LIVE UPDATES – 26/04/2024 (Day-203)
Disclaimer: Independent Press takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
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- At least 34,356 Palestinians have been killed and 77,368 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive in Gaza.
- The eastern part of Rafah is under constant artillery shelling as a senior Israeli official says the military is “moving ahead” with its planned ground invasion, ignoring a growing chorus of international warnings to call it off.
- Students and faculty members at US universities continue to protest in solidarity with Palestinians, with similar demonstrations also spreading in other countries.
- The UN chief’s spokesperson says it is “important that all forensic evidence be well preserved” from Gaza’s mass graves, but that a mandate from a UN legislative group is required to allow the world body to take legal possession of such material.
- The Palestinian Civil Defence says it will cooperate with an independent investigation into three separate mass graves found in Gaza containing 392 bodies.
China to host Hamas, Fatah for Palestinian unity talks
A Fatah official told Reuters a delegation led by the group’s senior official, Azzam Al-Ahmed, had left for China.
A Hamas official said the faction’s team for the talks, led by senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, would be flying there later on Friday.
“We support strengthening the authority of the Palestinian National Authority and support all Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular briefing on Friday without confirming the meeting.
The visit will be the first time a Hamas delegation is publicly known to have gone to China since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Hamas has been the de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007, after defeating President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party in parliamentary elections.
Hamas then expelled Fatah from the enclave after the latter refused to recognise the result of the vote.
Fatah, internationally recognised as the Palestinian Authority, exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank.
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Hezbollah claims Golan Heights attack
In a post on Telegram, Hezbollah said the attack followed the earlier Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon, which it called an “assassination”.
Israel later said it had killed a senior member of Jama’a Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, a Lebanese political and armed outfit.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties resulting from Hezbollah’s attack.
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Gaza authorities have completed exhumations at Nasser Medical Complex
He said the search and recovery of bodies from the mass graves took a week, in part because of the limited resources available.
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What we know about the mass graves:
More than 300 bodies were found at the Nasser Medical Complex including some with their hands tied, stripped of their clothes, and shot in the head.
The Palestinian Civil Defence says there is clear evidence that the Israeli army committed crimes against humanity by carrying out summary executions.
The UN and EU have called for urgent investigations, but Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that while the organisation is collecting information on the mass graves at Nasser Hospital, a mandate is required from a UN legislative body in order to take custody of any evidence.
Mass graves were also uncovered at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest health facility, which the the UN Human Rights Council said was “an empty shell” after a two-week Israeli siege ended there on April 1.
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Iran should question effectiveness of weapons after Israel attack: Pentagon chief
Israel responded shortly after with a limited strike on Iran, as Western leaders warned Israeli officials of wider escalation. The US was among several countries that aided Israel in intercepting the Iranian launches.
“They should be questioning the effectiveness of their weapons systems and their planning,” Austin told reporters.
“Hopefully they don’t walk away from this over-confident that they can do this at will, because I think Israel has demonstrated that it has a significant ability to defend itself,” Austin added.
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Five civilians killed in Israeli bombing of central, southern Gaza Strip: Report
A Wafa correspondent reported that the Israeli air force bombed the vicinity of a school in Khan Younis, killing three civilians.
Two civilians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airraid west of the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the news agency.
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Ankara slams Israeli foreign minister’s attack on Erdogan
The post said Erdogan dreamed of re-establishing the Ottoman Empire, with a mock-up of the Turkish leader sitting on a bed. That came after Erdogan gave a scathing speech in Istanbul to the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Israel and Turkey normalised relations in 2022 and had been trending towards closer ties before relations tanked in the wake of October 7.
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Senior member of Jama’a Islamiya killed: Israeli military
It said that the group had recently “planned and promoted a large number of terror attacks from Lebanese territory against Israel”.
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‘Dark stain on Netanyahu’s forehead will never fade’: Erdogan
“From here, I once again send my greetings to the Palestinian heroes who, through their struggle, uphold the honour of Jerusalem and all humanity,” he said.
He added that anyone looking for “modern pharaohs need not look far; just look at those who have mercilessly killed 35,000 Palestinians in the last 203 days,” referring to Israel’s months-long offensive on the Gaza Strip.
“Netanyahu, like villains before him, has etched his name in history with shame as the butcher of Gaza,” Erdogan added.
As the war on Gaza continues, “no one can expect us to remain silent in the face of the genocide,” he declared.
Erdogan reiterated that Turkey will continue its efforts for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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300 Yale faculty call on administration to drop protest charges
In the letter, the faculty said the decision “contradicts the institution’s commitment to uphold free assembly, speech and expression”. They also noted that protests on other subjects have been tolerated in the past.
“We demand that the University administration call to drop all charges against the 48 protesters, that no further disciplinary action be taken against those who were arrested, and implore Yale to never again facilitate the arrest of protesters for acts of peaceable speech and assembly on campus,” they wrote.
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White House sees new momentum in Gaza talks
“I believe that there is a renewed effort under way involving Qatar and Egypt as well as Israel to try to find a way forward,” Sullivan told MSNBC in an interview.
“Do I think that there is new momentum, new life in these hostage talks? I believe there is,” he said.
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Israeli officials say ‘one last chance’ for Hamas deal before Rafah offensive: Report
“Israel told Egypt that it is serious about preparations for the operation in Rafah and that it will not let Hamas drag its feet,” Axios quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying.
As we reported earlier, the eastern part of Rafah is under constant shelling, and a senior Israeli official has said the military is “moving ahead” with its planned ground offensive.
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In case you’re just joining us
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) says presiding Judge Nawaf Salam will read out the ruling on Nicaragua’s case against Germany at 13:00 GMT on Tuesday.
- Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has suffered minor injuries after his car overturned in Ramle.
- Reports have emerged that the US’s Biden administration has put its sanctions on the Israeli Netzah Yehuda Battalion on hold.
- The International Rescue Committee (IRC) calls for an urgent international and independent investigation into mass graves found at Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals.
- Salama Maarouf, the head of the government media office in Gaza, says the number of aid deliveries to Gaza is still far below the number needed.
ICJ to rule on Tuesday in Nicaragua’s case against Germany, accusing it of aiding Israel’s ‘genocide’
This month, the ICJ held hearings in the case, and Nicaragua asked the top UN court to impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance, which it said was in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Nicaragua requested five emergency measures, including that Germany “immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance, including military equipment”.
Berlin has denied breaching the convention and argued that Israel’s security is at the “core” of its foreign policy and Nicaragua had “grossly distorted” Germany’s supply of military aid to Israel.
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More universities in New York build encampments for Gaza
Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey reporting from New York
Not only across the country have other schools followed the example of Columbia University and continue to, but here in New York City as well.
At least four college campuses now have encampments or demonstrations of some sort. There’s NYU [New York University] and Columbia, but now the Fashion Institute of Technology in downtown Manhattan saw a large group of students storm one of their main buildings and set up an encampment there, which is ongoing this morning.
The City University of New York as well, a very different school than Columbia. Columbia is considered an elite Ivy League institution with a lot of history, but City University has a lot of students who maybe wouldn’t have been able to afford a private university.
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One UNRWA staffer probe closed, four other cases suspended: UN
Israel had initially claimed that 12 UNRWA staffers took part in the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, with another seven cases later brought to the UN’s attention. The allegations prompted 16 countries to suspend funding to the agency, which aid officials consider essential to humanitarian support in the enclave.
The UN undertook an internal review in the wake of the allegations, and a second independent review was also launched.
Dujarric has now said that the UN investigation has so far resulted in one case against a staffer being closed due to a lack of evidence. Four more have been suspended due with the US saying Israel has not provided enough evidence to move forward with the probes.
The investigations into the 14 other staffers remain ongoing.
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Two people killed in strike on car in southern Lebanon
Two people were killed, the NNA said.
Video verified by Al Jazeera shows the car in flames in the middle of the road after the attack.
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Far-right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir’s car overturns in Ramle
Ben-Gvir was hospitalised with minor injuries, according to public broadcaster Kann, which posted a video of the overturned vehicle.
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Pro-Israeli counter protest in Paris creates a tense atmosphere
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reporting from Paris, France
Let’s talk you through what is happening outside Science Po University, one of the most prestigious universities in France, where many of the country’s political elites have been.
Behind me, there are scores of protesters, pro-Palestinian protesters, young people and students sitting down in the street behind a long line of police officers.
Those police officers moved in a short while ago because they wanted to stop a counter-protest by a group who said they were there to call for the release of captives, a pro-Israeli group.
At one point, things got a little bit tense, so police moved in to try to separate these two groups.
For now, it is a calmer situation, but you have to wonder how it’s going to end because you have these two groups on either side of the street with the police in the middle.
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Biden administration puts Netzah Yehuda Battalion sanctions on hold: Reports
The reports come after days of speculation that Washington was poised to sanction the ultra-Orthodox battalion after determining it had committed rights abuses in the occupied West Bank.
Netzah Yehuda soldiers were involved in the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, who died of a heart attack in 2022 after he was detained, bound and gagged.
While US laws prohibit Washington from providing military assistance to individuals or units that commit gross human rights violations, they have never been used against Israel.
US-based ABC News reported that despite the State Department determining that such violations had been committed by the unit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told a congressional leader that no military aid deliveries will be affected.
Al Jazeera has reached out to the State Department for comment.
