Israeli Hostilities
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Israeli FM says hostage deal could suspend Rafah operation
Israel’s foreign minister has said that a planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be suspended should there be a deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, Reuters reports.
“The release of the hostages is the top priority for us,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz during an interview with local Channel 12 television.
Asked if that included putting off a planned operation to eliminate Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah, Katz answered, “Yes.”
He went on to say: “If there will be a deal, we will suspend the operation.”
Hamas releases video of two hostages held in Gaza
Hamas has released video of two men held hostage in Gaza and seen alive in the footage, AFP reports.
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the two in a statement as Keith Siegel and Omri Miran who were abducted during the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7.
“The proof of life from Keith Siegel and Omri Miran is the clearest evidence that the Israeli government must do everything to approve a deal for the return of all the hostages before Independence Day [on May 14],” the forum said.
“The living should return for rehabilitation, and the murdered should receive a dignified burial.”
Gaza ‘Freedom Flotilla’ blocked in Turkiye
A “Freedom Flotilla” aimed at delivering aid to Gaza has been blocked in Turkiye after being denied use of two of its ships, which organisers blame on Israeli pressure, AFP reports.
The coalition of NGOs and other associations said it was unable to set sail after the West African country of Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flagged vessels.
“Sadly, Guinea-Bissau has allowed itself to become complicit in Israel’s deliberate starvation, illegal siege and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.
Police detain 100 as pro-Palestinian camp cleared at Boston’s Northeastern University
Police have detained about 100 people as they moved in to clear a pro-Palestinian protest camp at Northeastern University in Boston over antisemitic slurs, AFP reports.
The action was taken after protesters resorting to “virulent antisemitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,’ crossed the line”, the school said in a statement on social media platform X.
Workers accuse Google of ‘tantrum’ after 50 fired over Israel contract protest
Google has been accused of throwing a “tantrum” after sacking more than 50 workers in response to a protest over the company’s military ties to the Israeli government — firings that have shone a light on a controversial project and long-simmering tensions between staff and management, The Guardian reports.
Emaan Haseem, a software engineer at Google and organiser with No Tech for Apartheid, was one of the fired workers. “Many of us had just recently gotten promoted. I was the fastest promoted person underneath my manager,” she said.
This was a peaceful protest, she said.
With Gaza on agenda, Blinken expected at Saudi summit tomorrow
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join more than a dozen global leaders and top diplomats for the summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) tomorrow, which will centre on the bombardment in Gaza, according to WEF president Borge Brende.
According to Al Jazeera, Brende said talks would take place on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ongoing ceasefire talks, which has seen “some new momentum on”.
Pro-Palestine protestor disrupts German ambassdor's speech at rights conference
A pro-Palestine protestor interrupted the speech of German ambassador Alfred Grannas at a conference on civil rights on Saturday.
The ambassador was speaking at the 5th Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore titled ‘People’s Mandate: Safeguarding Civil Rights in South Asia’.
As the ambassador started his speech, the protestor said, “Excuse me, Mr Ambassador. I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians.”
At least 34,388 killed in Israeli strikes since Oct 7: Gaza health ministry
Gaza’s health ministry has said that at least 34,388 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during more than six months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, AFP reports.
The tally includes at least 32 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77,437 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
British troops could be deployed to assist aid operation: report
British troops might be deployed in Gaza to assist in a new sea-borne aid operation, according to the BBC. The initiative, set to launch next month, would not include American forces landing, as they prefer a third party to manage aid distribution onshore via a floating causeway.
While the UK contemplates assigning this task to British soldiers, Whitehall sources indicate that no firm decision has reached the Prime Minister’s office yet. Both the Ministry of Defence and the Israeli army have withheld comments on the matter.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps highlighted Britain’s proactive role in the planning of this operation, working in conjunction with the US and other allies. The mission, dubbed by military planners as “wet boots,” would involve British forces driving aid trucks from landing crafts to a temporary causeway, ensuring the aid reaches a secured onshore area.
Generation gap: What student protests say about US politics, Israel support
A Gaza-focused campus protest movement in the United States has highlighted a generational divide on Israel, experts say, with young people’s willingness to challenge politicians and college administrators on display nationwide.
The opinion gap – with younger Americans generally more supportive of Palestinians than the generations that came before them – poses a risk to 81-year-old Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election chances, they argue.
Palestinian athletes to be invited to Paris Olympics
About six to eight Palestinian athletes are expected to compete at the Paris Olympics, with some set to be invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) even if they do not qualify for the Games, its head, Thomas Bach, told AFP news agency.
The Games will open on July 26.
Israeli attacks have decimated 70 percent of northern Gaza’s water wells: Beit Lahiya mayor
Israeli military attacks have wrecked 70 percent of the water wells and 50 percent of the sewage pumps in northern Gaza, according to Beit Lahiya mayor Alaa al-Attar, worsening sanitary conditions.
At the same time, Israeli attacks have destroyed “all agricultural crops in the town [Beit Lahiya] which is considered the primary food basket for the Strip,” said al-Attar in comments carried by the Anadolu news agency.
Aid groups say the lack of clean water, nutrition, sanitation and reliable healthcare throughout Gaza is causing infectious diseases, including hepatitis A, to spread in the enclave.
