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Brett McGurk

US President Joe Biden (right) is greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, October 18, 2023, in Lod. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
January 28, 2026, 1:03 am
Netanyahu: Israeli soldiers lost their lives in Gaza due to Biden-era arms embargo
In incendiary allegation, premier says IDF ‘didn’t have enough ammunition,’ but ’embargo’ ended when Trump took office; furious Biden aides say claim ‘categorically false,’ PM ‘ungrateful’
By ToI Staff and Jacob Magid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at his office in Jerusalem, August 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 22, 2025, 4:43 pm
Biden official: Netanyahu sabotaged deals but calling him out would have helped Hamas
Matthew Miller tells Israeli TV show US wanted to declare publicly that Netanyahu was ‘completely intransigent,’ but saw Sinwar pull back from talks when detecting US-Israel strain
By Jacob Magid
White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 18, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/ Getty Images/ AFP)
April 10, 2025, 2:56 am
‘Don’t start a war with Israel’: Top Biden aide’s lesson from Oct. 7 and its aftermath
Brief reply by Brett McGurk, who helped craft January hostage deal, indicates his rejection of efforts to scrutinize Israel’s Gaza offensive more than the Hamas attack that provoked it
By Jacob Magid
Then-US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
February 20, 2025, 2:40 am
Biden could possibly have ended Gaza war in 2023 by forcing Israeli reckoning — ex-aide
After Mideast czar’s defense of administration’s policy, Ilan Goldenberg suggests Biden should have tried leveraging post-Oct. 7 popularity in Israel to push for deal much sooner
By Jacob Magid
Palestinian Hamas terrorist fighters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 15, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
February 19, 2025, 12:50 pm
Daily Briefing Feb. 19: Day 502 – Hamas fights for survival with ‘grand gestures’
US bureau chief Jacob Magid on terror group’s new ‘generosity’ on releasing hostages, former US envoy Brett McGurk’s op-ed, and allegations from Israel’s new US ambassador
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Jacob Magid
White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 18, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/ Getty Images/ AFP)
February 17, 2025, 7:40 pm
Biden’s Mideast czar says Trump ‘right to stand firmly by Israel’ on hostage deal
In first op-ed since leaving government, senior diplomat Brett McGurk defends previous administration’s handling of Gaza truce talks, says Hamas consistently blocked agreement
By Jacob Magid
US President Joe Biden, right, meets with US President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, November 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
January 16, 2025, 9:58 am
On a deadline: How Biden and Trump brokered hostage deal before ‘all hell’ broke loose
Mediators used framework outlined by outgoing US president and were empowered by Israel’s weakening of Iranian axis, but needed assistance from US president-elect to close the deal
By Jacob Magid
US President Joe Biden, center, with Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, right, speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House on the announcement of a ceasefire deal in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages after more than 15 months of war, January 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
January 16, 2025, 6:43 am
Biden: US-backed pressure on Iranian axis helped secure hostage deal, end of Gaza war
Outgoing US officials acknowledge that cooperation from Trump’s team provided boost, argue that Israel’s ‘defanging’ of Hezbollah isolated Hamas enough for it to accept ceasefire
By Jacob Magid
Left: White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, April 18, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images via AFP); Right: US envoy Amos Hochstein, October 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
October 30, 2024, 5:20 pm
US mediators jet to Israel for talks on 60-day truce with Hezbollah
Plan envisions ceasefire leading to boosted implementation of UN Resolution 1701, but reports suggest Jerusalem seeking ability to act in southern Lebanon should it be threatened
By Agencies, Jacob Magid and ToI Staff
A drone from Lebanon explodes on a bridge in Nahariya, October 29, 2024 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
October 30, 2024, 1:32 pm
Drone hits Nahariya, IDF warns Lebanese to flee Baalbek as US mediators head to region
IDF probing why radar didn’t pick up UAV before reported strike on aviation plant; two hurt by rocket in Metula; Biden envoys McGurk, Hochstein set to push ceasefire proposal
By Emanuel Fabian, ToI Staff and Jacob Magid
Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, September 20, 2024. Hezbollah later confirmed the strike killed top commander Ibrahim Aqil. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
September 21, 2024, 8:32 pm
US officials say killing of top Hezbollah man a ‘good outcome’ and ‘nobody sheds a tear’
At the same time, Washington says its policy is to prevent full-blown war between Israel and Lebanese terror group
By ToI Staff
White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 18, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/ Getty Images/ AFP)
September 21, 2024, 4:03 pm
US Mideast czar says ‘nobody shedding a tear’ for Hezbollah’s Aqil, but hints at unease
Brett McGurk highlights terror commander Ibrahim Aqil’s role in deadly US Embassy bombing in Beirut in 1983, but acknowledges ‘disagreements with the Israelis on tactics’
By Jacob Magid
A rally calling for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza at Central Park in New York City, on September 1, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
September 2, 2024, 11:47 am
Biden, Harris to huddle with US negotiators for Gaza deal push after hostage killings
White House working on ‘take it or leave it’ proposal that could spell end of US mediation efforts, Washington Post reports; Israel’s UN envoy demands Security Council convene
By Lazar Berman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk in Jerusalem, July 10, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
July 10, 2024, 7:07 pm
PM tells Biden envoy he wants deal ‘as long as Israel’s red lines are maintained’
Brett McGurk meets with Netanyahu and Gallant after Cairo summit; defense minister says IDF will withdraw from Gaza-Egypt border if solution found for arms smuggling
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
People walk past a large mural reading "Now" at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. June 2, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
June 5, 2024, 1:42 am
CIA chief returns to region to push hostage deal as Israel vows not to budge further
Hamas demands proposal make clear that deal will lead to end of war; US says ‘we just need to get a ceasefire’ and that terror group’s postwar role in Gaza can be ironed out later
By Jacob Magid
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