DEVELOPING | Hamas studying Gaza truce proposal 'in positive spirit' - Palestinian militant group chief

Hamas studying Gaza truce proposal 'in positive spirit' - Palestinian militant group chief

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Thursday the Palestinian militant group was studying a proposal for a truce in the nearly seven-month war raging in Gaza with a "positive spirit".

In a call to Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, Haniyeh said he "appreciated the role played by Egypt, and stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the ceasefire proposal", according to a statement on Hamas's official website.

-AFP

Palestinian security force kills Islamic Jihad gunman in rare internal clash

Palestinian security officers killed a gunman in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a rare intra-Palestinian clash whose circumstances were disputed and which the fighter's faction described as an Israeli-style "assassination".

Palestinian Authority security services spokesperson Talak Dweikat said a force sent to patrol Tulkarm overnight came under fire and shot back, hitting the gunman. He died from his wounds in hospital.

Videos circulated online, and which Reuters was not immediately able to confirm, showed a car being hit by gunfire.

A local armed group, the Tulkarm and Nour Shams Camp Brigades, claimed the dead man, Ahmed Abu al-Foul, as its member with affiliation to the largely militant group Islamic Jihad.

Al-Foul was "treacherously ... targeted in his car" without provocation, the brigades said in a statement. "This crime is just like any assassination by Israeli special forces."

President Mahmoud Abbas' PA wields limited self-rule in the West Bank, and sometimes coordinates security with Israel.

Parts of the territory have drifted into chaos and poverty, with the PA and Israel trading blame, especially since ties have been further strained by Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Hamas, an Islamic Jihad ally which rules the Gaza Strip and has chafed at Abbas' strategy of seeking diplomatic accommodation with Israel, denounced "the attacks by the PA’s security forces on our people and our resistance fighters".

Palestinian security forces and gunmen have exchanged gunfire several times in the last year, but deaths are rare.

- Reuters

34 596 Palestinians killed in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct.7, Gaza health ministry says

At least 34 596 Palestinians have been killed and 77 816 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in the enclave said in a statement on Thursday.

- Reuters

Iran slaps sanctions on US, UK over Israel support

Iran announced on Thursday sanctions on several American and British individuals and entities for supporting Israel in its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Islamic republic, the regional arch-foe of Israel, unveiled the punitive measures in a statement from its foreign ministry.

Colombia severs ties with Israel for having a government 'that is genocidal'

President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he described as "genocidal" in its war in Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed... for having a government, for having a president that is genocidal," Petro, a harsh critic of the devastating war against Hamas, told a May Day rally in Bogota.

'Citizens of Israel are entitled to answers' says it state auditor

Israel's state auditor on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the armed forces to cooperate with an official investigation into how Hamas was able to stage the 7 October attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said in the early days of the war that he intended to investigate the events around the attack, the deadliest single day in the country's 75-year history.

In December, he said his office would "leave no stone unturned" as it looks into the "multisystem failures" leading up to, during and after the attack, and that most of his office's audit plans for 2024 would focus on the probe.

"After more than six months of war, the citizens of Israel are entitled to answers regarding all those responsible for the failure - and the State Comptroller is determined to provide them," Englman wrote in letters to Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, according to a Facebook post by his office.

The Prime Minister's Office rejected Englman's accusations and said it was fully cooperating with the Comptroller's office, adding that it had learned about the Comptroller's letter from media reports.

"All requests were answered in full, including every question concerning the prime minister, even though the teams of the Prime Minister's Office have been working around the clock on war issues," the statement from the office said.

Israel's Kan public broadcaster reported that, in his letters, the state comptroller said the Prime Minister's Office and the security cabinet were not fully cooperating with his office, leading to delays in the audit.

The report said the National Security Council had restricted access to documents written up to two years before the outbreak of the war.

- Reuters

34 568 Palestinians killed, more than 77 000 injured in Gaza  

The Gaza Health Ministry says 34 568 Palestinians have been killed and 77 765 injured since Israel's military offensive began after the 7 October Hamas attack.  

Hamas killed 1 200 people and abducting 250 others in its 7 October assault on Israel, according to Israeli tallies.  

