Daily Briefing Feb. 10: Day 127 - Is time running out on US support for Gaza operation?

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.

Today is Day 127 of the war. Editor David Horovitz and US bureau chief Jacob Magid join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today’s episode.

US President Joe Biden said that the conduct of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza was “over the top.” Horovitz puts this statement into the context of others from US officials in recent weeks.

On Thursday, Biden issued a memorandum requiring allies who receive military aid from the US to provide “credible and reliable written assurances” of their adherence to international law, including international human rights law. Magid explains why this new policy is targeting Israel, but was also written with Israel’s “blessing.”

In statements today, Saudi Arabia and Egypt warned Israel against carrying on with a massive push into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in the Strip, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Horovitz weighs in on the extremely complicated military and diplomatic operations on the horizon.

Despite international calls to defund and shut down UNRWA, replacing the UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees in the middle of the Israel-Hamas war would all but end in a humanitarian disaster, according to Andrea De Domenico, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories. What else did Magid learn?

Senior Israeli security officials held a covert meeting with their counterparts from the Palestinian Authority in Tel Aviv this week to discuss efforts to calm tensions in the West Bank and boost its economy ahead of Ramadan. Magid tells us more.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.