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

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

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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Day 662 – PM vows more aid to Gaza amid talk of siege, annexation

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