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 213 of the war with Hamas. Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and military reporter Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his American counterpart, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in a phone call overnight that Israel was left with no choice but to launch its offensive in southern Gaza’s Rafah. Fabian reports on the IDF's evacuation order for Palestinians living in the eastern part of the city, along the border with Egypt.

This potential operation comes after four Israeli soldiers were killed and 11 more were wounded in a Hamas-claimed rocket attack on a staging ground near the Gaza Strip on Sunday. We hear what was and was not targeted in the barrage.

Berman weighs in on whether the timing of the barrage -- during a particularly sensitive moment in hostage negotiations -- was coincidental. We hear updates from the past several days and why Berman thinks the talks are potentially still ongoing.

A siren sounded throughout Israel at 10 am, marking Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. We learn about Holocaust survivor and partisan Dr. Hanan Karshai, who recently died in Jerusalem, aged 98.

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

Discussed articles include:

IDF calls on Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah ahead of planned offensive

Gallant to US defense chief Austin: Israel has ‘no choice’ over Rafah operation after deadly Hamas barrage

3 soldiers killed, 11 hurt inside Israel by Hamas rocket attack from Rafah

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: Palestinians hold leaflets dropped by Israeli planes calling on them to evacuate ahead of an Israeli military operation in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Iman Zareb, a senior figure in the Iran-backed group’s Rafah Brigade, was killed along with two other Islamic Jihad fighters in an Israeli bombardment on a “hideout apartment” in Rafah, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet Security Service said yesterday in a joint statement. We hear more about Zareb and what his terrorist organization's role was on October 7 and until now.

An officer in police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit was seriously wounded and five Palestinian gunmen, members of a terror cell, were killed Saturday during a 12-hour raid in the West Bank town of Dayr al-Ghusun. Fabian explains the goals of the raid and how it was carried out.

Elyakim Libman, 23, an Israeli who was thought to have been abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attacks, was declared dead Friday after his body was found in Israel. We learn how this identification was made, and what led to his murder.

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday announced the promotion of five generals as part of a series of appointments in the General Staff — a forum of senior commanders responsible for the various branches and departments of the military — including the next head of intelligence. As expected, there has been a lot of blowback, both from families of victims and hostages and from politicians.

On Wednesday, Channel 12 news reported that nearly all of the army’s posts along the border with the Gaza Strip failed a routine inspection carried out just three days before Hamas’s October 7 onslaught. Fabian weighs in on why this is troubling, but not exactly a comparable test of the base's readiness that October 7 proved to be.

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

Discussed articles include:

Islamic Jihad commander who led Oct. 7 assault on Sufa killed in Rafah strike — IDF

5 Palestinian gunmen killed, Israeli officer seriously hurt in 12-hour West Bank op

Remains of Elyakim Libman, presumed a hostage since Oct. 7, found in Israel

IDF appoints new intel chief, promotes 4 other generals, despite far-right opposition

Father of soldier killed on Oct. 7 to petition appointment of new IDF intel chief

Report: Many IDF posts on Gaza border failed inspections in days before Oct. 7

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: Elyakim Libman, security guard at the Supernova desert rave who was murdered on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 211 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

After a day filled with a flurry of optimistic headlines surrounding the proposed hostage release deal, Taher Nunu, a Hamas official and advisor to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said meetings in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari mediators have begun and Hamas is dealing with their proposals “with full seriousness and responsibility.” However, he reiterated the terror group’s demand that any deal should include an Israeli pullout from Gaza and an end to the war, conditions that Israel has previously rejected. With no real movement on either side, why the media storm?

Qatar is prepared to accept a request from the US for it to expel Hamas’s leaders from Doha and is anticipating one could be made soon, a source familiar with the matter told Magid. If expelled, to where is the terror organization expected to relocate?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a DC event that whatever one thinks of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the current government, “what’s important to understand is that much of what he’s doing is not simply a reflection of his politics or his policies; it’s actually a reflection of where a large majority of Israelis are in this moment.” We discuss how this stance is starkly different than previous takes by the Biden administration.

