Day 389 - If UNRWA leaves Gaza, what would fill the vacuum?

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 on today's episode.

Two bills overwhelmingly passed through final votes last night, which ban UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and bar Israeli authorities from any contact with the agency. We discuss how Israel or the international community will fill the vacuum this would leave in Gaza even as condemnations pour in.

Senior Israeli officials told Ynet this morning that there is progress on an agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon. Berman explains what appears to be on the table, including enforcement of the resolution, with Hezbollah prevented from having a presence near the border.

We’re hearing various reports of varied hostage release deals. But yesterday Mossad chief David Barnea returned to Israel on Monday from a 24-hour trip to Qatar to discuss proposals for a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu projected pessimism over the restarted negotiations. Berman weighs in.

Finally, we were told yesterday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a fiery address at the opening of the Knesset winter legislative session that Israel hit key Iranian sites hard in its airstrikes on Saturday. We hear Berman's thoughts.

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

Discussed articles include:

Knesset approves laws barring UNRWA from Israel, limiting it in Gaza and West Bank

US urges Israel to rethink anti-UNRWA laws, warning millions at risk of ‘catastrophe’

PM ‘not certain’ negotiations can progress as Mossad chief returns from Qatar talks

Netanyahu says Israel’s strikes on Iran destroyed ‘industrial factories of death’

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: A Palestinian woman walks past a damaged wall bearing the UNRWA logo at a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 28, 2024. (Eyad Baba / AFP)

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