Day 662 – PM vows more aid to Gaza amid talk of siege, annexation
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 29 July 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
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.
Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.
The situation in Gaza remains incredibly problematic and unclear, says Horovitz, with a lack of independent journalism in Gaza, complicating the narrative. For the moment, Israel has reversed its policy regarding aid to Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t invite his two far-right coalition members, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the cabinet meeting discussing an increase of aid to Gaza.
Horovitz discusses the mixed signals and strategic incoherence from the current government on this mix of issues. There is talk about getting aid into Gaza at the same time as unsourced reports that the army has proposed a tightened siege in the Strip, and held discussions of annexation or occupation in Gaza, offering a great deal of contradictory information, says Horovitz.
Horovitz also discusses the wave of recommendations about excluding Israel from academic projects alongside instances of Israeli tourists requiring security assistance in various EU locations, amid the rising tide of criticism against Israel. People feel deeply troubled by what they are seeing and hearing about Gaza, he notes.
Israeli negotiators are no longer in Doha for the ceasefire talks, although the terrorist organization Hamas has said it is trying to make this current proposal work. Horovitz says that Israel’s strategy is hard to fathom, given its insistence on military pressure in Gaza and Netanyahu’s continued endorsement of US President Donald Trump’s initial idea of helping Gazans leave, something that the US leader isn’t saying that any longer.
Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
PM says Israel will ensure lots of Gaza aid; ministers said to mull occupation, annexation
‘You can’t fake that’: Trump sees ‘real starvation’ in Gaza, says Israel must do more
Image of Gazan child with genetic illness being used to falsely smear Israel, COGAT charges
Smotrich signals he won’t bolt coalition despite objecting to Gaza humanitarian aid
EU proposes cutting Israeli access to research funds over Gaza humanitarian crisis
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IMAGE: Palestinians at the site of an Israeli air strike, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on July 29, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. It is Tuesday, July 29th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. I'm speaking today with Times of Israel founding editor David Harvitz. Hi, David. |
| 0:13.5 | Hey, Jessica. Hi, there. It is day 662 of the war. As tensions escalate over the aid situation in Gaza, |
| 0:22.5 | U.S. President Donald Trump has said that Israel must do more about aid in Gaza. |
| 0:27.1 | The European Union is proposing cutting Israeli access to research funds over the Gaza humanitarian crisis. |
| 0:34.4 | And meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel is working to ensure that large amounts of aid enter the Gaza Strip. |
| 0:42.0 | We'll talk about his comments, as well as the coalition talk of annexation and occupation of the Gaza Strip, |
| 0:50.5 | and what is happening right now with truce and hostage talks. Stay with us. |
| 0:59.7 | In a powerful series of interviews in this season of legends among us, Rabbi Benji talks with young widows in their 20s, who lost their spouses in the current war in Israel. |
| 1:14.6 | Ordinary people that were so extraordinary that most of us never realized it until we couldn't help but recognize it. |
| 1:22.9 | And so in 2024, Taft Shinpei Dalit, I invited seven of these legends to have an open and honest |
| 1:29.8 | conversation, to reflect on the loved ones they lost, go back to the moment when they found |
| 1:35.2 | out, and ask them how they're currently grappling with this incredible loss while it was still |
| 1:40.9 | fresh. |
| 1:42.2 | So much has happened since. But the freshness of these conversations is crucial |
| 1:47.1 | as their gaping hole can never be filled. |
| 1:50.1 | This first series will invite you into the mind and heart |
| 1:53.1 | of our phenomenal heroes, |
| 1:54.7 | but in the process, I have no doubt |
| 1:56.9 | that they and their loved ones will enter your minds and hearts. |
| 2:00.4 | Rabbi Nachman is quoted as saying, |
| 2:02.4 | The world tells stories to put people to sleep. |
| 2:05.2 | I tell stories to wake people up. |
... |
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