Attention to the Unseen

The Intercept reports: [I]t’s … worth focusing on what Walz is not, said James Zogby, especially around the war on Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, contrasted Walz with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was widely reported to be the other frontrunner for Harris’s running mate, and believes that rejecting Shapiro in favor of Walz bodes well for Harris’s approach to the world. “What we have is somebody who will…

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AFP and Reuters report: Thousands of Ukrainian troops are taking part in an incursion aiming to destabilise Russia by showing up the country’s weaknesses, a top official from Ukraine has said as the assault entered its sixth day. “We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official said on condition of…

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  Tensions are once again escalating between Israel and Iran, after the Israeli military committed back-to-back assassinations last week on a commander of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and a prominent Hamas leader who was visiting Tehran for the new Iranian president’s inauguration. Israel is reportedly preparing for retaliatory strikes from both groups, and residents in southern Lebanon continue to flee as many fear that the ongoing crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel at the border could now turn into…

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CBS News reports: The leaders of the U.S., Egypt and Qatar called for Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks next week in either Doha or Cairo. In a joint statement, President Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani urged both parties “to resume urgent discussion” on Aug. 15 “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.” “It is time to bring immediate relief both to the…

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David Ignatius writes: President Biden may be leaving the White House soon. But over the past week, he has conducted an intense round of diplomacy and military preparation to stave off a catastrophic war in the Middle East. The White House effort has included back-channel talks with Iran to urge restraint, blunt warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to obstruct a cease-fire in Gaza, and the dispatch of a U.S. naval and air armada to protect Israel and…

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CNN reports: Nearly half of Hamas’ military battalions in northern and central Gaza have rebuilt some of their fighting capabilities despite more than nine months of Israel’s brutal offensive, according to analyses by the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project, the Institute for the Study of War and CNN. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, has repeatedly said that Israeli forces are nearing their stated…

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The Times of Israel reports: US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop bullshitting me” during their meeting in Washington last week, according to Channel 12 news. The network says the outburst came after Netanyahu told Biden that Israel was moving forward with negotiations on a hostage-for-ceasefire deal. The Times of Israel also reports: According to tonight’s report by Channel 12 news, which first reported on the meeting last night, Halevi said during the heated discussion: “The…

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Orly Noy writes: We are now faced with the regional war of Gog and Magog that Benjamin Netanyahu has been so determined to ignite. Every one of us is now trying in horror to guess what the response will be to the recent assassinations — which our leaders are celebrating as a “brilliant achievement” of Israel’s sophisticated war machine — and whether our children will survive it. We are now contemplating the fate of the hostages, afraid to say what…

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Robert F. Worth writes: The Houthi militia, born in the wilds of northwestern Yemen, has been wanting a war with Israel for decades. Its distinctive five-line motto, printed on flags and chanted at rallies by the group’s faithful, includes the lines “Death to Israel” and “Curses on the Jews.” The Houthis got their wish on July 19, when one of their drones struck a high-rise in Tel Aviv, killing one man and wounding four others. The blast signaled a troubling…

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New Lines Magazine: For months, as the war in Gaza raged on and student protests overtook American campuses, the question of just how much President Joe Biden’s steadfast support for Israel amid the war’s escalation would cost Democrats fueled endless debate. Many speculated that the anger that fueled the protests would come home to roost in November, as Muslim Americans in key swing states who had voted for Biden in 2020 would stay home, or worse, vote for Republican former…

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UN News reports: “The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Teheran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, a massive increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the Blue Line,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “Rather than that, what…

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Matt Duss writes: While no one expects Harris to dramatically distance herself from Biden, there are steps that she can take to show that she speaks for the Democratic Party of today and not 40 years ago. She can announce that as president, she will immediately suspend the U.S.-supplied military aid being used in violation of U.S. law. She can publicly make clear that she agrees with the assessment of countless Israelis—including Israeli opposition lawmakers and top sitting security officials—that…

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