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IRC backs call for investigation into Gaza mass graves
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has become the latest organisation to call for an urgent international and independent investigation into mass graves found at Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals in Gaza after the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies, said the IRC was “horrified” at the news of the mass graves and echoed the call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for a “thorough” investigation.
“The recent reports of more than 320 bodies recovered so far from Nasser Hospital are devastating and confirm the worst fears of our team at the time: that those left behind in the hospital were at risk of serious harm. We had lost contact with health workers and patients at Nasser and now fear they are amongst those killed,” Kitchen said.
“Alongside the need for an immediate international and independent investigation into these latest devastating incidents, we continue to reiterate our call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to ensure no further loss of life.”
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Hamas official says aid deliveries not reaching north Gaza
The statement comes as the US has for weeks said it has been pressuring Israel to increase the number of deliveries.
Maarouf said over the past seven days, 1,063 aid trucks entered Gaza with only 49 reaching its northern part.
He added that restricting aid violates an order from the International Court of Justice, which in March ordered Israel to take “all necessary and effective measures” to assure aid is delivered throughout Gaza.
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Palestinian academics in UK call for protection of universities in Gaza
The statement, whose signatories include Ghassan Abu Sittah, who has worked at al-Shifa and Alhi Arab hospitals in Gaza during the war, urged “friends and colleagues to take immediate steps to defend the integrity of Palestinian universities in occupied Palestine against the current plans and measures seeking to destroy them”.
It added: “Having turned the universities of Gaza into detention centres before demolishing them, forcibly rendering Palestinian scholars, scientists, researchers and students homeless once again, Israel’s campaign of scholasticide has turned its attention to eliminating future independent Palestinian educational life in Gaza.”
The academics also said they demand the institutions created by Palestinians in the face of “immense challenges” are not destroyed “but instead are rebuilt”.
“They serve as a symbol of resilience and hope for the Palestinian people as a whole.”
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Israeli PM says ICC decisions will not affect actions
“Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to undermine its basic right to defend itself,” the prime minister said in a statement shared online.
“While decisions made by the court in The Hague will not affect Israel’s actions, they will set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and public figures.”
Last month, the Law for Palestine organisation made the first in a series of submissions to the ICC, accusing Israeli leaders of committing the crime of genocide committed against Palestinians.
“The 200-page document, drafted by 30 lawyers and legal researchers from across the world and reviewed by more than 15 experts, makes a compelling case for the genocidal intent as well as for the prosecutorial policy that the court has followed in other cases,” the group’s Anisha Patel and Hassan Ben Imran wrote in an opinion piece published by Al Jazeera.
“If the ICC fails to act once again, it risks undermining its own authority as an institution of international justice and the international legal regime as a whole,” they said.
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Hamas responds to 18 countries’ appeal for captive release
In response, Hamas said it regretted that the letter did not address basic issues facing people in Gaza. It added that the letter failed to stress the necessity of a permanent ceasefire in the enclave and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Hamas said it remained open to any proposals that took into account the rights of Palestinians. The statement further called for the safe return of internally displaced people in Gaza and aid for reconstruction, as well as a pathway towards self-determination.
The countries that signed the letter to Hamas all have citizens believed to be still held captive in Gaza. Signatories included Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the US.
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Top Arab, European diplomats to discuss Gaza at Saudi forum: Report
The two-day World Economic Forum special meeting, scheduled to begin on Sunday, will include appearances by the Saudi, Jordanian, Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers.
“Discussions with European, American and regional counterparts on Gaza and the regional situation are planned in Riyadh,” a diplomatic source told the AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity.
On Monday, a Gaza-focused session is expected to feature newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the UN aid coordinator for Gaza.
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Israeli strikes focused on central Gaza
Within the past few hours, there were reports of multiple injuries at az-Zawayda, close to the Nuseirat refugee camp.
We are still waiting for the hospital to confirm details about the casualties.
Al-Aqsa Hospital is an overwhelmed health facility that has been running at the lowest capacity possible, given the difficulty of the situation for the past seven months.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of Gaza, the Israeli military showed no signs of slowing down the attacks, with more artillery shelling and the use of quadcopters
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‘Rouh is gone, my brother, his wife and daughter are gone’
“Rouh is gone, my brother, his wife and daughter are gone, his brother-in-law and the house that used to bring us together are gone,” he told Reuters.
“We are left with no memories of my brother, his daughter, or his wife. Everything was gone, even their pictures, their mobile phones, we couldn’t find them,” the uncle said.
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Baby Sabreen al-Rouh ‘joined her family as a martyr’
“I and other doctors tried to save her, but she died. For me personally, it was a very difficult and painful day,” Mohammad Salama, head of the emergency neo-natal unit at Emirati Hospital, told Reuters by phone.
“She was born while her respiratory system wasn’t mature, and her immune system was very weak and that is what led to her death. She joined her family as a martyr,” Salama said.
“[Her] grandmother urged me and the doctors to take care of her because she would be someone that would keep the memory of her mother, father and sister alive, but it was God’s will that she died,” Salama added.
As we’ve previously reported, the mother, who was 30-weeks pregnant, died of her wounds but doctors were able to save the baby, delivering her by Caesarean section.
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Baby rescued from dead mother’s womb after Israeli attack dies
The little girl was pulled out alive just moments after her pregnant mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was killed.
Sabreen’s home was hit by an Israeli air strike on Rafah on Saturday.
She has now been buried next to her mother.
We’ll bring you more on this shortly.
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‘Responsibility’ to hold institutions to account for ‘war crimes’, UCL protester says
In the UK, pro-Palestine protesters are demonstrating in front of the campus of University College London (UCL), calling on the educational institution to stop its collaboration in research with arms companies that supply the Israeli army with components.
“We believe that as students, we have a responsibility to hold our institution to account for its complicity in genocide and in war crimes, and in occupation and in apartheid,” James Collinson, a member of UCL Action for Palestine, told Al Jazeera.
“Our main aim is always going to be to uplift Palestinian voices and bring attention to the issue of Israel’s occupation of Palestine,” he said. “It is a very important cause, and it’s about, in a wider sense, letting students know we are part of systems that uphold genocide and apartheid. So it’s all about raising awareness.”
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Three percent of Gaza’s Christian community wiped out during war: Gaza priest
Their deaths mean Gaza’s small Christian population, believed to number about 1,000 percent, has shrunk by more than 3 percent, he told Sky News during a visit to Glasgow.
“Our church will always be an oasis for people. Unfortunately, this oasis has become a shelter, a hospital and a cemetery,” Romanelli said.
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Egypt sends delegation to Israel in latest negotiation efforts: Report
Top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, is leading the delegation and plans to discuss with Israel a “new vision” for a prolonged ceasefire in the strip, an Egyptian official told the news agency.
Friday’s talks will focus at first on a limited exchange of Hamas-held captives for Palestinian prisoners, and the return of a significant number of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimum restrictions,” the official said.
Egypt also warned that a possible Israeli offensive on Rafah could have catastrophic consequences for regional stability, The AP said.
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EU announces $73m in extra aid to Gaza
“In light of the continued deterioration of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the steady rise of needs on the ground, the [European] Commission is stepping up its funding to support Palestinians affected by the ongoing war,” a statement from the bloc said.
“This support brings total EU humanitarian assistance to 193 million euros for Palestinians in need inside Gaza and across the region in 2024.”
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‘We live in tents under rain, rockets, shelling and fear’
“We were displaced amid the shelling, where houses were destroyed above our heads and we lost our sons and youth,” Saleh said in comments carried by the Wafa news agency.
“We have been living for seven months in tents that lack the basic necessities of life under rain, rockets, shelling and fear,” she added.
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In case you’re just joining us
- Overcrowded conditions and battered waste-management facilities have caused more and more waste to spill into the streets of Rafah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports.
- Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says at least 344 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday and about 100 of these were directed to northern Gaza.
- Footage published online and verified by Al Jazeera shows Israeli soldiers preventing a number of young men from entering the mosque and assaulting some of them.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he “very much understands” the frustration of demonstrating pro-Palestinian students and respects their right to demonstrate as a “hallmark of our democracy.”
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says that 51 people were killed and 75 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
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US military says two drones destroyed in Houthi-controlled area
The US strike occurred hours after a missile was launched from the area in Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden, near where US coalition ships are stationed.
The missile fire caused no casualties, said CENTCOM.
Since November, Yemen’s Houthis have waged dozens of missile and drone attacks near the Red Sea on passing vessels they say are linked to Israel or the US, though there has been a lull in recent weeks.
The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with Gaza and will continue until Israel ends its war on Gaza.
Israeli police detain several rabbis marching towards Gaza crossing
Footage posted online showed Israeli forces detaining several demonstrators.
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Blinken understands US protesters’ ‘passion’, questions silence on Hamas
“People have strong, passionate feelings about what’s happening in Gaza and the Middle East that I very much understand,” Antony Blinken said at a news conference in China’s Beijing, as students at dozens of universities across the US continue their campus protests despite suspensions and arrests.
However, Blinken added “It is notable that there is silence about Hamas”, which he said should immediately surrender to end the war.
“As I’ve said before … this could be over tomorrow, it could have been over yesterday, it could have been over months ago, if Hamas had put down its weapons, stopped hiding behind civilians, released the hostages and surrendered,” said Blinken. “But of course it has chosen not to do that.”
Blinken said the US, Israel’s main ally which just approved an additional $17bn in military aid to Israel despite the heavy civilian toll in Gaza, is “working every day to try to minimise the damage done to people”.
