The Times of Israel Daily Briefing The Times of Israel

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.

It is day 219 of the war with Hamas. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Palestinian media reported this morning that there is renewed fighting in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya. Fabian describes fighting in all parts of Gaza, from north to south, including parts that were previously declared taken.

In the initial evacuation zone and other areas of Rafah, around 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated to a designated “humanitarian zone,” according to IDF assessments. The IDF announced yesterday that it had successfully coordinated the opening of a field hospital in this area. Who is running this hospital and what other facilities are there?

This morning an explosion was seen on northern Israel’s coast near the community of Rosh Hanikra, after sirens warned of an incoming drone launched from Lebanon. This is after a weekend of barrages that sparked fires. We hear what has happened on the northern border over the past several days.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant slammed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday for continuing to hold up approving the purchase of two fighter jet squadrons for the Israeli Air Force amid the war. Fabian explains the consequences of the delay-causing power play.

Israel is readying to mark Memorial Day for the first time since the October 7 onslaught and the ensuing war. As of this recording, 25,040 have died during service to the country since 1860. Fabian delves into the categories of the fallen and describes a schoolmate, Sgt. First Class Yosef Malachi Guedalia, who was killed on October 7 while defending Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF calls on Gazans to leave additional Rafah neighborhoods as it presses operation

Gallant blasts Smotrich for mid-war holdup of fighter jet procurement

A dark year: 766 soldiers, 834 civilians killed since last Memorial Day

Sgt. First Class Yosef Malachi Guedalia, 22: ‘A very gentle, sweet person’

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: IDF troops operate in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitoun, in a handout image released May 11, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
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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.

It is day 218 of the war with Hamas. Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Berman discusses the expansion of the targeted, moderate operation in Rafah, the US reactions to the operation so far and what that means for US-Israel relations.

He also updates what's happening with talks for a hostage deal and ceasefire, as well as the release of a Hamas propaganda videos of hostage Nadav Popplewell, which Berman believes is meant to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sharon looks at an interview with the recent past president of the International Court of Justice, and her comments about the 'plausibility' term with regard to the court case about whether Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

US: Ongoing IDF op in Rafah doesn’t amount to major offensive we’ve warned against

‘Plausibility’ in the South African genocide case against Israel is not what it seemed

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Israelis taking part in a protest calling for the end of the war and the release of the hostages, as they march through the streets of Tel Aviv. on May 9, 2024. (Photo by Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
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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.

It is day 216 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid and news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to deliver a report to Congress this week that will criticize Israel but ultimately conclude that the Biden administration has accepted assurances from Jerusalem that the IDF is using American weapons in accordance with international law. How could this shift the contentious US-Israel relationship -- or would it?

The conceptual dissonance over the Gaza war between Israel and the US was highlighted Thursday with statements by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby who stated, “Any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas’s hands at the negotiating table, not Israel’s. That’s our view." Magid looks into the differing stances.

Israel’s Eden Golan advanced to the grand final of the Eurovision on Thursday night in Malmo, Sweden, qualifying with her song “Hurricane” despite months of anti-Israel protests against her participation. Spiro gives the full picture.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Report: State Department set to confirm Israel not breaking international law in Gaza

Despite Biden’s pause, billions of dollars in US arms for Israel still in pipeline

‘Didn’t fall from the sky’: Biden threat follows months of feeling PM ignored his warnings

US says it’s not abandoning Israel, asserts Rafah offensive would embolden Hamas

Defying haters, Israel’s Eden Golan advances to the Eurovision grand final on Saturday

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Israeli soldiers at a staging area near the Israeli-Gaza Border, southern Israel, May 9, 2024. (Flash90)
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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.

It is day 216 of the war with Hamas. Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Horovitz discusses US President Joe Biden's "bombshell" series of comments regarding withholding weaponry for Israel to attack Rafah in Gaza, and how the Israeli mainstream and right-wing politicians are reacting.

