Middle East Experience

Israel pressed on with a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank against Palestinian militants for a fourth day Saturday, as fierce fighting raged in the nearly 11-month Gaza war.Despite the clashes in Gaza, a local health official in the Hamas-run territory said polio vaccinations had begun there.The World Health Organization says Israel has agreed to a series of three-day "humanitarian pauses" to facilitate a mass vaccination campaign after the first confirmed case in Gaza in 25 years, although officials had said it was expected to begin on Sunday.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israeli troops on day four of deadly West Bank raid

Concrete slabs and sheet metal were piled high alongside streets in Jenin on Saturday, as residents assessed the damage from Israel's latest West Bank raid even as explosions persisted nearby.The scars of ongoing clashes in the occupied Palestinian territory, which began on Wednesday as part of what Israel has described as a counter-terrorism operation, were everywhere: collapsed walls, uprooted trees, tiled roofs covering mounds of rubble.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: West Bank city 'cut off from the world' as Israel raid drags on

A health official said a polio vaccination campaign began in Gaza on Saturday, while an aid worker said a large-scale rollout would begin on Sunday, coinciding with a "humanitarian pause" agreed by Israel and Hamas.The vaccination drive was announced after Gaza recorded its first polio case in a quarter of a century earlier this month.Local health officials along with the UN and NGOs "are starting today the polio vaccination campaign", Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, told AFP on Saturday.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

Iran and Hezbollah’s hesitation to retaliate for recent assassinations stems from Israeli threats and US negotiations. What’s keeping them at bay?
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Why Iran and Hezbollah haven’t retaliated: Israel’s threats and US diplomacy

Difficult times amid the war did not stop Rotem Levy from opening the restaurant. “When you’re good, even in bad times you can make things work.”
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Merhavia 7: A new Tel Aviv restaurant showcases fine Israeli cuisine

Baskin, like in his efforts to release Schalit in 2011, worked in a "system" or a "secret channel," as he described in his post, that allowed him to develop communication with those Hamas is holding.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Schalit deal mediator says he reached agreement with Hamas to release remaining hostages

This book was written to give the reader an account from the ground, weaving my own experiences with soldiers and Israeli civilians into the story.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Excerpt from ‘The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza’

Why would watching the beloved grandkids we just love to smithereens have any harmful effect on me whatsoever? Simple. Because it’s just freaking exhausting.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Even grandparents can't wait till kids go back to school

US President Joe Biden said Saturday that the body of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among six recovered in Gaza by Israeli forces."Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas," Biden said in a statement."We have now confirmed that one of the hostages... was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin," the president said, calling his death "as tragic as it is reprehensible."
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Biden says body of Israeli-American hostage among six recovered in Gaza

In Jenin, where Israeli troops have imposed a tight siege, the situation has deteriorated according to the local municipality.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: West Bank shooting kills three Israelis as Jenin turns 'catastrophic'