- Reuters

UN calls on Israel to prevent 'human-made famine'  

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday there had been incremental progress toward averting "an entirely preventable, human-made famine" in the northern Gaza Strip, but called on Israel to do more.  

The first shipments of aid directly from Jordan to northern Gaza's newly opened Erez crossing left on Tuesday, goods are also arriving via the port of Ashdod, and a new maritime corridor will be ready in about a week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.  

- Reuters

In Israel, Blinken set to push Netanyahu for sustained aid into Gaza  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday kicked off a series of meetings with Israeli leaders discussing how to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza while at the same time repeatedly urged Palestinian militant Hamas to accept a deal offer that will release hostages and achieve a ceasefire.  

Following visits to Riyadh and Amman earlier this week, the top US diplomat is now in Israel for the final stop of his wider Middle East tour.  

It is Blinken's seventh visit to the region which was plunged into conflict on 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel.  

- Reuters

'Relentless determination': Blinken in Israel to push for peace  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's top priority in Israel will be to push the Israeli government to take a set of specific steps so that improvements in the humanitarian aid flow into the densely populated enclave.  

"Even as we're working with relentless determination to get the ceasefire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza for suffering in this crossfire of Hamas' making," Blinken said in remarks at the start of his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.  

"Focused on getting them the assistance they need, the food, and medicine, the water or shelter is also very much on our minds," Blinken said.  

Hamas killed 1 200 people and abducting 250 others in its 7 October assault on Israel, according to Israeli tallies.  

In response, Israel has launched a relentless assault on Gaza, killing more than 34 000 Palestinians, local health authorities say, in a bombardment that has reduced the enclave to a wasteland.  

More than one million people face famine after six months of war, the United Nations has said.  

- Reuters

'Now it's on Hamas': Blinken pushes for truce deal as Israel warns of Rafah offensive

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged Hamas to accept a truce in Gaza, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to launch a military offensive on Rafah "with or without" a deal.

Turkish national killed by Israel cop after stabbing officer in Jerusalem - police 

A Turkish national stabbed and moderately wounded an Israeli police officer in annexed east Jerusalem before being shot dead on Tuesday, police said.

Police said a "terrorist armed with a knife arrived in the Old City of Jerusalem, on the Herod's Gate Ascent street, charged at a border police officer and stabbed him with a knife".

It said another officer at the scene "neutralised the terrorist" and the 34-year-old attacker was later pronounced dead.

"One police officer was injured" in the attack, the statement said, adding he had been "evacuated for medical treatment".

Israeli media, citing a security source, said the Turkish assailant had entered Israel from neighbouring Jordan on Monday as a tourist.

Several deadly knife attacks have taken place across Israel and the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out following Hamas' 7 October attack in southern Israel.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1 170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34 535 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

-AFP

Israeli offensive on Rafah would be 'unbearable escalation' - UN chief

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged Israel against invading southern Gaza's Rafah, after the Israeli prime minister said an offensive would go forward regardless of a pending hostage deal with Hamas.

A military assault on Rafah would "be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee," the secretary-general told reporters.

-AFP

Israeli military says fired on suspects near border with Egypt

The Israeli military said on Tuesday its forces opened fire on a group of suspects in the area of Mount Harif, around half-way down its border with Egypt, wounding a number of them.

It gave no further details.

-Reuters

ICJ rules against emergency measures over German arms exports to Israel

Judges at the International Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled against issuing emergency orders to stop German arms exports to Israel, adding they remained deeply concerned about conditions in Gaza.

But the Court did also not grant a German request to throw out the case, so it can move forward.

-Reuters

Israel will enter Rafah with or without Gaza hostage deal, Netanyahu says

Israel will carry out an operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of whether or not a ceasefire and hostage release deal is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

"The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question," Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.

- Reuters

ICJ to rule in Germany 'genocide' case over Gaza

 The United Nations' top court will on Tuesday rule on charges by Nicaragua that Germany is breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention by supplying arms to Israel for the Gaza war.

Nicaragua has hauled Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand that judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

More than 34 000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since war broke out in October following a cross-border attack by Hamas that left around 1 170 Israelis dead.

The ICJ in The Hague is scheduled to issue an order at 15:00 (1300 GMT).