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Gaza’s death toll rises
The ministry added that 51 people were killed and 75 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
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Israeli forces prevent young worshippers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque
Still, thousands of people made it to Islam’s third holiest site to perform Friday prayers.
In recent months Israeli authorities have imposed restrictions on Muslim worshippers wanting to pray at Al-Aqsa. Only men over the age of 55 or women over 50 are allowed to enter and all must have a valid permit. This means that the site is not accessible to the vast majority of Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Waqf department on Thursday said more than 1,000 settlers stormed the courtyard of the mosque.
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‘Extremely hard’ to talk about Palestine in France, says protester
Hicham said he was demonstrating to force the administration of the education institution in the French capital to “break their complete silence”.
“For three days we’ve been occupying our school. We went to one building, they [the university] called the cops on us, we had to get out, so we went to the main historical building,” Hicham told Al Jazeera.
“My comrades are still inside and there’s a big blockade of the school right now. We have a few demands but one of them is to start investigating all of the ties they [Sciences Po] have with the state of Israel, which [are] academic and financial.”
He added that it has become “extremely hard” to talk about Palestine in France due to the way police respond.
“But I think the more repression happens, the more people are mobilising. Meaning that we were maybe 300 people before, [but] now we’re 600,” he said.
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Up to 14 years to clear Gaza rubble including unexploded ordnance
Pehr Lodhammar, senior officer at the United Nations Mine Action Service, told a briefing in Geneva that although it was impossible to determine the exact number of unexploded ordnance found in the widely urbanised, densely populated territory, it was projected that it could take 14 years under certain conditions to clear debris.
The would include rubble from buildings destroyed in Israel’s bombardment that has reduced much of the narrow, coastal enclave to a wasteland with most civilians homeless, hungry and at risk of disease.
“We know that typically there’s a failure rate of at least 10 percent of land service ammunition that is being fired and fails to function,” Lodhammer said. “We’re talking about 14 years of work with 100 trucks.”
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A look at what happened yesterday
- The Palestinian Civil Defense said it will cooperate with an independent investigation into three separate mass graves containing 392 bodies.
- Pro-Palestine student protests continued across the US, with Georgia State Patrol officers using stun guns and arresting protesters on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta.
- Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reiterated that the group will not accept a truce deal without a permanent ceasefire.
- A senior Israeli official said the military is “moving ahead” with its planned ground invasion of Rafah.
- Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi denounced “forced migration” after Israel said it plans to attack Rafah city.
- The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says its aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip was delayed after Israel initiated an “administrative roadblock”.
- The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least eight people were killed in an Israeli air raid in central Gaza’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood.
- Israeli forces killed a Belgian aid worker and his seven-year-old son in an attack in Rafah, prompting Belgium to summon its Israeli envoy.
- Israeli far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has called for cutting ties with the Palestinian Authority.
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‘We feel silenced,’ protesters at France’s Sciences Po say
“One thing to know is our school is a leading school when it comes to political sciences, when it comes to international relations and international law, so it is important for us, regarding what is happening right now in Palestine, to speak up,” Sophie, a spokesperson for the students told Al Jazeera.
She added that they are calling for a town hall, for Sciences Po to cut ties with Israeli universities and for all investigations ino pro-Palestinian students to be cancelled.
“We feel silenced because we are not heard by the administration. We have been demanding what I’m telling you since October now. Plus we have been under several threats every time we were organising events,” she said.
“We’ve now reached another step with the police coming into our campus during Wednesday’s occupation to take us out.”
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Tunisian student union calls for solidarity rallies
In a statement on Facebook, UGET said it expressed “gratitude and admiration for the student movements at American universities, drawing inspiration from their remarkable history of war rejection, as witnessed during the Vietnam War”.
UGET called on Tunisian university students to likewise organise protests, vigils, and seminars “in support of the Palestinian liberation cause”, and for the establishment of a “national day of solidarity with Palestine in all universities”.
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Pro-Palestine activists at Warwick University set up encampment
“As the University of Warwick continues to reject our demands to cut ties with genocide, we rise up in unison with fellow students all over the world, from Columbia, NYC, to Paris, to Sydney. We say no business as usual as long as Warwick sponsors colonial genocide,” the group Warwick Stands for Palestine wrote on X.
In recent weeks, student activists worldwide have set up camps on campuses and called for an end to the war on Gaza and for their institutions to cut ties with Israeli universities.
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Rafah’s crowded, unsanitary conditions a breeding ground for infectious diseases
Months of Israeli bombardments have laid waste to many of Rafah’s waste management installations, including medical waste disposal centres, making it impossible to collect and dispose of waste properly, Mahmoud said.
As temperatures warm up, this has caused the stench of waste to grow strong in some parts of Rafah, particularly near evacuation centres and hospitals, he added.
As a result of the unsanitary conditions, infectious diseases, such as hepatitis A, are spreading rapidly, particularly among women and children, “the most vulnerable group in this war”, Mahmoud said.
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We feel silenced’, protesters at France’s Sciences Po say
“One thing to know is our school is a leading school when it comes to political sciences, when it comes to international relations and international law, so it is important for us, regarding what is happening right now in Palestine, to speak up,” Sophie, a spokesperson for the students told Al Jazeera.
She added that they are calling for a town hall, for Sciences Po to cut ties with Israeli universities and for all investigations ino pro-Palestinian students to be cancelled.
“We feel silenced because we are not heard by the administration. We have been demanding what I’m telling you since October now. Plus we have been under several threats every time we were organising events,” she said.
“We’ve now reached another step with the police coming into our campus during Wednesday’s occupation to take us out.”
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Three people killed near Gaza City: Report
The attack killed at least three people, including a woman and a child, according to the report.
Meanwhile, at least one person has been confirmed killed and others injured from an attack we earlier reported on a home on Gaza City’s al-Wehda street.
Settlers storm archaeological site in occupied West Bank
This is the latest of a number of incursions carried out by settlers in archaeological sites and water springs across the Palestinian territory during the Jewish Passover holiday.
In case you’re just joining us
- Israeli forces have fired at fishermen working off the coast of Rafah, killing at least one person and injuring another, according to a report from our colleagues on the ground.
- UNRWA has issued a warning about the health effects of waste piling up in Gaza.
- An Israeli truck driver was pronounced dead after being injured in Hezbollah’s antitank missile attack launched from southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said.
- Columbia University in the US, where some 200 students have set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on campus, has said it will not enforce an overnight deadline it had set to dismantle the encampment as it continues negotiations with demonstrators.
- Pro-Palestine protesters have also reached Australia where students have set up tents at the University of Sydney, chanting slogans similar to those voiced in the US, such as calls for divesting from Israeli-linked companies.
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Palestinian fisherman killed off Rafah’s coast
Israel maintains strict control of Gaza’s territorial waters, and fishers trying to earn a living in the sea are often harassed, intimidated and even shot at by Israel’s navy.
Deaths reported in Israeli air attack on Gaza City home
The attack comes after our earlier reports of Israeli air raids and artillery shelling in several neighbourhoods around Gaza City, including Tuffah, Zeitoun and Shujayea.
We’ll bring you more information on the latest Gaza City attack as we have it.
Pro-Palestine protests continue at Paris Institute of Political Studies
There are a few dozen students outside the university and a few dozen inside as well. They’ve been staging a sit-in for nearly 24 hours. We know that university authorities have asked them to leave, but so far they haven’t.
There’s a pretty light police presence, and for now, the protesters are being left alone. They’ve got a number of banners saying “No to war” and saying this is a genocide.
They’re here protesting not only for the Palestinian people and asking for an end to the war but also saying they want universities in France, including Sciences Po, which is one of the most prestigious in France, to cut ties with Israeli universities.
They’re also calling on the French government to do more to protect the Palestinian people and protect what they say has been an erosion of freedom of speech. There were protests here at the university before. The police moved in and moved away those protesters.
This isn’t, at this stage, the sort of movement we’re seeing in the US. There have been two or three of these protests or sit-ins at this particular university, but we haven’t seen them in other universities throughout France.
Certainly, some of the students here are hoping we might see a wave of protests across French universities.
Photos: Aftermath of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanese village of Shebaa
Israel not interested in international probe of Gaza mass graves, former HRW chief says
Roth, a visiting professor at Princeton University and former executive director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said it was possible to carry out an investigation of mass graves even in the middle of a war.
“This would require simply cooperation by both sides, but Israel doesn’t want to allow these kinds of independent investigations,” Roth said.
“It just wants to sweep the issue under the rug or it will say we’re going to investigate ourselves,” he said, adding that such a process usually ends up with nobody held accountable by Israeli authorities.
The UN and the EU have been calling for an independent probe following the discovery of 392 bodies, including some with their hands tied, stripped of their clothes, and shot in the head.
The US has also called for an investigation, but it is not demanding that the probe be independent, Roth noted.
Israeli civilian killed in Hezbollah attack: Army
Israeli media says the man was carrying out infrastructure work for the military close to Israel’s northern border when the area was hit.
UNRWA warns about the health effects of waste piling up in Gaza
“UNRWA services are critical, but not possible without access,” it added.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees suffered an enormous funding deficit after major donors cut their funds. This happened because Israel accused UNRWA staff of being members of “terrorist groups”.
But funds are slowly resuming after an independent review led by a former French foreign minister concluded that Israel failed to present credible evidence to support its claims.
‘Constant artillery shelling’ in eastern Rafah
Right now … we’re seeing constant artillery shelling on the eastern part of the city.
