Daily Briefing Aug. 14: Day 313 – Would a failed hostage deal mean regional war?
Political reporter Tal Schneider on raised stakes for talks in Doha, High Court petition by IDF fighters’ parents; reporter Jeremy Sharon on Minister Ben Gvir’s Temple Mount visit
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.
Political reporter Tal Schneider and settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.
Negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal are scheduled to resume in Qatar on Thursday, with US mediators touting the summit as possibly the final opportunity to release the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 and end the 10-month war in Gaza. Schneider explains what we’re hearing about how the negotiations could also avert the possibility of an all-out regional war with the involvement of Iran.
The influential newspaper aligned with the United Torah Judaism political party, Yated Ne’eman, blasted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for “endangering Jewish lives” by visiting Temple Mount on the solemn Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av and insisting that Jewish prayer was permitted at the site, in direct contradiction to the status quo upheld by the government. Sharon weighs in on the ideology guiding Ben Gvir and then Schneider discusses the political fallout.
Schneider reports on a High Court petition that was brought by dozens of parents of IDF fighters who have been in battle for most of the 313 days of the war against Hamas. They claim that the IDF has no regulations in place to handle this long-term situation and as a result, their children are being denied things like basic hygiene or the right to even take their boots off for over 80 days. What do the parents hope to accomplish?
For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Biden: Iran expected to push off attacking Israel if Gaza ceasefire deal clinched
US leads international condemnations of Ben Gvir’s ‘provocations’ at Temple Mount
Ben Gvir scorns PM’s objections as Jews seen praying on Temple Mount: ‘It’s my policy’
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