Airstrikes and tanks continued pounding the outskirts of Gaza City over the weekend, as Israel’s plans to seize the strip’s largest urban centre continued. A much bigger operation, widely condemned by the international community, could begin within days or weeks.

This is all happening as the world’s leading authority on food crises is saying that Gaza City and surrounding areas — currently home to half of the territory’s population — is now gripped by famine, and that it’s likely to spread across the rest of the strip unless a ceasefire is negotiated.

Meanwhile, Israel recently approved a major settlement plan which would functionally divide the West Bank in two, blunting hopes for a future Palestinian state.

Given all this — what’s the latest on ceasefire negotiations, and is there any sense that Western states have plans to step up pressure on Israel over either Gaza or the West Bank?

Today, Gregg Carlstrom, the Economist’s longtime Middle East correspondent, is back on the show to discuss all of this.

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