That’s part of a longstanding plan by the Israeli military to expand a buffer zone, which is eating up 16 percent of the total area of the Gaza Strip, clearing more farmland and destroying remaining residential buildings in the eastern part.
More importantly, there seems to be a concentration of attacks on Gaza’s central area, mainly refugee camps, such as Nuseirat and Bureij camps, as well as on Deir el-Balah city.
They extend all the way to the northern part of Gaza, where there is almost non-stop artillery shelling and attack drones.
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Israeli troop movements seen as preparation for Rafah assault: Monitors
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), two US-based think tanks, said the Nahal – one of Israel’s main infantry brigades – transferred responsibility for operations in the area of the corridor, which is a 6.5km (4-mile) Israeli-built road bisecting the Gaza Strip north from south – to reserve armour and infantry brigades.
According to Israeli army radio, “the Nahal Brigade will rest to prepare for Israeli operations in Rafah,” the latest joint ISW/CTP report states.
Also on Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas claimed attacks using mortars against Israeli forces in the area of the corridor, and also detonating a “dud F16 missile” from an Israeli jet fighter “that had been recovered by Hamas forces and re-built into an IED”.
Aid workers have ‘zero sense of safety’ in Gaza
The killing of a Belgian aid worker along with his son in an Israeli strike in Rafah is likely to cause a slowdown of the already broken aid mechanism across the Gaza Strip.
There is zero sense of safety among aid workers, which is likely to discourage them from doing their work in delivering much-needed aid and survival goods.
The Israeli military had attacked a convoy of the World Central Kitchen aid group [on April 1], which led to the suspension of its operations on the ground.
This negatively affected areas in Khan Younis and in the northern part of Gaza, where much work and humanitarian aid is needed to help people combat the difficult living conditions created by the intense bombing campaign.
Israel’s restrictions on land crossings have prevented the smooth delivery of aid since the beginning of this war. And Israel has not shown any sign of removing these restrictions.
Israeli air strikes, artillery fire hammer north, central Gaza
- Air raids to the north of Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps, as well as on the town of az-Zawayda, in central Gaza.
- Bombardment of residential buildings in the al-Mughraqa area of central Gaza.
- Artillery shelling in Beit Lahiya and throughout northeastern Gaza.
- Heavy machine-gun fire along Gaza’s northern border.
- Air raids and artillery shelling on the neighbourhoods of Tuffah, Zeitoun and Shujayea near Gaza City.
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Israel, Hezbollah trade fire overnight
It added that infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed group was hit after two antitank launchers were detected coming from Lebanon.
The two sides have been exchanging attacks since the start of the war in Gaza. While these have largely remained confined to border areas, they have increased in intensity and scope. This week Hezbollah said it targeted the town of Acre, marking the deepest drone attack into Israeli territory since October 7.
Pro-Palestinian protests reach Australia
“A couple of 100 turned up in a very sort of peaceful, orderly Australian snapshot of this global pro-Palestinian student movements,” said Al Jazeera’s Alex Thomas.
The students have also been chanting slogans against Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his policy towards Israel and Gaza, calling on the government to strongly condemn the violence there, Thomas said.
Pro-Palestine protests at US colleges enter second week
“Young people have always pushed our government to do better, whether it was through the civil rights movement, whether it was to end the Vietnam war,” said US Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who visited the pro-Palestine protest camp at New York’s Columbia University on Thursday to relay her support.
“I think they are on the right side of history in pushing our country not to stay complicit in the genocide that is taking place in Gaza.”
Columbia University removes encampment deadline
“The talks have shown progress and are continuing as planned,” said a statement by the university’s president Minouche Shafik about an hour before the midnight (04:00 GMT) deadline. “We have our demands; they have theirs.”
The statement also denied that New York City police had been called to campus.
New York’s Columbia University was the first university where major protests over the war in Gaza broke out last week.
The protests have since spread to dozens of college campuses throughout the US, with police making upwards of 550 arrests to break up the peaceful rallies and try to clear encampments.
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If you’re just joining us
- Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described student-led Gaza solidarity protests on US campuses as “reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s” and called on authorities to do more to stop them.
- Reuters news agency reports that about 550 arrests have been made in the last week across major US universities as police crack down on peaceful protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
- Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has denounced the “forced migration” of Palestinians as Israeli military officials say they are “moving ahead” with plans for a ground invasion of Rafah.
- The US says it has begun construction on a pier on the Gaza Strip’s coast that will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid by sea to the war-torn territory.
- The Israeli military said its jet fighters attacked “terrorist infrastructure” in the Kfarchouba area of southern Lebanon as well as a “military structure” further south in the vicinity of Markaba village.
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Photos: US students resolute as pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread across US universities
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Female teacher among three Palestinians taken in Israeli military night raids: Reports
Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and detonated sound bombs when they raided the home of the brothers in the Talaat al-Takrouri area of southern Hebron, Palestine’s state news agency Wafa reports.
Israeli forces also stormed the following villages, towns and cities, Wafa reports:
- Azzun and Jayyus towns, located east of Qalqilya city
- Communities in the east of Nablus city
- Qabatiya, south of Jenin
- Yabad town and the villages of Toura and al-Taram, located southwest of Jenin
- Dura town, south of Hebron, where local people confronted the raid by Israeli forces who fired noxious gas and stun grenades
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Israel’s Netanyahu liken US antiwar protests to ‘1930s Germany’, says ‘do more’ to stop students
Netanyahu said the wave of peaceful pro-Palestinian protests that has swept across US campuses “has to be stopped”.
In a speech shared on social media, Netanyahu also said several university presidents had responded shamefully to the protesters, and he appeared to endorse a crackdown on the student-led rallies that have seen some 550 people arrested in the past week.
“Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently but there has to be more. More has to be done,” he said.
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Ralph Nader calls out Biden’s support for Israel’s Netanyahu despite ‘slaughter’ in Gaza
In a series of social media posts, Nader said mass graves have been discovered in Gaza amid “Netanyahu’s slaughter of Palestinian children, women and male civilians”.
“Intelligence agencies report all this in their morning briefings to President Biden. Still, he sticks to his master, Netanyahu,” who is funded by the US taxpayer, Nader said.
“Joe, at least demand that Israel allow US reporters into Gaza and get those obstructed 500 humanitarian aid trucks daily into that tiny enclave containing 2.2 million besieged Palestinians,” he added.
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Round up of arrests at pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses
Here’s what we know:
Columbia University
Police arrested more than 100 protesters when they tried to clear a Gaza solidarity encampment last week.
University of Southern California
More than 90 people were arrested on Wednesday night for alleged trespassing.
University of Texas at Austin
The campus was calmer on Thursday, a day after police arrested dozens of students.
George Washington University
About 50 students set up a tent encampment on Thursday.
Harvard University
The university locked most gates into its famous Harvard Yard this week but a camp with still set up.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
The university said protesters continue to occupy two buildings on campus.
Emerson College
Boston police said on Thursday that 108 people were arrested at an encampment.
New York University
Police said 133 protesters had been taken into custody on Wednesday.
Emory University
Police dismantled a camp on Thursday morning. The Associated Press news agency counted at least 17 people detained.
Northwestern University
Administrators changed the student code of conduct on Thursday to bar tents on its campus as student activists set up an encampment. No arrests have been reported yet.
Yale University
Protests continued Thursday after Monday’s arrest of 48 people.
Fashion Institute of Technology
Protesters set up tents and occupied a building on Thursday at the institute, part of the State University of New York system.
City College of New York
Police and campus security confronted protesters but failed to clear their encampment on Thursday.
Indiana University Bloomington
Police made a number of arrests on Thursday afternoon.
Michigan State University East Lansing Campus
Nearly 30 tents were set up on Thursday afternoon.
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Protesters at George Washington University defy deadline to leave campus
It’s been three hours since the university said it wanted to see the college yard cleared of the tents and the protesters.
But there are still a number of people there – more than 200. Numbers have gone down as you would expect, and perhaps the police are playing a waiting game.
But those that are in this square are making provisions to stay the night. They are bringing in more tents. They are bringing in more food. They are making sure that the people there have water as well.
Blocks from the White House, US students stand steadfast with Gaza
Students, professors and activists from across Washington, DC, have gathered to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war on Gaza and demand an end to what they say is complicity by their educational institutions in Israel’s human rights abuses.
Student activism around Gaza has spread to universities and colleges across the US, and it is now taking centre stage in the country’s politics.
Pro-Palestinian protests spread across US universities
Students at Harvard, Georgetown, MIT and George Washington University also demanded the same at their universities, and the pro-Palestinian and antiwar protests have spread to many other campuses across the US.
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Trump takes aim at US students protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza
In remarks to the media following testimony in his criminal trial in New York City, Trump referenced the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 between white nationalists and counterprotesters, which took place during his presidency and resulted in a woman being killed.
Trump claimed the current peaceful antiwar protests were far worse than the white nationalist rally.
“Charlottesville was a little peanut. And it was nothing compared to – and the hate wasn’t the kind of hate that you have here,” Trump said.
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Pro-Palestinian student protesters on ‘morally sound’ side of history
“I believe that students have always been on the progressive side of history, the morally sound side,” the former student, RK, told Fisher at the protest site.
“These students are doing just that. They have every right to free speech. They have every right to be here,” RK said.
“They [the university management] ask us for donations. What are they using our money for? [Student protesters] have the right to question that. So to threaten calling the police on your own students is, in my opinion, very extreme. Instead, they should listen to what the students are saying, which is to stop funding Israel. To stop funding a genocide. And to allow aid in [to Gaza].”