Nicaragua targeted Germany rather than Israel's main ally, the United States, because Washington did not recognise the ICJ's jurisdiction in the case, Managua's lawyers have said.

They say Israel is in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

- AFP

Biden urges Egypt and Qatar 'to exert all efforts' to secure Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal

US President Joe Biden on Monday urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to "exert all efforts" towards securing the release of hostages held by Hamas as part of negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire, the White House said.

Washington, Doha and Cairo have been mediating for months to achieve a truce in the Palestinian territory, which has endured relentless bombing by Israel in response to the unprecedented deadly attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October.

Representatives from Egypt, Qatar and Hamas met Monday in Cairo, with the Palestinian Islamist group expected to respond to a proposal for a second truce in Gaza, coupled with a fresh release of hostages.

In nearly identical statements, the White House said Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in separate phone calls and discussed "the deal now on the table."

Yemen's Houthis say they attacked two vessels, two US destroyers

Yemen's Houthis targeted two US destroyers and the vessel CYCLADES in the Red Sea as well as the MSC Orion in the Indian Ocean, the Iran-aligned group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech early on Tuesday.

Houthi forces have staged attacks on shipping lanes for months in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war.

- Reuters

Columbia protestors refuse to leave

Student protestors at Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges, said Monday they would not budge until the school met their demands, defying an ultimatum to disperse or face suspension.

Police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses across the United States over the weekend, with the White House calling on the demonstrations to remain peaceful.

Authorities at Columbia in New York issued a statement on Monday saying the protestors' encampment must be cleared, and adding that the university would not divest financial holdings linked to Israel -- a key demand of demonstrators.

But student protestors pushed back, vowing to defend their camp on the prestigious institution's main lawn.

"These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34 000 Palestinians," said a statement, read out by a student at a press conference.

- AFP

US found five Israeli military units responsible for gross violations of human rights before current Gaza conflict

The US State Department found five units of the Israeli military responsible for gross violations of human rights in incidents that took place outside of Gaza before conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas in October, the State Department said.

Four of the units have effectively remediated the violations, while Israel has submitted additional information regarding the fifth unit and the US is continuing conversations with the government, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

-Reuters

Israel kills at least 30 Palestinians in Rafah, new Gaza ceasefire talks expected in Cairo

Israeli airstrikes on three houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed at least 25 Palestinians and wounded many others, medics said on Monday, as leaders of Hamas arrived in Cairo for a new round of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

In Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes struck two houses, killing at least four people and wounding several people, health officials said. The strike on the other house killed two brothers, they added.

The strikes on Rafah, where almost half of Gaza's 2.3 million population have sought refuge from months of Israeli bombardment, unfolded hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Asked about the overnight airstrikes on Rafah, an Israeli military (IDF) spokesperson said fighter jets had "struck terror targets where terrorists were operating within a civilian area in southern Gaza", declining to give details.

"The IDF will continue to foil terrorist activity and protect Israeli civilians in accordance with international law," the spokesperson said.

-Reuters

US, Egypt 'hopeful' of Gaza truce as envoys meet in Cairo

US top diplomat Antony Blinken said on Monday he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the latest proposal for a long-sought Gaza truce and hostage release deal as negotiators from the Palestinian group were due in Egypt.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, and a recent flurry of diplomacy appeared to suggest a new push towards halting the fighting.

Talks "are taking place in Cairo today [Monday]", said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services.

It was not clear whether the Hamas delegation had already arrived, but Qatari mediators were also in Cairo according to a source with knowledge of the talks.

A senior Hamas official said on Sunday the Palestinian militant group had no "major issues" with the most recent truce plan.

-AFP

34 488 Palestinians killed and 77 643 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October - Gaza health ministry

At least 34 488 Palestinians have been killed and 77 643 were injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, a statement by Gaza's health ministry said on Monday.

Some 34 were killed and 68 injured in the last 24 hours, the statement added.

- Reuters

Hamas armed wing says it targeted Israeli military position from south Lebanon

Hamas' al Qassam Brigades said on Monday they had targeted an Israeli military position with a salvo of missiles from south Lebanon, according to a post on their telegram channel.

