What is Needed to End the Gaza War?

Join the Middle East Institute on Wednesday, July 16, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, for an on-the-record webinar exploring the prospects for an end to the war in Gaza.

President Donald Trump is pressing for a cease-fire as the Gaza conflict enters its 22nd month. Yet despite his calls to end the bloodshed, multiple obstacles still stand in the way of a deal between Hamas and Israel. Could the broader regional reverberations from last month’s Israel-Iran war and US actions during that campaign help break the deadlock on Gaza?  How can key regional and international actors help address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza?

Our panel of experts will examine potential endgame scenarios in Gaza; assess the possibility for resolving the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including what role the US and its regional partners could play in this process; as well as analyze how the ongoing tectonic shifts across the Middle East may reshape the path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Speakers

Nimrod Novik
Israel Fellow, Israel Policy Forum

Omar Shaban
Founder and Director, Palthink for Strategic Studies

Brian Katulis (Moderator)
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute

Extended Speaker Biographies

Nimrod Novik is Israel Policy Forum’s Israel fellow. The former senior diplomatic advisor and special envoy to the late Shimon Peres, Novik is currently a senior associate at the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF) and a member of the Executive Committee at Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS). Following several years of discrete missions and third-party negotiations on behalf of Prime Minister Peres, he has long—and still is—engaged in extensive informal, back-channel diplomacy across the Middle East and beyond.

Omar Shaban is the founder and director of Palthink for Strategic Studies which is a Gaza based think and do tank. He is an analyst of the political economy of the Middle East and is a regular writer and commentator for the Arab and international media. He is regularly invited to speak at conferences in Europe and in the USA on Middle East peace process and potential prospect for the Gaza/Palestinian economy. He published tens of articles and policy papers on various international magazines. 

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where he focuses on US foreign policy and national security. He is also the host of the MEI podcast series Taking the Edge Off the Middle East and authors the column Making Sense: A Weekly Take on US Foreign Policy. Mr. Katulis has produced influential studies that have shaped key regional policy debates and has provided expert testimony to congressional committees on his findings.