Deadline passes for pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear George Washington University
We are an hour past the deadline that the authorities said they wanted the people to move out of College Square, right here in the heart of Washington, DC, to clear the encampment.
Just in the last hour, we have heard from the university saying that the occupation is illegal, is against university policy, and they are continuing discussions with the metropolitan police – the local police department in Washington, DC – about how best to clear the area and return it back to the way it was 14 hours ago.
A recap of recent developments
Here are some of the main developments over the past day:
- The Palestinian Civil Defence says it will cooperate with an independent investigation into three separate mass graves containing 392 bodies.
- Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi denounced “forced migration” of Palestinians as Israeli military officials say they are “moving ahead” with plans for a ground invasion of Rafah
- Pro-Palestine student protests continued across the US, with Georgia State Patrol officers using stun guns and arresting protesters on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta.
- Israeli forces killed a Belgian aid worker and his seven-year-old son in an attack in Rafah, prompting Belgium to summon its Israeli envoy.
- The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says France is considering extending sanctions on Israeli settlers behind violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.
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Israel’s war on Gaza in numbers
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Welcome to our live coverage
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Photos: Student pro-Palestine protests continue across the US
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Palestinian PM thanks Germany for plans to reinstate UNRWA funding
Germany had paused funding for the organisation, which provides services to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and countries like Lebanon and Jordan, earlier this year, after the Israeli government accused it of complicity in the October 7 attacks.
An independent review of the allegations by former French FM Catherine Colonna found that Israel had not provided significant evidence to back up its claims.
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Photos: Pro-Palestine activists join in as Italy marks liberation from Nazi occupation
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Hamas official says ‘serious’ about releasing captives, but only with ceasefire
“We are leading serious talks and among our demands is a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera Arabic in a televised interview.
Here are other key things he mentioned:
- Hamas is serious about releasing Israeli captives within the framework of an agreement that also ensures the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
- Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations, rather, the group is open to an exchange of ideas and suggestions in order to reach the stated objective.
- Among the objectives is also the unhindered return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in all parts of the Strip, reconstructing Gaza and an end to the crippling siege.
- Hamas turned in its response to the latest proposal that included a US amendment on April 13, and is still waiting for a reply from Israel and mediating parties.
- The sticking point that has stalled negotiations is Israel’s refusal to agree to a permanent ceasefire.
- He said Hamas has already compromised on several issues, but cannot agree to any exchange deal that does not include a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
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Cross-border fire in northern Israel, southern Lebanon: Israeli military
It also said that four rocket launches were detected towards the area of Har Dov, an area in Shebaa Farms.
Shebaa Farms, which is claimed by Lebanon, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Israeli military also said that its air force had struck a Hezbollah military structure in the areas of Aalma El Chaeb and Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon.
Since October 8, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have exchanged fire. In recent months, the frequency and severity of the attacks have increased, leading to fears that the tensions could lead to a greater regional conflagration.
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‘Great deal of shock and frustration’ among families with relatives recovered from mass graves
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, said at least 20 of those whose bodies were found around Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis were buried alive, according to the findings of the investigation.
Those victims had “been receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital. … The majority of the bodies have been partially or completely decomposed,” Abu Azzoum said.
The investigators also said there are still bodies that have not been recovered.
There is “a great deal of shock and frustration” among those who managed to identify their loved ones, he said.
According to Abu Azzoum, there are families who still do not know the fate of their relatives who were taken from Nasser Hospital and from other parts of Khan Younis by Israeli forces during their ground incursion into the southern Gaza city.
“The reality on the ground is that the entire Gaza Strip has turned into a graveyard, especially since there are still hundreds of people under the rubble,” he said.
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US needs to ‘step up’ and pressure Israel to allow independent investigation of mass graves
“It’s a crime against humanity,” he told Al Jazeera. “This case cries out for an independent inquiry. And the sooner, the better.”
He added that it’s essential that independent investigators get to see the evidence in person, but that Israel is unlikely to allow that to happen.
“I think this is the point at which America has to step up,” Robertson said. “It’s got a number of eminent prosecutors and experts. I’m sure it can put a team together, and it will have to insist because this has caused outrage in the international community.”
Israeli army waiting for green light to go into Rafah
The military has said it’s ready to go in whenever the cabinet sets a date.
It says it would first evacuate all the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah.
About 150,000 have already left, it said, adding that when they will get the order, the rest will be evacuated – but that will take several weeks.
The suggestion in the last days from the military is that there is not going to be a major all-out invasion of Rafah in one go, but it will be more gradual perhaps in response to the enormous pressure from the US and other countries.
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80,000 to 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza cross into Egypt since October 7: Report
The Rafah border crossing is the sole entry and exit point to Gaza not directly under the control of Israeli forces.
Cairo has communicated that it does not want Palestinians to be displaced from Gaza into Egypt by Israel, comparing such a scenario to the 1948 Nakba.
It has also fortified a buffer zone with concrete walls on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.
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Gaza Health Ministry warns that hospitals running out of fuel
“We appeal to all concerned, international and humanitarian institutions to intervene and quickly provide the necessary fuel to continue providing services to patients and preserve their lives,” read a statement from the ministry posted on social media.
Getting fuel into Gaza has been a thorny issue because Israel classifies it as a “dual use” item that can be used for military as well as civilian purposes.
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Israel should allow investigators into Gaza: Amnesty
“The expertise, the skills, the resources – such as the ability to carry out DNA tests – none of that is available [in Gaza], and to make matters worse, there is the constant bombardment,” Rovera told Al Jazeera.
“Where there is evidence of a crime committed yesterday, it may be destroyed by a bombardment committed today,” she said.
Furthermore, Rovera noted, human rights investigators have not been allowed inside Gaza for years.
“Something can be done immediately. That is for the Israeli authorities to allow independent investigators in immediately. If they have nothing to hide, they should have no reason in preventing them getting into Gaza,” she added.
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Statement by 18 countries makes no mention of Palestinian prisoners in Israel
Eighteen countries, including the US, appear to be trying to step up pressure on Hamas in these ongoing attempts at negotiation. These countries issued a joint statement calling on Hamas to immediately release all captives being held in Gaza.
There’s no mention whatsoever of any concomitant release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel by the Israeli government, but this is stepping up pressure on Hamas, it would appear, as these negotiations grind forward.
The statement says as well that the release of the captives would allow for a greater influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza. This is regarded as utterly essential, but looming behind all of this is ongoing concern about an Israeli operation in the south.
This would create massive issues within Gaza and would certainly derail any possibility of ongoing negotiations.
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Hamas says any captives deal must include end of Israel’s war on Gaza: Report
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters that US pressure on Hamas “has no value”.
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18 countries call on Hamas to release captives
“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now for over 200 days,” a statement by the countries said.
The signatories were the leaders of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and US.
“We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities,” the statement said.
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Biden names new special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues
Grande, who will replace David Satterfield, is currently head of the independent US Institute of Peace.
During her 25 years at the UN, her work included running aid operations in Yemen, Iraq and South Sudan.
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US needs to ‘step up’ and pressure Israel to allow independent investigation of mass graves
“It’s a crime against humanity,” he told Al Jazeera. “This case cries out for an independent inquiry. And the sooner, the better.”
He added that it’s essential that independent investigators get to see the evidence in person, but that Israel is unlikely to allow that to happen.
“I think this is the point at which America has to step up,” Robertson said. “It’s got a number of eminent prosecutors and experts. I’m sure it can put a team together, and it will have to insist because this has caused outrage in the international community.”
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Gaza civil defence ready to cooperate with independent investigation of mass graves
“This can be the foundation for work to be conducted by an international investigation committee – we are ready to help their work in order to push the Israelis to refrain from committing crimes against people in Gaza,” al-Moghier told Al Jazeera.
Al-Mughier also described the impact of working for the past months in Gaza, saying some aid workers are traumatised after failing to save people they tried to rescue.
“Some of our members are suffering traumas which is impacting the way we can carry our work,” he said.
Others were infected as they resumed dead bodies from under the rubble without necessary precaution due to the lack of equipment, he added.
‘Shame on you’, Israeli protesters tell Netanyahu after captive video release
Many families say not enough has been done to get a deal to free the Israelis held since October 7.
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Israel withdraws infantry brigade to gear up for Rafah invasion: Report
The brigade, which recently completed five operations in central Gaza, is now being given time to rest, train, and review plans for “future offensives”, reports the Times of Israel.
Yesterday, a senior Israeli defence official told Reuters that the military was fully ready to move into Rafah and was only awaiting the government’s go-ahead.
UN medical officials have warned a full-on assault of Rafah, where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, would be a humanitarian catastrophe “beyond imagination”.
‘We escape from one trap into another’
“We escape from one trap into another, searching for places Israel calls safe before they bomb us there. It is like the rat and trap game. We are trying to adapt to the new reality, hoping it will become better. But I doubt it will,” said Nasser.
The number of people departing Rafah remains small with many confused over where they should go, saying their experience over the past 200 days of war taught them no place is safe.
A senior Israeli defence official said on Wednesday Israel is poised to evacuate civilians ahead of its attack and had bought 40,000 tents that could house 10-12 people each. All that remained is for Prime Minister Netanyahu to give the order, he said.
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In case you’re just joining us
- Israeli forces killed a Belgian aid worker and his seven-year-old son in an attack in Rafah, prompting Belgium to summon its Israeli envoy.