- Reuters

White House urges 'peaceful' pro-Palestinian campus protests after hundreds arrested

The White House insisted Sunday that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked US universities in recent weeks must remain peaceful, after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend.

"We certainly respect the right of peaceful protests," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told ABC's "This Week."

But, he added, "we absolutely condemn the anti-Semitism language that we've heard of late and certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there."

The wave of demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York, but they have since spread rapidly across the country.

US military says it engaged five unmanned drones over Red Sea

The US military said on Sunday it had engaged five unmanned drones over the Red Sea that "presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region."

US Central Command did not say in the statement if the drones were destroyed.

- Reuters

At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah, medical officials say

Israeli air strikes on three houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed 13 people and wounded many others, medics said on Monday.

Hamas media outlets put the death toll at 15.

In Gaza City, in the north of the strip, Israeli planes struck two houses, killing and wounding several people, health officials said.

The strikes on Rafah, where over a million people are sheltering from months of Israeli bombardment, came hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Islamist group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The war was triggered by an attack by Hamas militants on Israel on 7 October, killing 1 200 and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza, in a military operation that has killed more than 34 000 Palestinians, 66 of them in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza's health authorities. The war has displaced most of the 2.3 million population and laid much of the enclave to waste.

- Reuters

World Central Kitchen to resume Gaza aid after staff deaths in Israeli strike

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it would resume operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, a month after seven workers of the US-based charity were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Prior to halting operations, WCK had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza since October, representing by its own accounts 62% of all international NGO aid.

The charity said it had 276 trucks with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals ready to enter through the Rafah Crossing and will also send trucks into Gaza from Jordan.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire," said the charity's chief executive officer Erin Gore.

"We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible."

The 1 April deaths triggered widespread condemnation and demands from Israel's allies, including the US, for an explanation.

Israel said its inquiries had found serious errors and breaches of procedure by its military, dismissing two senior officers and reprimanding senior commanders.

WCK is demanding an independent investigation.

- Reuters

Gaza truce effort builds with Hamas to respond to Israel proposal

Diplomatic efforts intensified on Sunday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Hamas said it would travel to mediator Egypt to deliver its response to Israel's latest proposal.

The Israeli government has come under intense pressure to reach a ceasefire from its global allies, as well as from protesters within Israel demanding the release of hostages seized by Hamas during their 7 October attack that triggered the war.

A Hamas delegation will arrive in Egypt on Monday to deliver the group's response to Israel's new hostage and truce counterproposal, a senior official of the militant group told AFP.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate a new truce ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire - a condition that Israel has rejected.

However the Axios news website, citing two Israeli officials, reported that Israel's latest proposal includes a willingness to discuss the "restoration of sustainable calm" in Gaza after hostages are released.

It is the first time in the nearly seven-month war that Israeli leaders have suggested they are open to discussing an end to the war, Axios said.

A Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP that the group "is open to discussing the new proposal positively".

The source added that the group is "keen to reach an agreement that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for (prisoner) exchange and ensuring an end to the siege" in Gaza.

The new hopes of a potential truce came as world leaders and humanitarian groups warned that a looming Israeli invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah would lead to massive civilian causalities.

- AFP

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 34 454

The health ministry in Gaza said Sunday that at least 34 454 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during nearly seven months of war between Israel and Hamas militants.

The tally includes at least 66 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77 575 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October.

-AFP

Palestinian President Abbas says only US can stop Israeli assault on Rafah

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday that only the United States could stop Israel attacking the border city of Rafah in Gaza, adding he expected an assault in the next days.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on 7 October in which Israel said 1 200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage. More than 34 000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, and most of the population displaced.

-Reuters

France to make proposals in Lebanon to prevent war between Hezbollah and Israel

 France's foreign minister said that he would make proposals to Lebanese officials on Sunday aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel and preventing a war breaking out.

"If I look at the situation today if there was not a war in Gaza, we could be talking about a war in southern Lebanon given the number of strikes and the impact on the area," Stephane Sejourne said after visiting the United Nations peace keeping force in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

"I will pass messages and make proposals to the authorities here to stabilize this zone and avoid a war."

