U.S. diplomacy to end the Gaza war and forge a new relationship with Saudi Arabia has been converging in recent weeks into a single giant choice for Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: What do you want more — Rafah or Riyadh? Do you want to mount a full-scale invasion of Rafah to try to […]
Read MoreTag: Rafah (Gaza Strip)
Blinken to Return to Israel to Discuss Hostages and Planned Rafah Incursion
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will visit Israel next week, an Israeli official said on Friday, as talks on a cease-fire deal have stalled and tensions have risen between Israel and the United States over the treatment of civilians in the war. The Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the […]
Read MoreA Baby Born in Gaza After Her Mother Was Killed Has Died
A baby who was born premature after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike died on Thursday, a relative said, less than a week after news of her birth brought a glimmer of hope to war-torn Gaza. The baby, who was born after a strike in southern Gaza that also killed her father and […]
Read MoreJosé Andrés Eulogizes 7 World Central Kitchen Workers Killed in Gaza
A stone pulpit in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., is no place the chef José Andrés expected to be when he created the food charity World Central Kitchen nearly 15 years ago. But on Thursday he stood there, eulogizing seven of the organization’s workers who were killed in the Gaza Strip while trying to […]
Read MorePalestinian American Family Grieves Loss of Over 100 Relatives Killed in Gaza
The call came in around 4 p.m., while Adam Abo Sheriah was still at work in his pharmacy in New Jersey. The voice on the other end was sobbing. It took a few minutes for Adam to understand: His uncle’s home in Gaza City had been hit by Israeli airstrikes. His parents and his brother’s […]
Read MoreIsrael’s Invasion of Rafah Is All but Inevitable, Experts Say
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 […]
Read MoreIsrael Plans to Expand ‘Humanitarian Zone’ if It Invades Rafah
If Israel were to begin an invasion in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” along the coast would be expanded to take in more civilians, an Israeli military official said Monday evening. The comments were among the first indications of the Israeli military’s plans […]
Read MoreTrapped and Starving, 2 Families in Gaza Try to Keep Their Children Alive
Born in wartime, the baby had not eaten in more than a day, his father said — no formula, no nothing. His parents had already spent the last of their money on food, sold his mother’s gold jewelry to buy milk and begged water from other evacuees to mix the powdered formula. Now even that […]
Read MoreThomas Friedman on Iran, Israel and Preventing a ‘Forever War’
Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music The columnist Thomas L. Friedman joined the hosts of “Matter of Opinion” this week to unpack Israel’s and Iran’s latest attacks, what they mean for Gaza and the implications for the region writ large. Below is a lightly edited transcript of […]
Read MoreIsrael Questions What Might Be Next for the Gaza War
Within moments of Israel and its allies shooting down a fusillade of Iranian missiles and drones this weekend, many began wondering what the latest exchange between Israel and Iran would mean for the war in the Gaza Strip. The Iranian attack was retaliation for what was widely believed to be an Israeli strike this month […]
Read MoreAfter Iran’s Barrage, Israel Questions What Might Be Next for the Gaza War
In a deeply divided Israel, even the dramatic scene above the country’s skies on Sunday is open to political interpretation. For supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s display of defensive technology against an Iranian salvo that included hundreds of drones and missiles proves Mr. Netanyahu has long been right to warn about the threat […]
Read MoreActive Fighting Subsides in Gaza, but the War Is Not Over, Officials Say
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, […]
Read MoreGazans Find Khan Younis ‘Unrecognizable’ After Israeli Withdrawal
The withdrawal of Israeli ground troops from southern Gaza over the weekend allowed some Palestinians to return to the city of Khan Younis and check on their homes. But in the aftermath of a fierce, monthslong battle and Israeli bombings, some found only destruction. “When I saw the scene I couldn’t handle it,” said Dr. […]
Read MoreJ Street Searches for a Middle Path on Gaza
Over the last five years, the Jewish political advocacy group J Street reached new heights of influence. The center-left lobby, whose slogan upon its founding in 2008 was “pro-Israel, pro-peace,” saw five Democratic presidential candidates stump at its 2019 convention. It helped persuade 48 congressional Democrats to back a 2021 bill that would have pressured […]
Read MoreHow José Andrés and World Central Kitchen Became Leaders in Disaster Aid
World Central Kitchen’s rise as one of the world’s most agile and far-flung emergency feeding operations has been fueled by two powerful forces: chefs who know how to organize kitchens quickly in the most extreme circumstances, and the undeniable charisma of the chef José Andrés, a wealthy, well-connected restaurateur driven to feed people in disaster […]
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