- Jewish-American professor Susan Bernofsky at Columbia University defended student protesters calling for the end of Israel’s war on Gaza.
- Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for cutting ties with the Palestinian Authority.
- Medics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) responded to the scene of an attack near central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, where we reported Israeli bombardment.
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What has been uncovered in Gaza mass graves discovery?
- There are three mass graves at the grounds of Nasser Hospital, together holding at least 392 bodies that were “stacked together”.
- The majority of the bodies cannot be identified, either because they are too badly decomposed or mutilated, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
- Some bodies show signs of being executed or tortured. Up to 20 bodies may have been buried alive, say civil defense officials.
- Children and hospital patients were among those buried in the graves, with some of them found still with hospital tubes used in operating or recovery rooms.
The United Nations and the European Union have expressed deep concern over the mass grave reports and called for independent investigations into possible abuses. The US White House also says it “wants answers”.
Israel, for its part, has denied burying any bodies in the mass graves, saying only that its forces dug up and examined some of the graves that were already there to look for possible Israeli captives among them.
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The mass graves found at Nasser Hospital
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Belgium summons Israeli envoy after aid worker killed in Gaza
“Bombing civilian areas and populations is contrary to international law. I will summon the Israeli ambassador to condemn this unacceptable act and demand an explanation,” Lahbib said on X.
Belgian aid worker killed in Rafah bombing
“It is with great sadness that I was informed that last night one of our staff was killed by an Israeli bombardment,” Gennez wrote on X.
“Abdallah Nabhan and his 7-year-old son Jamal were killed in an attack on Rafah,” she added.
At least seven people were killed by the strike on a building that housed about 25 people, including displaced Palestinians from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
‘I do not feel threatened as a Jewish faculty member in any way’
“I do not feel that this project is anti-Semitic in any way. I do feel that the students are highly critical of Israeli politics,” said Susan Bernofsky. “And I do not feel threatened as a Jewish faculty member in any way by what’s happening on this campus – except by the arrest of many of our students.”
On a visit to the campus, US House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Columbia’s president to resign “if she cannot bring order to this chaos”.
“If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard,” said Johnson, who was repeatedly heckled.
A Columbia spokesman said rumours that the university threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. “Our focus is to restore order and if we can get there through dialogue we will,” said Ben Chang.
Palestinian rescuers reach victims near Bureij camp
The PRCS responders recovered the body of one person killed in the attacks and transported another wounded person to receive treatment, the organisation said.
Israeli finance minister calls for cutting ties with Palestinian Authority
In a letter to Netanyahu, Smotrich said the best way to deal with such international moves would be to cut ties with the PA to “bring about its immediate fall”.
He also said his ministry would withhold funding to the PA, whose tax funds Israel largely controls.
“Unilateral measures will be met with unilateral measures,” Smotrich said in the letter.
Netzah Yehuda – the Israeli battalion accused of abuses
Netanyahu and other top leaders have declared support for the battalion, which had been accused of abuses before the latest war in Gaza broke out in October and Israeli raids and settler violence simultaneously ramped up in the West Bank.
In October 2021, four Netzah Yehuda soldiers were arrested for allegedly beating and sexually assaulting a Palestinian suspect while a soldier from the unit was indicted for electrocuting detainees in 2015.
Protests over captives have morphed into antigovernment demos
The Israeli government has maintained its position that military and political pressure are the only ways to ensure the release of the remaining captives held inside Gaza.
But families of the captives and the Bring Them Back Now movement – the protest movement that has been demonstrating for months – say the government should enter a new deal.
The protest movement, which was just about bringing back the captives, has morphed into anti-government demonstrations, calling for new governance within the state of Israel so that they can enter into a deal to bring back the captives.
The Israeli prime minister has maintained for some time that Hamas is the reason why there is no deal while Hamas has said that Israel is the reason why there hasn’t been a deal.
Nonetheless, families of the captives are incredibly fed up with the government’s inability to achieve the goals of the war, one of them being to bring back the remaining captives.
At this hour, the Israeli war cabinet is meeting at the Kirya – that’s Israel’s version of the Pentagon – the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, and there are protests right outside, calling for a deal to bring them back immediately.
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US weapons manufacturers to rake in huge profits with more military aid approved to Israel
On Wednesday, US President Biden signed a law that designates $27 billion in new military aid to Israel, as well as $61 billion to Ukraine.
That means the US will need to buy and restock pricey military equipment, including missiles and drones produced by RTX Corp and interceptors that arm the Patriot defence system produced by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Lockheed’s CEO Jim Taiclet told investors earlier this week that the new demand will “provide a strong underpinning for future growth” in the upcoming years.
Lebanon ‘on the brink of imploding’
“It simply cannot continue like this,” said Egeland, following a visit to the country. “People fleeing southern villages in search of a safe place end up in overcrowded shelters. Their livelihoods have been destroyed, but we have insufficient funding to help them.”
More than 90,000 people have been forced to abandon their houses in southern Lebanon since October 7. There have been nearly daily attacks by Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
On Tuesday, the Iran-backed group said it struck Acre, marking its deepest attack into Israeli territory since the conflict began.
20 bodies in mass graves may have been ‘buried alive’: Palestinian Civil Defense member
“We need forensic examination for approximately 20 bodies for people who we think were buried alive,” Mughier said.
Children among those buried in Gaza mass graves
“Why do we have children in mass graves?” he said, adding that the evidence shows Israeli soldiers committed “crimes against humanity”.
Mass grave among ‘countless examples of crimes against Palestinians’
It’s been a couple of days since we heard anything from the Israelis on the matter, but the first thing we heard from the Israeli army when they commented was the word “baseless” – trying to point the finger at Palestinians, saying that this is simply untrue.
The Israelis did say, however, that they were looking for the bodies of Israeli captives. They said they had intelligence, that there were captives buried there (Nasser Hospital), and that they did this in a targeted and precise manner with dignity and respect.
But what we’ve been seeing from images on the ground, what we’re hearing from Palestinians, is a completely different story.
If an investigation were to be had, it would be the Israeli army carrying out this investigation themselves, followed by some sort of conclusion where they have absolved themselves of any wrongdoing.
There are countless examples of crimes against Palestinians, executions where the Israeli army has denied any wrongdoing.
Four Palestinians attempting to return home killed by Israeli tank fire
Family members told The Associated Press news agency they were killed as they tried to move to northern Gaza, where Israel’s military is preventing people from returning to their homes.
Earlier, Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli air strikes on the southern city of Rafah killed at least five people.
The bodies of 43 people killed in Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 64 wounded people, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.
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Centcom says coalition shoots down drones, missile targeting US-flagged vessel
US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement on X the missile likely targeted the MV Yorktown, a US-flagged shipping vessel. Four drones were also destroyed.
“It was determined that the [antiship ballistic missile] and UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region,” Centcom said.
The US military said there were no injuries or damage. The incidents followed a Houthi announcement that the group will continue “to take further military actions against all hostile targets in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean”.
The Houthis, who began their attacks in November, said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
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Most of 392 bodies found in mass graves unidentified: Gaza civil defense
The majority of the bodies remain unidentified because of advanced decomposition or mutilation, said Abu Sulaiman, pointing to evidence that some victims may have been tortured.
Abu Sulaiman called on the international community to exert pressure to “put an immediate end to this aggression against our people”, as well as for humanitarian organisations and international media to be let into Gaza to “examine these crimes”.
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Indications of ‘field executions’ at Gaza mass graves
Yamen Abu Sulaiman, the head of the civil defense department in Khan Younis, where Nasser Hospital is located, said three separate mass graves have been found at the facility – one behind the morgue, one in front of the morgue, and one near the dialysis building.
Bodies were “stacked together” in the mass graves and showed indications of field executions having taken place, said Abu Sulaiman.
We’ll bring you more updates from the conference shortly.
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Twelve Palestinians arrested in latest West Bank raids
Most detentions took place in Tulkarem governorate while others were in Ramallah, Hebron and Jerusalem, says the group.
The latest arrests bring the total number of Palestinians detained in the occupied West Bank since October 7 to 8,455, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society tally.
34,305 Palestinians killed in Gaza since Israel’s war began
The tally includes at least 43 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said.
Among the dead are more than 14,500 children and 9,500 women in Gaza. The death toll is estimated to be far higher with thousands believed buried in the debris of buildings collapsed during Israeli strikes.
Lebanon-Israel border conflict entering ‘different phase’
This is becoming a higher-intensity conflict on both sides. In recent days, we’ve seen an increase in attacks by the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Yesterday, Israel carried out the largest number of strikes in a single day. In a matter of minutes, it hit 40 targets belonging to what it says were Hezbollah positions. The air strikes continued into the early hours, not just targeting front-line villages, but targeting eastern Lebanon. It seems to be a different phase.
What Israel wants is for Hezbollah to pull back a few kilometres but Hezbollah is still here firing rockets south of the Litani River. Fighters are still being killed in their homes.
So there are two options on the table: Either escalation to try and force Hezbollah back – so far that has not worked – or we are going to see an escalation to improve negotiating positions to try to find a diplomatic settlement.
What is clear is this conflict is tied to what is happening in Gaza. Until there is a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the Lebanon-Israel border will remain an active front line.
Palestinians killed, wounded from artillery fire in Nuseirat
At the same time, Israeli bombardment hit a home near the Bureij refugee camp causing casualties.
