Background Briefing: October 18, 2023
An Assessment of the Latest Intelligence on the Strike on the Gaza Hospital Parking Lot
begin with the dust settling on what yesterday seemed like a monstrous war crime but today might have been a tragedy caused by a malfunctioning missile fired by Islamic Jihad that struck the parking lot of an Episcopalian hospital in Gaza causing casualties, but nothing on the scale of the 500 that Palestinian authorities first announced. Joining us to assess the latest available intelligence is William Arkin, a Senior Editor at Newsweek and one of America’s premier military and intelligence experts who has been a consultant to wide-ranging organizations, including the US Air Force, the United Nations Secretary General, Human Rights Watch, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The bestselling author of more than a dozen books including The Generals Have No Clothes: The Untold Story of Our Endless Wars, his latest book is On That Day: The Definitive Timeline of 9/11. We discuss his latest article at Newsweek, “Why U.S. Intel Says Israel Did Not Attack Gaza Hospital.”
A Local Reaction From a Journalist and Activist to Biden’s Short Visit to Israel
Then we get a local reaction to President Biden’s short visit to Israel which would have been longer had the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority not cancelled meetings with him. Joining us from Israel is Haggai Matar, an award-winning Israeli journalist and political activist. He is the executive director of +972 Magazine and he has a forthcoming article at The Guardian on Biden’s just-concluded visit to Israel.