UN agencies have invested months in establishing Rafah as the backbone of their Gaza aid operations.

'In the event of a major displacement, we will have to set up an operation from the ground up when our focus needs to be on halting famine,' says WFP's Shaza Moghraby شذى المغربي

US and Saudi Arabia 'very close' to reaching an agreement on bilateral aspect of the wider Israel normalization deal. 'Still more work to be done' on pathway to a Palestinian state, Matthew Miller says.

NEW: Aid orgs draw up Rafah contingency plans, but hampered by the lack of information from Israel.

'It's very difficult to plan in any meaningful way... We have essentially received the same information that the general public receives.'

al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

Biden: 'Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.'

'We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.... but neither are we a lawless country.'

“We're bracing for the worst'

📍 #Rafah #Gaza UNRWA's Sam Rose tells Al-Monitor “It's very difficult to plan in any meaningful way when we've not received any concrete information about what's going to happen.' ⬇️
al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

NEW: Aid orgs draw up Rafah contingency plans, but hampered by the lack of information from Israel.

'It's very difficult to plan in any meaningful way... We have essentially received the same information that the general public receives.'

al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

There is a lot to unpack re the supposedly remediated units of Israeli security forces after State determined there was credible information they committed gross violations of human rights + the one unit left that is apparently in the process of remediation 🧵

As a former State Department official responsible for enforcing the Leahy Laws, which prohibit US assistance to units of foreign militaries that commit gross human rights abuses, here are a few thoughts on what's going on with the Leahy Laws and Israel. 1/

NEW: State Department confirms 5 Israeli units were responsible for gross violations of human rights, per the Leahy law.

4 of the 5 units have 'effectively remediated these violations.'

Israel 'submitted additional info' regarding the remaining unit. No decision yet.

SCOOP: I reviewed an internal State Dept memo, parts of which was classified, that included the most extensive and serious to date warnings to Secretary Blinken over Israel’s possible non-compliance with international humanitarian law. Here’s what I learned 1/X

The mortar attack suggested the Israeli military’s presence on the Gaza beachhead was at least as likely to attract hostile fire from Hamas as to deter it.

Yet Pentagon officials continue to project confidence in the humanitarian pier plan.

Read more: al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

NEW: It's now been a week since Blinken said to expect 'determinations' about possible Leahy restrictions on Israel 'in the days ahead.'

US officials tell me the rollout has been delayed:
al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

Premature Palestinian baby girl rescued from her dead mother’s womb dies in Gaza after 5 days in an incubator apnews.com/article/gaza-i…

NEW: State Department’s Arabic language spox has resigned because of the Biden administration’s Gaza policy. Hala Rharrit was the Dubai Regional Media Hub’s deputy director and joined the Foreign Service in 2006 as a political officer. W/Nadia Bilbassy ناديا البلبيسي:
ara.tv/v78em

BREAKING: US Treasury sanctions over a dozen entities, individuals, and vessels linked to the clandestine sale of drones for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.