We’ll bring you more information on these attacks as we have it.
Over 100 students arrested in California, Texas as Gaza protests in the US intensify
After visiting Jewish students at Columbia University in New York, House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested calling in the National Guard to put down the protests.
‘Biden has betrayed the soul of our nation’: Muslim rights group
“By signing legislation that gives Benjamin Netanyahu another $17bn blank check for his genocide, President Biden has betrayed the soul of our nation and disregarded the will of the American people, who overwhelmingly support a ceasefire and oppose unconditional aid to Israel,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
“Giving the Israeli government billions more in weaponry despite all of those war crimes is unconscionable … Concrete steps to end the occupation that has triggered cycles of violence for generations … must end once and for all, here and now.”
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LISTEN: Inside the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University
Students at Columbia University in New York City set up a Gaza solidarity camp and are calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war. They also want the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel and end academic partnerships with Israeli institutions, as well as a halt to repression of pro-Palestinian voices on campus.
Grim mass grave search continues at Nasser Hospital
It’s the sixth day in a row where medics and civil defense workers are still recovering bodies from this mass grave – bodies of children, women, the elderly. Bodies of patients with bandages and catheters attached.
Survivors have described the horrors of the Israeli raid on the hospital with people dragged outside and executed. When we visited the mass graves we saw family members searching for missing loved ones. Some identified relatives from the clothes they were wearing because the bodies were too badly decomposed.
This is not the first time a mass grave has been discovered, with another at al-Shifa Hospital with about 400 people reportedly killed and buried there.
There will be a press conference shortly by civil defense paramedics who will present evidence they’ve collected.
‘Change starts on college campuses’: From South African apartheid to Vietnam War
Seireth Jawaid wanted the opportunity to support her older sister and attend student protests against Israel’s war on Gaza at the University of Southern California (USC).
Jawaid’s sister attended USC in the early 2000s and was moved that current students at her alma mater are demonstrating against the war.
But as the sisters attempted to join the protests, they were blocked from getting in – alarmed by the number of security personnel they saw, including dozens of police cars, two fire trucks, and security guards only allowing entry to those who carried student IDs.
Some of the police appeared to be armed with riot gear, Jawaid said.
“What these students are doing is so courageous and brave and I am so proud of them. They are risking their careers and their education to tell their universities to stop investing in Israel and Israeli companies,” she told Al Jazeera.
Jawaid said the images from Gaza “since October have been the worst crimes of humanity”, and while no longer a student herself, she said supporting college antiwar protests is important.
“Change starts on college campuses, from protesting the South African apartheid government to protesting the Vietnam War. Those movements are still remembered today and all the protests at college campuses around the country this past week will be written down in history.”
Two children among those killed in Rafah strike
They are among more than 14,500 children killed in the enclave since Israel’s war on Gaza began, with thousands more wounded.
This means more than 2 percent of Gaza’s entire child population has been killed or maimed during the war, according to the humanitarian group Save the Children.
US demands ‘thorough and transparent’ mass grave investigation
More than 300 bodies of people – allegedly killed and buried by Israeli forces at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis – have so far been recovered. Other graves at al-Shifa Hospital in northern were also located.
“We want answers. We want to see this thoroughly and transparently investigated,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.
Israeli army spokesman Major Nadav Shoshani said the graves at Nasser were “dug by Gazans a few months ago”.
Hospitals, which have protection under international law, have repeatedly come under Israeli bombardment during more than six months of war in Gaza.
Gaza famine: ‘Clearly some of them are dying of hunger’
“We are getting closer by the day to a famine situation,” said Gian Carlo Cirri, director of the Geneva office of the World Food Programme. “Malnutrition among children is spreading.”
About 30 percent of children under the age of two in Gaza are severely malnourished, Cirri said. In northern Gaza, 70 percent of the population is facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
“People cannot meet even the most basic food needs. They have exhausted all coping strategies, like eating animal fodder, begging, selling off their belongings to buy food. Most of them are destitute, and clearly some of them are dying of hunger,” he said.
The United Nations has long complained of Israeli obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel launched its war.
President Biden: ‘The security of Israel is critical’
The legislation provides Israel’s military with about $15bn as it continues to attack Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have been killed in the past six months – mostly children and women.
“The security of Israel is critical. I will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and the terrorists it supports,” said Biden.
The military assistance comes as Israel threatens a ground invasion of southern Rafah city, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering.
Israeli military claims to destroy Hamas ‘sniper cell’ in Nuseirat
Over the last day, soldiers struck Hamas launch sites in Shati, to the north, while destroying one of the group’s “sniper cells” located in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp with a “precise air strike”, the army said.
In total, its strikes hit 30 Hamas targets over the past 24 hours, it added.
At the same time, Israel’s latest wave of strikes caused a heavy civilian casualty toll, including killing at least five people, mostly women and children, who were sheltering in a home in Rafah, reports the Wafa news agency.
Mass graves at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital: What you need to know
More than 300 bodies have been uncovered so far from the hospital after Israeli forces withdrew on April 7. A chorus of international calls for an independent investigation continues to grow.
The Israeli army says allegations that it buried Palestinian bodies are “baseless and unfounded”.
‘The tragedy keeps unfolding’: Attack drones kill 2 in Rafah
A surge in attack drones flying over Rafah has taken place over the past couple of hours. At least two people have been hit in what appears to be targeted killings – one in the western part of the city and the other in the east. They were killed when the drones fired missiles about half an hour apart.
At the same time, the Israeli military continues to pound areas in central Gaza. People were told to evacuate to the Wadi Gaza area, only to find themselves caught in the line of fire. Four people have been reported killed in Wadi Gaza. Injuries have also been reported at the Nuseirat camp and surrounding areas.
The tragedy keeps unfolding. The destruction is overwhelming. Everywhere you go you see rubble-filled roads.
Israeli settlers enter Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
A video verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows settlers walking through Al-Aqsa. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports the settlers were under “heavy protection” from Israeli forces.
The settlers performed rituals of the weeklong Jewish holiday known as Passover. Under a longstanding status quo agreement, prayer at Al-Aqsa is reserved for Muslims.
Greek military vessel intercepts 2 Houthi drones
“On Thursday morning Greek frigate Hydra, while it was escorting a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, fired at two drones,” an unnamed Defence Ministry official told Reuters. “It destroyed one while the second moved away.”
Greece supplied a frigate to the EU’s mission, which is called Aspides, launched in February to thwart attacks by the Houthis against Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza facing relentless Israeli bombardment.
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Israeli airpower pounds Gaza as ground forces poised for Rafah invasion: Monitors
According to the latest battlefield update from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), Israeli officials have said that the Rafah invasion order needs only the “approval” of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A plan for the evacuation of civilians from Rafah – where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering – was said to be on Netanyahu’s desk, the US-based defence think tanks report. While no timeline for the ground invasion of Rafah has been given, the evacuation operation is expected to take about a month.
Also on Wednesday, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement carried out rocket attacks from Gaza against three towns in southern Israel.
Israeli strike hits Khan Younis home
Meanwhile, more Israeli air raids took place in the western part of Rafah, following earlier reports of overnight strikes on a home in the southernmost city of Gaza that killed at least five.
Police make 94 arrests at University of Southern California antiwar protest
LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz said 93 people were arrested on trespass violations, while one other arrest was for assault with a deadly weapon, though she did not provide details.
Police said there were no reports of injuries during the tense standoff earlier between police and pro-Palestinian and antiwar student protesters at the university’s campus.
Hamas willing to lay down arms if two-state solution implemented: Report
Al-Hayya, who made his comments in an interview with the AP in Istanbul, said Hamas wants to participate in the formation of a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank.
“All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and their state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army,” he said.
Al-Hayya also said Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah would not succeed in destroying Hamas.
Israeli forces “have not destroyed more than 20 percent of [Hamas’s] capabilities, neither human nor in the field,” he said.
“If they can’t finish [Hamas] off, what is the solution? The solution is to go to consensus,” he added.
If you’re just joining us
- Five people have been killed and several injured in an Israeli bombing of a home in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Wafa reports.
- Palestinian Civil Defence teams have recovered 324 bodies from a mass grave at Nasser Hospital as of Wednesday, the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, said in its latest daily update.
- US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told Al Jazeera the US wants to “find out all the facts” of reports of mass graves in Gaza before “making determinations”, as the EU and UN call for an independent investigation.
- Gaza solidarity protests have continued at universities across the United States despite heavy police responses at a number of campuses.
- University of Texas, Austin, Professor Jeremi Suri told Al Jazeera he witnessed “an army of police” arresting students who had been peacefully protesting.
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Alarming signs of genocide’ in Gaza: Malala
“I have and will continue to condemn the Israeli government for its violations of international law and war crimes,” Yousafzai said in a post on X, adding that “when we see alarming signs of genocide, we cannot wait to take decisive action”.
The Pakistani education and human rights activist has been facing criticism for co-producing a Broadway musical with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Pakistani columnist Mehr Tarar described Yusafzai’s “theatre collaboration” with Clinton as “utterly tragic” and a “huge blow” to Yusafzai’s “credibility as a human rights activist”.
Clinton “stands for America’s unequivocal support for genocide of Palestinians,” Tarar added.
Israeli warplanes, artillery pound sites in southern Lebanon
Grainy footage accompanying a post on social media showed buildings and other structures being destroyed in huge blasts following apparent missile attacks from the air.