-Reuters

Host Saudi warns of economic fallout from Gaza war at global summit

Saudi Arabia on Sunday called for regional "stability", warning of the effects of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by a host of Gaza mediators.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in Riyadh, capital of the world's biggest crude oil exporter. The Gaza war along with conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere put "a lot of pressure" on the economic "mood", Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at one of the first panel discussions of the two-day World Economic Forum (WEF) special meeting.

"I think cool-headed countries and leaders and people need to prevail, and you need to make sure that you actually de-escalate," Jadaan said. "The world is today walking a tightrope right now, trying to balance security and prosperity," Saudi planning minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a press conference on Saturday previewing the summit. "We meet at a moment when one misjudgement or one miscalculation or one miscommunication will further exacerbate our challenges."

-AFP

Gaza set to dominate Saudi-hosted global economy summit

The war in Gaza and broader Middle East tensions are expected to get top billing at a Saudi-hosted special meeting of the World Economic Forum that begins on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in Riyadh, capital of the world's biggest crude oil exporter. "The world is today walking a tightrope right now, trying to balance security and prosperity," Saudi planning minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a press conference on Saturday previewing the event.

"We meet at a moment when one misjudgement or one miscalculation or one miscommunication will further exacerbate our challenges."

Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), told Saturday's press conference there was "some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for... a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza". However there will be no Israeli participation at the summit and Brende noted that formal mediation involving Qatar and Egypt was unfolding elsewhere.

"This is more an opportunity to have structured discussions" with "the key players", he said. "There will be discussions, of course, on the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza" as well as on Iran, which backs Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah group, he added. The gathering "has all the prospects for becoming a very consequential meeting".

The US State Department said that Blinken will "discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire". Hopes that mediators could secure a new truce in Gaza before or during the holy month of Ramadan ultimately came to nothing.

Hamas said it was studying on Saturday the latest Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt arrived in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations. From the outset Saudi Arabia has worked with other regional and global powers to try to contain the war in Gaza and avoid the type of conflagration that could derail its ambitious economic reform agenda known as Vision 2030.

-AFP

Police clear pro-Palestinian camps at three US universities

Police detained nearly 200 people at three US universities on Saturday as they cleared pro-Palestinian encampments, in the latest campus clashes triggered by protests over Israel's war against Hamas.

On the East Coast, police in Boston detained about 100 people while clearing a protest camp at Northeastern University, with social media posts showing security forces in riot gear and officers loading tents onto the back of a truck. The action was taken after some protesters resorted to "virulent anti-Semitic slurs, including 'Kill the Jews,'" Northeastern University said in a statement on social media platform X.

Arizona State University police arrested 69 people for trespassing after the group set up an "unauthorized encampment" on campus. Arizona State officials said a protest group - "most of whom were not ASU students, faculty or staff" - had set up a camp Friday and then ignored repeated orders to disperse.

Police at Indiana University arrested 23 people as they cleared a campus protest camp, the Indiana Daily Student newspaper reported. Police with shields, batons and other riot gear broke through a line of protesters who had linked arms, tackling those who did not move, the paper said. The campus activists are calling for a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, as well as for colleges to sever ties with the country and with companies they say profit from the conflict.

The protests have posed a major challenge to university administrators who are trying to balance commitments to free expression with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate speech.

Dozens of students remained encamped Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania, despite the college president ordering disbandment after what he said were "credible reports of harassing and intimidating conduct." Meanwhile, Columbia University in New York, where the protests originated, was relatively calm. Officials there announced Friday that they would not be calling police back to campus after more than 100 people were arrested last week.

Canada saw its first campus protest camp spring up Saturday at McGill University. The school in Montreal said such encampments, which are not permitted, increase "the potential for escalation and confrontation, as we have seen at some colleges throughout the US."

-AFP

Hezbollah says fires drones and guided missiles at Israel

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said on Saturday it had targeted northern Israel with drones and guided missiles after cross-border Israeli strikes killed three people, including two of its members.

A statement from the group said it "launched a complex attack using explosive drones and guided missiles on the headquarters of the Al Manara military command and a gathering of forces from the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade". The Israeli army said its Iron Dome air-defence system "successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into the area of Manara in northern Israel".

