Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and reporter Canaan Lidor join host Jessica Steinberg.

We are now on Day 7 of the war with Hamas. Berman and Lidor recount their drive down south on Route 232, the scenes of carnage, with pick-up trucks and belongings of Hamas terrorists strewn on the ground, along with their bodies, giving a sense as to what they were planning for the long haul.

Lidor describes "death avenue" in Beeri, the stench of death in the street, the sealed rooms of homes that became death traps, the burned homes and cars.

Berman updates on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Israel on Thursday, and what his upcoming meetings in Jordan and Qatar could portend for the ongoing war.

Lidor also explains what happened in Ofakim on October 7, with a more detailed description of the 15-hour siege in Rachel and David Edry's house, where five terrorists holed up, eventually taken out by Israeli security forces.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 13, 2023

Once an artery of thriving southern region, Route 232 transformed into road of death

Be’eri’s residents are gone, but their homes attest to the horrors they endured

Amid the devastation of Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel keeps pulling bodies from the rubble

Blinken in Tel Aviv: As long as US exists, Israel won’t have to defend itself alone

As reservists mobilize, some moved up weddings as well

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IMAGE: The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri, near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 11, 2023. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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