George Washington University protesters threatened with loss of student housing, course credits
The number of protesters inside the college courtyard has gone down significantly since this time on Thursday.
Now the reason for that is the threats that have been made by the university, warning students they could lose their housing and there is the possibility they could lose college credits, that they might not be able to graduate. And that certainly reduced the numbers.
There are now 15 inside the courtyard but they have been joined by hundreds outside who have come to give their support and add their voice to protests outside the university.
Columbia leadership rebuked by faculty panel over police crackdown on Gaza protesters
Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik has come under renewed pressure as a campus oversight panel sharply criticised her administration for clamping down on pro-Palestinian protests.
After a two-hour meeting, the Columbia University senate approved a resolution that Shafik’s administration had undermined academic freedom and disregarded the privacy and due process rights of students and faculty members by calling in the police and shutting down a Gaza solidarity encampment which led to the arrest of more than 100 students.
“The decision … has raised serious concerns about the administration’s respect for shared governance and transparency in the university decision-making process,” it said.
The senate, composed mostly of faculty members and other staff plus a few students, did not name Shafik in its resolution and avoided the harsher language of a censure.
There was no immediate response to the resolution from Shafik, who is a member of the senate but did not attend Friday’s meeting.
Two Palestinians killed as Israeli forces open fire in Jenin
According to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the two young men were killed after Israeli forces opened fire near the Salem military checkpoint, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Wafa identified the two fatalities as 22-year-old Mustafa Sultan Abed and 21-year-old Ahmed Muhammad. The news agency also cited sources as saying that Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching the bodies of the two victims.
Two other young men sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the incident. Both were transported by the Red Crescent to a hospital in Jenin.
Close to 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October.
German president cancels Gaza discussion after criticism no Palestinian invited
Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has cancelled a planned panel discussion on the Gaza war at his official residence in Berlin amid criticism that no Palestinian voice had been invited to participate.
The German news agency DPA reports that the event, titled “How do we talk about the war in the Middle East?” was originally scheduled at Bellevue Palace for next Thursday, where Steinmeier had intended to give a speech and discuss the topic with three guests, Meron Mendel, director of the Anne Frank Educational Centre, journalist Tilo Jung and Melody Sucharewicz, an expert on German-Israeli relations.
Critics called out the lack of a Palestinian voice on the panel in recent days, according to media reports.
In a statement obtained by DPA, the presidential office justified its decision to cancel the event, saying it had “come to the conclusion that the round table planned for May 2 does not serve the goal of strengthening social peace in the current tense situation. The event will therefore not take place at this time.”
The German government is among the staunchest allies of Israel, and political leaders in Berlin have repeatedly defended Israel’s war on Gaza while also cracking down on pro-Palestinian voices in Germany.
George Washington University faculty support ‘free speech’ of student protesters
Just in the last couple of hours, the faculty from George Washington University – but also other schools in the Washington area – have sent a letter to the administrator saying that what is important are the students’ First Amendment rights.
That their right to freedom of speech is protected.
So while some people may not agree with what they are saying here, and what they are doing here, the faculty think it is important that those voices are heard.
It would appear the authorities are hoping to wait out those who are still in the university courtyard. There were more than 100 there at this time last night. The numbers went down through the night with people leaving.
Maybe the authorities don’t want to move in with any level of force and they are hoping that, essentially, cold and time, and the lack of facilities, will drive the numbers of protesters down.
But there is still a great deal of support for those who are making their voices heard in the courtyard and standing against what is happening in Gaza.
UK says warship downs Houthi missile fired at a vessel in Gulf of Aden
The UK’s Defence Ministry says its forces shot down a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis targeting a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
The ministry said the HMS Diamond warship used a Sea Viper missile system to shoot down the missile.
“The UK continues to be at the forefront of the international response to the Iranian-backed Houthis’ dangerous attacks on commercial vessels, which have claimed the lives of international mariners,” UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said.
“I want to thank the brave crew of HMS Diamond for her vital role in saving innocent lives and protecting international shipping from illegal Houthi attacks.”
The Houthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November in support of Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
Gaza solidarity encampment at New York’s City University grows amid police threat
This encampment at City University of New York just opened up one day ago, and already police from the university have come in trying to sweep people out of here, and they’ve failed to do so.
There are dozens of tents that have just sprung up after campus police tried to sweep in.
Then we have the New York City police come in, and they set some barricades and big, portable lighting posts that suggest that they might want to come in here, too.
These students say they have received threats that if they didn’t take the tents down, that the police would come in.
Everybody I have talked to here said that if that happens, they’re just going to rebuild.
What’s happening here is happening all over the country.
37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - There are some 37 million tonnes of debris to clear away in Gaza once the Israeli offensive is over, a senior official with the UN Mine Action Service said Friday (Apr 26).
And unexploded ordnance buried in the rubble would complicate that work, said UNMAS' Pehr Lodhammar, who has run mine programmes in countries such as Iraq.
Netanyahu says ICC decisions will not affect Israel's actions, set dangerous precedent
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday (Apr 26) that any decisions by the International Criminal Court, which is investigating Hamas' Oct 7 attacks and Israel's military assault on Gaza, would not affect Israel's actions but would set a dangerous precedent.
"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," Netanyahu said in a statement on Telegram.