The army also "struck the sources of fire" of several anti-tank missiles launched from Lebanon into the Manara border area, it added. Lebanon's National News Agency later reported that an Israeli air strike on a house in Srebbine village had wounded 11 people, one seriously. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli fighter jets "struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Qouzah in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement.

The border between Lebanon and Israel has seen near-daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began nearly seven months ago. In two separate statements earlier Saturday, Hezbollah mourned the deaths of two fighters from the villages of Kfar Kila and Khiam. Overnight Saturday to Sunday Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of rockets at the Israeli military base at Meron, northern Israel.

The group said it was in reprisal for Israeli attacks on civilian homes at several places in southern Lebanon, including Kfar Kila and Srebbine. An Israeli army statement said its Iron Dome system had succeeded in intercepting missiles fired towards northern Israel from Lebanon's al-Manara region. It added that it had fired at "military infrastructure" in the village of Srebbine.

-AFP

Gaza war casts shadow over White House correspondents' dinner

Security was tight on Saturday as the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner kicked off, with President Joe Biden to make what is a traditionally light-hearted address amid protests and boycott calls over the conflict in Gaza.

A long list of VIP guests, including journalists and celebrities from Chris Pine to Molly Ringwald, arrived in black-tie attire as more than 100 protesters outside the Washington Hilton hotel chanted "shame on you" and other slogans while confronting attendees.

At the banquet, in keeping with longstanding tradition - interrupted during the Donald Trump years - Biden was seated on the dais ahead of the evening's comedy roast, this year to be delivered by Colin Jost of "Saturday Night Live." Biden's every move has been shadowed for months by protesters angry over US support for the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. He has been met by shouts of "Genocide Joe" and noisy calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Protesters at one point unfurled an enormous, multi-story Palestinian flag from a window on the hotel's top floor, as others congregated on the road below holding placards, chanting and shouting from bullhorns. More than two dozen Palestinian journalists this week issued an open letter urging their American colleagues to boycott the dinner."You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and uphold journalistic integrity," said the letter. "It is unacceptable to stay silent out of fear or professional concern while journalists in Gaza continue to be detained, tortured and killed for doing our jobs."

According to the New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), at least 97 journalists - including 92 Palestinians - have been killed since war erupted on 7 October  with Hamas's invasion of southern Israel. At least 16 others have been wounded.

The group Code Pink, part of an anti-war coalition, said it intended to "shut down" the dinner to protest "the complicity of the Biden administration in the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli military." It said its action would be "nonviolent" but offered no details.

The Washington Metropolitan Police Department told AFP it was "prepared to facilitate any safe and peaceful demonstration" but that guests would also be able to access the event.

-AFP

Israeli soldiers kill two Palestinian gunmen in West Bank, military says

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire at them from a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Saturday.

The military released a photo of two automatic rifles that it said were used by several gunmen to shoot at the soldiers, at an outpost near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Jenin.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said security officials confirmed two deaths and the health ministry said two other men were wounded.

There was no other immediate comment from Palestinian officials in the West Bank, where violence has been on the rise as Israel presses its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

- Reuters

Hamas receives latest Israeli proposal amid efforts to revive Gaza talks

Hamas has received Israel’s official response to its latest Gaza ceasefire proposal and the Palestinian group will study the document before submitting a reply, the organisation’s deputy Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement.

“Hamas has received today the official response of the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators on April 13,” al-Hayya, who is currently based in Qatar, said in a statement published by the group on Saturday.

After more than six months of Israel’s brutal war on the Gaza Strip, negotiations to bring about a ceasefire remain deadlocked, with Hamas sticking to its demands that any agreement with Israel must bring an end to Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave.

An Egyptian delegation visited Israel for discussion with Israeli officials on Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the conflict and return remaining captives held in Gaza following the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, an official briefed on the meetings told the French news agency AFP.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 captives would be released by Hamas, instead of the 40 previously under discussion. On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries appealed to Hamas to release all of its captives as a pathway to end the war.