He talks about Israeli dependence on American weaponry and how Israel and the US need to find a way to resolve this latest issue.

Horovitz then tackles Hamas' counter-proposal to the hostage situation, calling it a "deceitful" offer that will not bring home most of the hostages, and which aims to free many of their high-level security prisoners, bringing some home to the West Bank, in order to inflame that region and open a second front.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Biden accused of helping Hamas as Israel outraged by threatened weapons freeze

Biden: I won’t give Israel offensive weapons to attack in populated parts of Rafah

Sinister Hamas terms would let it keep most hostages, win the war, inflame the West Bank

Visiting CIA chief said to tell Netanyahu he still sees chance for deal with Hamas

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: President Joe Biden meets with campaign volunteers at the Dr. John Bryant Community Center, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Racine, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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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.

It is day 215 of the war with Hamas. Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Biden administration on Tuesday night confirmed reports that it had recently held up a large shipment of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs that it feared Israel might use in a major ground operation in the densely populated southern Gaza city of Rafah. But it also appeared to signal its initial approval of the operation launched by Israel early Tuesday morning to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Rettig Gur weighs in on these push-pull announcements.

According to polling by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) that was released yesterday, a majority of Israelis believe that reaching a hostage deal with Hamas should be the country’s top national priority — more important than launching a military operation against the terror group in Rafah. We hear whether this accurately reflects Israeli thinking and what the numbers truly mean.

The Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, officially began Tuesday evening with the first live semifinal. Israel’s contestant is set to take the stage only on Thursday, but there’s plenty to talk about in the meantime. Spiro fills us in.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

US confirms holding up sale of heavy bombs it feared Israel would use in Rafah

US signals backing for ‘limited op’ after IDF takes over Gazan side of Rafah crossing

US completes construction of Gaza aid pier, but weather preventing installation

Poll: Majority of Israelis support prioritizing hostage deal over Rafah operation

Hostage families urge US, other countries to press Israel to reach deal with Hamas

Eurovision organizers rebuke performer who wore keffiyeh during first semifinal show

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Einav Zangauker holds a sign identifying her son Matan (24), one of the hostages taken captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip during the October 7 massacre, as she stands on the roof of a car during a demonstration by hostages' relatives and supporters in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on May 6, 2024. (Jack Guez / AFP)
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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.

It is day 214 of the war with Hamas. Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and Diaspora reporter Canaan Lidor join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Israeli military confirmed that its 401st Armored Brigade captured the Gazan side of Rafah Crossing on the Egyptian border this morning. Israel is now in control of all above-ground crossings into Gaza. The crossing was captured amid a “pinpoint operation” against Hamas in “limited areas of eastern Rafah,” the IDF said. Goren weighs in on whether this is a one-and-done operation or the start of the much-talked-about Rafah op.

The New York Times reported this morning that Hamas intends to include the remains of several dead hostages among the 33 captives it says it will release in the first phase of a hostage and truce deal it proposed. Israel has previously insisted that the first stage include only living hostages and had reduced its demand from 40 hostages, with the understanding that not all those in that category were still alive. After Hamas said yesterday it had accepted a deal put forward by mediators, Israel stated that what Hamas put forward was significantly different from what Israel had agreed to.Where does this leave us?

Lidor has reported from the annual March of the Living in Auschwitz for many years. He talks about why this year, in the shadow of the October 7 massacre by Hamas, it felt so different.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Army announces two reserves troops killed in Hezbollah drone attack Monday

Hamas claims to accept ceasefire, hostage deal; Israel: This isn’t what we agreed to

Specifics of a deal Hamas says it accepts, and that Israel says does not meet its terms

Protesters block roads to demand Israel accept ceasefire-hostage deal, halt Rafah push

At Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors scarred by October 7 march in a show of resilience

At Auschwitz march, participants rally around concern over hostages and antisemitism

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: This image grab taken from footage released by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024, shows the 401st Brigade's combat team tanks entering the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. (Fayez Nureldine / Israeli Army / AFP)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.