. In a statement on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that while Israel was still pursuing a deal to secure the release of its hostages in Gaza, it was also seeking “total victory over Hamas.”

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, ” Organizations: Analysts Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Hamas’s

☆ Berlin Was a Beacon of Artistic Freedom. Gaza Changed Everything.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Jason Farago | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She lived for a time in West Berlin. Fitting, then, that she would accept a prestigious guest professorship this year at a German art school. Rather than distill her thoughts about “this unbelievably tragic war” into the kind of public statement they seemed to want, she withdrew. “It did teach me that I didn’t really want to have that kind of sponsorship,” she concluded. The arts scene in Germany — and especially Berlin — has been turned upside down by Hamas’s attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, and the siege and bombardment of Gaza.

Persons: Laurie Anderson, —, “, ”, Anderson, Lou Reed, Berliner, fulminated, Berlin — Organizations: Germany — Locations: Germany, West Berlin, Israel, Palestinian, Berlin, Gaza

☆ Biden Threatens to Condition Israel Aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

During a tense 30-minute call today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Biden threatened to condition future American support for Israel on whether it improves its treatment of civilians in Gaza. Biden called the humanitarian situation in the enclave “unacceptable,” and insisted to Netanyahu that he quickly put in place specific protections. But in public, he has staunchly supported Israel’s right to respond to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. During the call, Biden urged Netanyahu to negotiate a deal that would result in an “immediate cease-fire” and the release of hostages taken by Hamas. A spokesman said the White House expects Israel to make announcements of specific changes within hours or days.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Biden, ”, Netanyahu, Antony Blinken Organizations: Hamas, White Locations: Israel, Gaza

☆ Opinion | Oct. 7 Shattered Netanyahu’s Legacy. The War Saved Him — for Now.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Joshua Leifer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The moment Israel’s devastating war in the Gaza Strip ends, the unfinished conflict within Israel over its future will begin again. After almost six months, this war is already Israel’s longest since Israel’s war of independence. Even Mr. Netanyahu’s most vociferous critics seek to avoid being painted as treasonous during a time when massive banners declaring “Together We Will Win” hang from skyscrapers. In the weeks following Hamas’s gruesome Oct. 7 incursion, Mr. Netanyahu’s political future looked bleak. And, in another recent poll, by Israel’s Channel 13, most Israelis said they did not trust Mr. Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, Win, Netanyahu, ”, Israel Organizations: Israel’s, Likud Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States

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