Israeli artillery also shelled “several areas” in Lebanon to “remove a threat”, Israel’s military said, describing the targets as “terrorist infrastructures” of the Hezbollah movement.
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Are settler politics running unchecked in Israel?
Ultra-nationalist voices have come to dominate the government, providing legal and political cover for Israeli settler expansion into internationally recognised Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, as well as increasing the ferocity of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Despite growing international criticism of Israeli actions in the occupied territory and Gaza, the United States continues to fund it.
Students want universities to cut ties with global companies arming Israel
At Cornell University in New York, just under 70 percent of students who voted in a recent referendum said the university should divest from companies supporting the ongoing war in Gaza. The question specifically named several companies including BAE Systems, Boeing, Elbit Systems and Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, in Australia, students participating in a Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of Melbourne issued a statement calling for their university to cut ties with companies including BAE Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Supporting Palestine – Columbia University facing criticism
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson visited the campus and called on the university’s president to resign.
Protesters told Al Jazeera how they feared repercussions for taking part in the peaceful demonstrations.
US House speaker Johnson threatens use of National Guard against student protesters
During a visit to New York’s Columbia University to show support for Jewish students, Johnson described the antiwar protesters as “lawless radicals and agitators” who had taken over the campus, and he called for the resignation of Columbia President Minouche Shafik.
“If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard,” Johnson said during a speech, which was drowned out by heckling students and chants of “Mike, you suck!”
“He definitely shouldn’t have come here. We don’t want some people that really don’t know what’s happening and then come here to intervene,” Columbia student Grace Dai told the Reuters news agency.
“What makes us scared or threatened is that the president had to bring the NYPD to our campus and people like him say he’s bringing the National Guard to our campus. We don’t need that. That is the thing that makes us feel scared and threatened,” Dai said.
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‘Anti-Semitism should not be weaponised’: USC law professor
“We have lots of Jewish and Muslim and Palestinian and Catholic, like I am, Protestants, too, intergenerational, coming together,” Armour said.
“Everybody should hate anti-Semitism and fight anti-Semitism, but being opposed to Israel’s slaughter in Gaza that the UN has said may plausibly be genocide, does not mean that you’re anti-Semitic,” he said.
“We need to stop allowing people to weaponise anti-Semitism against real, valid protests.”
More Palestinians killed, wounded during Israeli raids in West Bank
Palestine’s state news agency, Wafa, said Khaled al-Sharqawi died after being shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces who stormed Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank at dawn.
Israeli forces fired live bullets and lobbed stun grenades at locals attempting to resist the military incursion into their community, Wafa said.
In the town of Beit Furik, located east of Nablus, a Palestinian man was shot and injured following a raid. A local resident was also arrested during a search of his home by Israeli soldiers, who also raided the nearby town of Beit Dajan.
Wafa also reported raids and home searches in:
- Qalqilya city
- The villages of al-Jalama, Arabbuna, Arrana, Faqqua, and Jalbun, located northeast of Jenin.
- A Palestinian man was arrested in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah.
- Israeli settlers uprooted 70 olive and almond trees, as well as grape vines, belonging to a Palestinian in Qarawat Bani Hassan town, northwest of Salfit city.
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Number of bodies recovered from mass grave at Nasser Hospital rises to 324
OCHA cited Palestinian Civil Defence as saying women, elderly persons and patients were among the people found buried at the hospital, and noted, “only few were identified”.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday called for “independent, effective and transparent investigations” into the deaths.
“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law, and the intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are hors de combat is a war crime,” Turk said.
Thousands of students remain at USC protest after arrests
That group has been completely removed now. The last student was just taken away minutes ago.
The only thing that’s left now is a Palestinian flag crumpled on the ground.
There are still thousands, perhaps, of other students outside the police perimeter here who have been chanting “Let them go”.
The protests, of course, centred around Israel’s war on Gaza.
The students are demanding a ceasefire, demanding an end to US support in terms of weaponry for the Israeli military, and closer to home, demanding that the university itself divest from any ties to Israeli institutions.
Gaza solidarity camp set up at Sciences Po in Paris
Video clips shared on social media show tents pitched inside the university’s Saint Thomas campus and Palestinian flags hanging from buildings.
According to the French news agency AFP, the protesters are demanding that Sciences Po management cut all ties to Israeli universities and companies that are “complicit in the genocide in Gaza”, and are also calling for an end to “repression against pro-Palestinian voices on campus”.
The encampment, organised by the Palestine Committee of Sciences Po, comes as students have mobilised at universities across the US.
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US military says downed missile ‘likely targeting’ US ship
CENTCOM said the missile was “likely targeting the [Maersk] Yorktown, a US-flagged, owned, and operated vessel with 18 US and four Greek crew members”.
The Houthis earlier claimed they had targeted the Maersk Yorktown ship and a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, as well as the Israeli ship MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean.
CENTCOM, which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East, has led a military campaign against the Houthis in the Red Sea.
The Houthis are staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause and say their attacks have targeted US and Israel-linked ships in retaliation for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Despite US concern over Gaza mass graves, ‘action’ shows support for Israel
It did take several days before any US spokesperson came out as forcefully as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan did today.
Although I will note that the US State Department has been calling these reports of mass graves in Gaza “disturbing” since learning of them on Monday.
But, at the same time, on this very day, US President Joe Biden signed into law an additional US military aid package to Israel.
So as far as condemnation, sure, there is more of that happening now in the US.
As far as action, there is only action in support of Israel.
Rafah hospitals treat Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reports from the Kuwait Hospital where the injured in one recent attack were taken:
Tense scenes as police surround antiwar protest at USC
There is a mixture of campus security officers and the Los Angeles police department mobilised here at the University of Southern California. They have their batons at the ready, and some of them have what appear to be tear gas canisters at the ready.
Over here is a small knot of protesters who apparently have decided that they will be arrested. Police have given them a deadline; they say if they don’t disperse, they will be arrested.
Previously there were just hours of peaceful protest.
Now there is one person that is being handcuffed and led away. It appears to be a young woman. Why that person was singled out of all the hundreds of others here, I have no idea.
There are a lot of defiant students here who are refusing to obey the police.
There are still hundreds of students on the steps where police used to be, and students within a few yards of police chanting their demand for an end to the war in Gaza by the Israeli military.
This is a very tense situation. I’m not sure how long this is going to last.
US not in favour of ‘independent’ investigation of Gaza mass graves
You will notice that from the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, we never heard the word “independent”.
That is the major difference between the US’s call for an investigation into the mass graves compared to that of other world leaders and of the UN High Commissioner [for human rights].
In fact, the US deputy ambassador to the UN told Al Jazeera earlier that the United States is not ready to endorse an independent investigation, but rather, the US would be talking to countries … and looking at photographs.
So there is still a lot of distance between what the US is calling for and what many other world leaders are calling for.
And as far as accountability, certainly, we are very far from that step.
Texas governor says antiwar student protesters ‘belong in jail’
“Arrests being made right now and will continue until the crowd disperses,” the Texas governor added, as dozens of state troopers and police surrounded students at the University of Texas at Austin.
Abbott claimed the protesters were engaging in Antisemitism, although he did not provide evidence of his allegations in the post.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described Abbott’s response to the protests as “unconstitutional”.
“The First Amendment applies to the State of Texas, whether Greg Abbott likes it or not”, CAIR said in a post on X.
Abbott issued an executive order in March requiring that Texas universities punish Antisemitism on campus using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of Antisemitism, which includes claiming that the “existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour”.
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Israeli shelling, raids in central and northern Gaza
In eastern Jabalia and Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, there are reports of artillery shelling and Israeli raids, especially in the Zeitoun neighbourhood and in the northwestern side of Gaza City, Wafa also reports.
University of Texas professor witnesses police attack on pro-Palestinian student protest
“These students were shouting ‘free Palestine’, that’s all. Maybe they had one or two signs. They were saying nothing anti-Semitic. They were saying nothing that was threatening. And as they were standing and shouting, I witnessed the police – the state police, the campus police, the city police – an army of police almost the size as the student group … many were carrying guns, many were carrying rifles, and then, within a few minutes, this group of police stormed into the student crowd and started arresting students,” Suri told Al Jazeera.
The students “were loud, but they were peaceful”, he said, “and the police just started attacking them. And that led to more shouting. More students then arrived when they saw this and the situation became more violent”.
“But it became more violent because the police had attacked the students, not the other way around”.
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Death toll rises to 5 after Israel bombs Rafah home
The Palestinian news agency Wafa is now reporting that five people were killed in the attack on the home which belonged to the Jamal family.
The dead and injured were taken to the nearby Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, Wafa reports.
A number of people were also injured in a separate Israeli bombing of a home east of Rafah, Wafa said.
Israeli officials continue to threaten an imminent ground invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
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Israel’s war on Gaza in numbers
Welcome to our live coverage
Rafah health officials sound alarm after Israeli attack kills Palestinians
Footage obtained by Al Jazeera showed the arrival of the injured children and the elderly at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.
Dr Suhaib al-Hams, the director of the Kuwaiti hospital, confirmed the arrival of the victims, telling Al Jazeera that the “Rafah governorate has become a continuous target of [the Israeli army].”
“The Israeli occupation uses internationally prohibited weapons, and the type of injuries we receive is unprecedented, such as amputation of limbs and laceration of the body,” al-Hams said.
Dr Jamal al-Hams, one of the medical staff at the Hospital, said that most of the injuries that reached the hospital are serious, and that one of the injured died as a result of his severe injury.