Day 664 - Witkoff arrives in region, Gaza aid is main topic

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

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4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 23 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 episode.

With Canada announcing that it will recognize a Palestinian state in September, Magid discusses that Canada is conditioning its plan on Palestinian Authority reforms.

Magid also looks at the latest vote in the Senate to block arms sales to Israel, as an extension of distrust of Netanyahu government. The resolution proposed by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders didn't pass again, but a majority of Democrats voted against it, a first that shows the distrust of the Netanyahu government, says Magid.

As US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff makes his way to the region, Magid says that Gaza humanitarian aid is the main issue he'll presumably discuss with Netanyahu, with clear prioritization on how to aid the Gazans.

Magid also talks about the alleged shooting of a prominent Palestinian activist by a known Jewish settler and the clear differences in how the suspected settler, Yinon Levi, was treated by Israeli civilian law as opposed to the Palestinian suspects involved in the case, who are being handled by the Israeli military legal system.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Following France and UK, Canada says it will recognize Palestinian state in September

Israel said to warn Hamas it will annex parts of Gaza if no hostage deal reached

As Trump promises new Gaza aid plan, White House says details forthcoming

IDF court extends Palestinians’ remand after Israeli in same incident freed to house arrest

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IMAGE: Palestinians carry food supplies they received from the US aid center in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 30, 2025. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/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 Thursday, July 31st, and I'm Jessica Steinberg.
0:08.9	I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid. Hi, Jacob. How are you doing?
0:13.6	Hi, Jessica. Good to be with you. Glad to have you here. It is day 664 of the war.
0:19.7	Following France and the UK, Canada now says it will recognize a Palestinian state into September.
0:27.7	Hostage families have panned the move as shameful, while Israel is said to warn Hamas that it will annex parts of Gaza if no hostage deal is reached.
0:39.4	Meanwhile, President Donald Trump reacted to those assertions and said that he is working on a new Gaza aid plan, and U.S.
0:45.7	Special Envoy, Steve Whitkoff, is reportedly traveling to Israel right now. We'll talk about
0:51.8	all of that, as well as the latest incident of Jewish settler violence
0:55.9	in a West Bank village took place on Monday. Stay with us.
1:05.8	Do you think that it's actually that truth is no longer the objective in this work?
1:10.5	There are lots of media outlets that aren't as bolded as they should be about an honest
1:14.1	accounting of the truth.
1:15.3	Recently, on identity crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer spoke with David Horowitz, founding editor of
1:20.3	the Times of Israel, about journalistic integrity and media bias in the fog of war.
1:24.8	There are two battlefields. There's the stuff where things happen and there's
1:28.3	the stuff where people talk about the things that have happened. And if you don't try to tell people
1:32.6	what you believe or insist is going on, then you're leaving the second battlefield vacant.
1:39.5	Join us as we take on issues facing contemporary Jewish life on identity crisis wherever you get your
1:45.2	podcasts.
1:49.6	So Jacob, first France and then the UK and now Canada says it will recognize a Palestinian state in September. They're all obviously
2:03.3	pushing Israel to end the war in Gaza. Hard to say where this will all go, but what are you
2:09.0	hearing on your end? So each of these countries is trying to take a slightly different approach
	...

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