7am AEDT, 5 December   What’s happening? Heavy fighting is reported in Khan Younis as Israeli tanks and other forces move into southern Gaza (though the fighting in northern Gaza continues) Three Israeli soldiers were killed overnight. Seventy-five soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the ground operation. Israel has issued travel warnings for […]

8am AEDT, 4 December What’s happening? The Israeli ground operation has expanded into Khan Younis, in the southern half of the Gaza Strip, with Israel urging civilians to evacuate part of the city. Two more soldiers were killed on the weekend, bringing the number to 72 killed since the beginning of the ground operation. Since […]

8:45am AEDT, 3 December What’s happening? The truce ended Friday afternoon Australia time, after the deadline for Hamas to produce the next list of hostages it would release expired. In the hours leading up to that deadline, Hamas fired a rocket salvo into Israel and carried out a deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem. The US […]

12pm AEDT, 1 December What’s happening? The truce was extended for a seventh day yesterday after Israel accepted a Hamas-produced list of eight civilians and three killed soldiers it would hand over. Hamas released the eight civilians but has yet to relinquish the bodies of the fallen soldiers. The only child hostages left in Hamas […]

8am AEDT, 30 November What’s happening? Today is the sixth day of the truce. Hamas is due to release 10 Israeli civilian hostages, but the release has been ‘delayed’ as this newsletter is being written. Two Russian-Israelis and a foreign national were released earlier today. Hamas has apparently expressed a desire to extend the truce […]

11:15am AEDT, Wednesday 29 November What’s happening? The fifth tranche of hostages were released overnight, despite a breach in the truce by Palestinian fighters. They include nine Israeli women and a teenaged girl, the daughter of one of those released. The heads of the Mossad and CIA are in Qatar, negotiating Hamas’s request to extend the ceasefire. […]

6:30am AEDT, Monday 28 November What’s happening?  Hamas played more mind games with Israelis, threatening to delay the release of the fourth tranche of hostages, but, as this newsletter is being prepared, 11 more Israelis were ‘on track’ to be released today. This is who they are. Qatar and the US have announced an extension […]

7am AEDT, Monday 27 November What’s happening? 14 more Israelis were released overnight, nine of them children. Among those released is four-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were murdered on 7 October, and whose two siblings survived by hiding in a closet for 14 hours. Following the release, 177 hostages remain held by Hamas: 18 children (8 girls and […]

6am AEDT, Sunday 26 November What’s happening? The first 13 Israeli hostages, plus 11 foreign nationals were released by Hamas on Friday afternoon, local time. Hamas reportedly ‘delayed‘ the return of the next tranche of hostages. After Israel threatened to resume military operations if they weren’t released by midnight (9am AEDT) (plus ‘unspecified threats’ from Qatar), Hamas […]

Against the background of increasingly heated internal opposition, the direction of the Israeli government is becoming clearer. Depending on one’s political point of view, Prime Minister Netanyahu is either unable or unwilling to resist the internal forces within large sections of his party and coalition, or is proactively pushing his agenda. Whilst the government has […]

Security. A single word, which depending on one’s viewpoint, has many different meanings, interpretations and derivations. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a security hawk with his prime focus being twofold: – Iran generally, as well as stopping Iran from getting nuclear capability. – Closing the gap towards formal overt ties with Saudi Arabia. In both of […]

Having passed through the memorial and holiday period, Israel’s external and internal challenges remain the same, with some coming sharper into focus during the current round of rocket attacks on Israel. Relations with the United States continues along a two-track paradigm under the Biden administration, which sends multiple mixed signals. On the one hand supporting […]