Daily Briefing May 2: Day 209 - Blinken delivers bear hug while warning against Rafah op

Editor David Horovitz on the US secretary of state’s visit, campus protests; diplomacy reporter Lazar Berman delves into the hostage deal and balance of power, plus Colombia ties

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 209 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz and diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.

The Hamas terror group was reportedly slated to submit on Thursday an amended hostage-truce proposal in response to the one crafted by Qatari, Egyptian and American brokers and green-lit by Israel. It is a proposal that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who paid a lightning visit to Israel yesterday, called “extraordinarily generous.” Berman updates us on the state of the negotiations and Horovitz discusses the optics of Blinken’s trip.

During Blinken’s visit, he clarified that the US still doesn’t believe Israel should carry out a wide-scale Rafah operation. Israel has refused to commit to ending the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Blinken that the IDF would launch a mass invasion of Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s remaining battalions in Gaza’s southernmost city regardless of whether or not there is a hostage deal. Horovitz weighs in.

The ongoing protests on university campuses have spread across the globe. Horovitz discusses the phenomenon.

Finally, we hear about Israel’s frayed ties with Colombia.

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