JC Israel Briefing Day 539: Lebanon truce on the brink after latest rocket attack

The US has written a new ceasefire proposal and delivered it to Hamas through Qatari mediators, offering a temporary pause in exchange for the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

Axios reported that the plan includes a public statement from President Trump urging calm and renewed talks, and suggested that Hamas’s leaders outside Gaza showed openness but inside Gaza the leadership is reticent. Talks in Doha resumed yesterday with Qatari and Egyptian officials.

The anti-Hamas protests in Gaza are growing. Hundreds of Gazans took to the streets yesterday, after several days of demos, shouting “Hamas out”.

Hamas is going to lengths to claim that the demonstrations are “suspicious” and warned that participants would be treated as collaborators. Hamas operatives with batons barred media from covering the Beit Lahia protest, in an apparent sign of growing alarm inside the group.

A hostage’s mother has mimicked the format of Hamas propaganda clips, and made her own video addressing her son’s captors. Speaking in Arabic and Hebrew, she said: “We, like our sons, also feel like we are captives of Hamas, for over 500 days.”

She implored the captors: “Keep them safe until the implementation of a ceasefire.” Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan remains in captivity, also appealed to US President Trump.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government’s antisemitism conference took place yesterday in Jerusalem, despite withdrawals by UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, and other senior Jewish figures.

The backlash was sparked after Israeli ministers invited several far-right European politicians, including members of parties linked to neo-Nazis and antisemitic incidents. President Isaac Herzog, who had earlier distanced himself from the event, hosted the opening at his official residence.

The Diaspora Ministry called the event a celebration of diversity. But critics, including the European Jewish Congress, warned the guest list “stabbed the community in the back.”

And some 66 per cent of Israelis are unhappy with Benjamin Netanyahu’s performance, according to a new poll by Maariv. Just 31 per cent say they are satisfied, with nearly half saying they are not at all.

Support for the coalition has dropped sharply, partly due to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party falling below the electoral threshold. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Yair Golan’s Democrats gained ground. The survey also found deep splits over the firing of the Shin Bet chief and judicial appointments.

Elsewhere, there is a trend of IDF reservists refusing call-ups, Channel 12 and Haaretz reported yesterday. The reports cited disillusionment over the failed hostage deal and political interference in the judiciary as the reason for the refusals. Some reservists reportedly book holidays intentionally to avoid service.

Finally, Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen were bombed early today in suspected US airstrikes targeting terrorists who have attacked shipping and Israel. The Houthis said seven were injured in Sanaa, and communications were disrupted. US Central Command has not yet confirmed the latest attacks.

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