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Daily Briefing June 30: Day 268 – Is Biden up to the task of steering the Gaza war?

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman reports on the Iran elections and their resonance in the region and weighs in on whether the IDF is achieving its goals in the Strip

By ToI Staff 30 June 2024, 1:50 pm

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan from The Times of Israel’s Jerusalem offices.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that if Israel embarks on a “full-scale military aggression” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an obliterating war will ensue.” This came a day before Iran’s sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili qualified for a runoff presidential election, which will be held on Friday. Who are these two candidates and what do they mean for Israel and the region?

US President Joe Biden’s halting debate performance has led some in his own party to question whether he should be replaced on the ballot before November. At the same time, many in Israel began to wonder, is Biden really up to being the man holding the wheel on the war in Gaza? Berman weighs in.

Even while IDF drones struck dozens of Hamas sites in Gaza City’s Shejaiya over the past day and troops located weapons, raided Hamas combat complexes — some of which were booby-trapped — and killed several gunmen, Berman proposes that the IDF is still far from reaching its two war goals. What does this mean for the ongoing Gaza war — and a looming war in the north.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.