In a statement issued on Friday, Hamas said it was “open to any ideas or proposals that take into account the needs and rights of our people”.However, the group stuck to its key demand that Israel end its war on Gaza and criticised the joint statement issued by the US and others for not calling for a permanent ceasefire, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

- Aljazeera

Israeli assault on Rafah would bring 'disaster' to Middle East, aid group warns

An Israeli assault on southern Gaza's Rafah area would spell disaster for civilians, not only in Gaza but across the Middle East, the head of an aid group warned on Friday, saying the region faced a "countdown to an even bigger conflict".

Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters that 1.3 million civilians seeking refuge in Rafah - including his aid group's staff - were living in "indescribable fear" of an Israeli offensive.

Israel has stepped up airstrikes on Rafah this week after saying it would evacuate civilians ahead of an all-out assault, despite allies' warnings this could cause mass casualties.

Egeland urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to go through with the operation. "Netanyahu, stop this. It is a disaster not only for the Palestinians, it would be a disaster for Israel. You will have a stain on the Israeli conscience and history forever," he said.

The NRC head spoke to Reuters in Lebanon, where he visited southern villages that he said were caught in a "horrific crossfire" between the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. The exchanges of fire have been taking place in parallel with the Gaza war and have intensified in recent days.

"I am just scared that we haven't learned from 2006," said Egeland, referring to the month-long war between Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel that was the two foes' last bloody confrontation, during which he headed the United Nations' relief operations.

"We do not need another war in the Middle East. At the moment, I'm feeling like (this is a) countdown to an even bigger conflict," he said.

Israel has been waging a military campaign for more than six months against the Gaza Strip, saying it aims to eradicate Hamas, the Palestinian group whose 7 October attack on southern Israel killed 1 200 people and saw another 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign has killed more than 34 300 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say, and laid waste to much of the widely urbanised enclave, displacing most of its 2.3 million people and leaving many with little food, water or medical care.

"Gaza has had a bigger bombardment than even Aleppo, even Raqqa, even Mosul," Egeland said, referring to cities in Syria and Iraq that have been ravaged by fierce bombing campaigns in the last decade.

"We haven't seen it in modern times, which shows that this is indiscriminate."He said a modest improvement in aid deliveries had allowed some bakeries to reopen in Gaza but that, with border crossings still shut, famine was still looming. An attack on Rafah would paralyse aid operations "in an instant", he said.

- Reuters 

Gaza baby rescued from dead mother's womb dies

A baby girl who was delivered from her dying mother's womb in a Gaza hospital following an Israeli airstrike has herself died after just a few days of life, the doctor who was caring for her said on Friday.

The baby had been named Sabreen al-Rouh. The second name means "soul" in Arabic.

Her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani (al-Sheikh), was seriously injured when the Israeli strike hit the family home in Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged Gaza Strip, on Saturday night.

Her husband, Shukri, and their three-year-old daughter, Malak, were killed.

Sabreen al-Rouh, who was 30-weeks pregnant, was rushed to the Emirati hospital in Rafah. She died of her wounds, but doctors were able to save the baby, delivering her by Caesarean section.

However, the baby suffered respiratory problems and a weak immune system, said Doctor Mohammad Salama, head of the emergency neo-natal unit at Emirati Hospital, who had been caring for Sabreen al-Rouh.

She died on Thursday, and her tiny body was buried in a sandy graveyard in Rafah.

- Reuters 

'They lied': Frustrated Qatar hits back at Israel-Hamas mediation criticism

Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback by the Gulf state against its detractors, analysts have said.

Gaza baby saved from dead mother's womb dies

A baby girl who was delivered from her dying mother's womb in a Gaza hospital following an Israeli airstrike has herself died after just a few days of life, the doctor who was caring for her said on Friday. The baby had been named Rouh, meaning Soul.

Her mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani, was seriously injured when the Israeli strike hit the family home in Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged Gaza Strip, on Saturday night. Her husband Shukri and their three-year-old daughter Malak were killed. Sabreen, who was 30-weeks pregnant, was rushed to the Emirati hospital in Rafah. She died of her wounds but doctors were able to save the baby, delivering her by Caesarean section.

However, the baby suffered respiratory problems and a weak immune system, said Doctor Mohammad Salama, head of the emergency neo-natal unit at Emirati Hospital, who had been caring for Rouh. She died on Thursday. "I and other doctors tried to save her, but she died. For me personally, it was a very difficult and painful day," he 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.

