Day 508 - Is Hamas’s show of force in Gaza backfiring?

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

The negotiations for extending phase one of the hostage deal will begin Wednesday, says Magid, with US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff's arrival first in Israel, as Israel is currently seen as the toughest partner. Any extension of the first phase of the ceasefire would include only a trickle of additional hostages, adds Magid.

Israel has also demanded that Hamas stop the ceremonies held upon each hostage release, arranged to show that the terrorist group is still in power in Gaza. However, says Magid, the grotesque ceremonies have pushed the Trump administration, making them more unwilling to accept a Hamas presence in Gaza.

There's more heat from the Arab world about the Hamas presence in Gaza, says Magid, with leading comments from senior Hamas politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk in The New York Times. Magid remarks that it's worth taking those comments at face value, as they are also indicative of the entry of President Trump into the equation.

Magid also looks at a United Nations vote that brought the US, Russia and Israel together against a Ukrainian UN resolution intended to condemn Russia. Magid comments that the vote signifies a shift in US intentions, with the US joining Russia and Israel taking a position because it doesn't want to antagonize President Trump.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

In first, Witkoff says US looking to extend hostage deal’s current phase

Hamas ceremonies spurring Trump pressure for Arab plan to push group out — diplomats

Senior Hamas official: I wouldn’t have backed Oct. 7 if I’d known outcome for Gaza

US backs Israel’s decision to push off release of 602 Palestinian security prisoners

Joining US, Israel votes against UN motion condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine

IMAGE: People pay their respects as the coffin of hostage Oded Lifshitz, killed in Hamas captivity, makes its way from Rishon Lezion, February 25, 2025. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. It's Tuesday, February 25th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid, who is currently in Israel. Hi, Jacob.
0:17.6	Hey, Jessica. It is good to see you here on this ground. It is day 508 of the war.
0:24.0	This morning, the family and Kupitzkir-O's community of Odid Lifshitz is burying the 84-year-old who was killed in captivity in Gaza.
0:33.1	We'll talk about all the latest in the hostage deal, including comments made by a senior
0:38.3	Hamas official, what's being said on the diplomatic front and obviously particularly from the
0:43.8	U.S. And all of that after a quick break.
0:52.1	We the Holocaust survivors are a rapidly diminishing group.
0:56.0	We are in the last moments of being able to share with our young people our first-hand testimonies.
1:02.0	Time is rapidly running out.
1:05.0	Each year sees smaller numbers of survivors able to accompany students on the March of the Living.
1:11.6	Marching with students and survivors from many countries in those terrible places
1:16.6	allows our students to learn and understand through stories and eyewitness accounts
1:21.6	about our resilience, our strength, and our determination.
1:26.6	This Yomashoa, the Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day,
1:31.1	many survivors like Ava want to march at the International March of the Living in Auschwitz.
1:36.9	They need your help.
1:39.3	To sponsor a survivor on the March of the Living, go to MOTL.org.
2:00.5	Okay, so Jacob, let's start with U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast Envoy Steve Whitkoff, who said a couple of days ago that he would be, you know, he's coming to the region tomorrow, trying to negotiate an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire, and that was your focus,
2:18.6	that it was the first time that it was said formally or more formally in a way that it had not been said before.
2:26.7	That was the gist that I was getting from what you were writing.
2:29.9	Tell us what your thoughts were about that.
2:33.0	Right, so the extension of phase one, this is,
	...

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