Magid reported onsite from anti-Israel protests at several Chicago area high schools and universities this week. We hear what shocked him.

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

Discussed articles include:

Hamas indicates it may agree to deal; Israeli official insists truce won’t end the war

Qatar anticipating US request to expel Hamas leaders, is open to doing so — source

Blinken says Netanyahu’s handling of war reflects views of ‘a large majority of Israelis’

Gaza campus protests spread to Chicago high schools, alarming Jewish students

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: Campus police stand between demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian, abti-Israel encampment on the campus of the University of Chicago and counter demonstrators after a brief skirmish between the groups on May 3, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 210 of the war with Hamas. Political correspondent Tal Schneider and archaeology reporter Gavriel Fiske join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Schneider discusses the latest regarding aid for Gaza, brought in Thursday through Israel's Erez Crossing, rebuilt for trucks after being destroyed by Hamas on October 7, followed by the seizure of the aid by Hamas terrorists. She also describes the temporary floating pier being built by US troops on the Gaza shores for the transfer of additional aid.

Schneider looks at Turkey's decision to halt all trade with Israel, a major blow for both countries given the annual $7 billion turnover in commercial trade, as Turkey erases all traces of Israel from its import and export systems after 75 years of trade.

Fiske explains the complicated science of carbon-dating techniques utilized by a team at the Weizmann Institute who examined the rings of trees and other organic matter to determine the size and breadth of ancient Jerusalem.

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

Discussed articles include:

US says Hamas seized first aid shipment that entered Gaza via reopened Erez crossing

Turkey halts all trade with Israel; Jerusalem denounces ‘dictator’ Erdogan

New carbon-dating techniques enable ‘absolute chronology’ of First Temple-era Jerusalem

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. 

IMAGE: A ship of Freedom Flotilla Coalition anchors at Tuzla seaport in Istanbul, Turkey on April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 209 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz and diplomacy reporter Lazar Berman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Hamas terror group was reportedly slated to submit on Thursday an amended proposal to the one crafted by Qatari, Egyptian and American brokers. It is a proposal that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called "generous" during his recent lightning visit to Israel yesterday. Berman updates us on reports of a deal and Horovitz discusses the optics of Blinken's support. 

During Blinken's visit, he clarified that the US still doesn't believe Israel should carry out a wide-scale Rafah operation. Israel has refused to commit to ending the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Blinken on Wednesday that the IDF would launch a mass invasion of Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions in Gaza’s southernmost city regardless of whether or not there is a hostage deal, according to an Israeli official. Horovitz weighs in.

The ongoing protests on university campuses have spread across the globe. Horovitz discusses the phenomenon.

Finally, we hear about Israel's frayed ties with Colombia. 

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

Discussed articles include:

All eyes, still, on Hamas

Hamas indicates it will snub latest hostage deal offer, but says talks to continue

Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage deal

Colombia to sever ties after months of panning Israel as ‘genocidal’

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. 

IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a meeting with the Israeli president in Tel Aviv, on May 1, 2024. (Abir Sultan / POOL / AFP)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wrobel talks about the market's reaction to the proposed ceasefire, with a rise in the shekel and slight gains in shares, although there is a negative outlook from Standard and Poor's because of increased war spending and concerns over an escalation in the north.

She also speaks about the potential deal with US gaming giant Nvidia, which is looking at a billion-dollar deal to purchase two Israeli start-ups, showing its belief in Israeli technology and a vote of confidence in local talent.

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

Discussed articles include:

Far-right minister claims hostage deal throws war goals in ‘trash’ to save hostages

Smotrich threatens to quit gov’t over hostage deal; Eisenkot slams far-right ‘blackmail’

Israeli shares rise and shekel gains as investors watch truce, hostage deal efforts

US chip giant Nvidia snaps up Israeli AI workload management startup

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. 

IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Israelis calling for the release of Hamas hostages held in Gaza, on May 1, 2024 in Tel Aviv (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.