The Fog of Negotiation

“In fact, Hamas did not ‘accept’ a cease-fire deal so much as make a counteroffer to the proposal on the table previously blessed by the United States and Israel — a counteroffer that was not itself deemed acceptable but a sign of progress. At the same time, Israel’s strikes in Rafah evidently were not the start of the long-threatened major operation but targeted retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks that killed four Israeli soldiers over the weekend — and along with the warning to civilians, a way to increase pressure on Hamas negotiators.” NYT (Gift Article): Inside the White House Scramble to Broker a Deal in Gaza. The region, the players, the stakes. The situation couldn’t be much more tense, and it seems like the White House sometimes finds out details about the same time the rest of us do.

+ Negotiations continue, Biden calls out the rise in antisemitism, Rafah on edge. Here’s the latest from CNN.

+ “The survey found that three times as many college students blame Hamas for the current situation in Gaza than they do President Biden. Some 34% blame Hamas, while 19% blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 12% blame the Israeli people and 12% blame Biden.” A new poll has some interesting numbers related to how college students view the Middle East crisis. Most interesting is that it’s yet another survey that found the issue really doesn’t rank very high on the list of the average college student’s concerns.