Daily Briefing Apr. 17: Day 194 - Tension on 3 fronts; climate bill advances in Knesset

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.

It is day 194 of the war with Hamas. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.

Fabian discusses the latest in Gaza, as Israeli tanks pushed back into parts of the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Two brigades joined ongoing missions in Gaza while other troops are situated outside Gaza, preparing to enter for the expected large-scale offensive in Rafah.

He also talks about the latest violence in the north, as two Hezbollah commanders were killed in Lebanon in IDF strikes following attack drones that injured three Israelis in the Beit Hillel moshav; there is still no sense of when the tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis can return home.

Fabian also speaks about ongoing clashes in the West Bank, where violence has broken out between Israeli settlers and Palestinians following the Friday killing of 14-year-old Israeli shepherd Benjamin Achimeir near Ramallah. There is a considerable number of troops in the West Bank, says Fabian, but it is complicated to contain three fronts simultaneously.

Surkes turns to the passage of the first reading of the climate bill, long-discussed but narrow in terms of planned targets, and largely controlled by budgetary expectations from the Finance Ministry.

She also discusses a long-awaited shipment of livestock from Australia, turned around in the fall because of maritime attacks by the Houthis, then relaunched again in March, and noted for the crowded conditions of the lambs and cows.

Surkes then describes several building developments in Jerusalem, the planned “Burj Jerusalem” near Yad Vashem and Har Herzl, along with a long-debated expansion of a city police station on Mitzpe-Tel aka Lupine Hill, both fiercely opposed by several community groups.

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