-Reuters

Students block Paris' Sciences Po university over Gaza war

Students blocked access to Paris' prestigious Sciences Po university over the war in Gaza on Friday, demanding the institution condemn Israel's actions, in a protest that echoed similar demonstrations on US campuses.

Chanting their support for the Palestinians, the students displayed Palestinian flags at windows and over the building's entrance. Several wore the black-and-white keffiyeh head scarf that has become an emblem of solidarity with Gaza. "When we see what is happening in the United States, and now in Australia, we're really hoping it will catch on here in France, the academic world has a role to play," said 22-year-old Hicham, a masters student in human rights and humanitarian studies at Sciences Po.

The students, he said, want Sciences Po to condemn Israel's actions."We're very happy that (students at) more and more universities are getting mobilised," said 20-year old Zoe, a masters student in public administration at Sciences Po. "We hope that will spread to all universities and beyond ... we won't give in until the genocide in Gaza ends."

Science Po officials did not reply to a request for comment. On Wednesday night, police removed a first group of students that had blocked Sciences Po, French media said, which was condemned by left-wing politicians.

Renewed clashes between police and students opposed to Israel's war in Gaza broke out on U.S campuses Thursday, raising questions about forceful methods being used to shut down protests that have intensified since mass arrests at Columbia University last week.

-Reuters

Israeli army says missile fire kills civilian near Lebanon

The Israeli army said Friday a civilian was killed near the country's northern border with Lebanon, as near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah rage. Both sides have stepped up attacks this week, with Hezbollah increasing rocket fire and Israel saying it had carried out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon.

The violence has fuelled fears of all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, which last went to war in 2006. "Overnight, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles toward the area of Har Dov in northern Israel," the Israeli army said, referring to the disputed Shebaa Farms district.

"As a result, an Israeli civilian doing infrastructure work was injured and he was later pronounced dead."

Israeli media reported that the victim was an Arab-Israeli truck driver. Police told AFP they had not identified the body, but said it was the only one found after a truck was hit. Hezbollah said it had destroyed two Israeli vehicles in the Kfarshuba hills overnight in a "complex ambush" on a convoy using missiles and artillery.

The Israeli army did not comment directly on the claim. It said Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets around Shebaa village in southern Lebanon including a weapons store and a launcher, while soldiers "fired to remove a threat in the area.

"It said fighter jets also "struck Hezbollah operational infrastructure in the area of Kfarshuba and a military compound in the area of Ain El Tineh in southern Lebanon." Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that Shebaa village, Kfarshuba and Helta were targeted by "more than 150 Israeli shells", leaving homes damaged.

-AFP

Hamas 'serious' about captives' release but not without Gaza ceasefire

Palestinian group Hamas has said it remains committed to achieving an agreement with Israel to end the war on Gaza, but only if its conditions including a lasting ceasefire are met. Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the group’s political bureau, said that 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.

He told Al Jazeera Arabic in a televised interview on Thursday that Hamas will not accept a truce without a permanent ceasefire and a complete halt of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 34 000 people – mainly women and children – since the current conflict started in October.

An "unhindered return" of Palestinians across the besieged enclave to their homes, along with the reconstruction of Gaza and "an end to the crippling siege" imposed on it were among the four conditions that al-Hayya reiterated. Hamas had submitted its response to a United States amendment on 13 April and is still waiting for a reply from Israel and the mediating parties, he said.

Talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have been in limbo with the two sides showing few signs that they are ready to compromise on their demands, but international mediators – Qatar, the United States and Egypt – have been engaged in intense behind-the-scenes talks to secure a deal. Top Israeli officials have repeatedly called Hamas’s demands "delusional" and have said an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would amount to losing the war.

Egypt has asked for a follow-up meeting with Israel in renewed efforts to mediate a deal, two Egyptian security sources told the Reuters news agency.

Egyptian, Israeli and US officials reportedly held in-person and remote meetings on Wednesday that sought concessions to break the deadlock in the months-long negotiations, and a meeting between Egyptian and Israeli officials is expected to take place on Friday in Cairo.

Aljazeera