Gaza Tension
Live Reporting
Blinken tells Israel ‘better ways’ to deal with Hamas than Rafah
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he made clear to Israeli leaders US opposition to a major attack on the Gaza city of Rafah and said he suggested “better ways” to address Hamas, AFP reports.
“There are other ways — and in our judgement, better ways — of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not require a major military operation” in Rafah, Blinken told reporters after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.
More debris in Gaza than Ukraine: UN
The UN has said Gaza is filled with more debris and rubble than Ukraine, with the mammoth task of clearing it made all the more costly and dangerous by the sheer amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance, AFP reports.
Six months into the fighting between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated the amount of debris in the Gaza Strip at 37 million tonnes in mid-April, or 300 kilogrammes per square metre.
“Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (nearly 1,000km) long, and Gaza is 25 miles (40km) long,” said Mungo Birch, head of the UNMAS programme in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas official insists Gaza ceasefire must be permanent
A Hamas official has said the group will respond to an Israeli truce proposal for Gaza “within a very short period”, stressing that any ceasefire needs to be permanent.
Hamas is considering a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian prisoners.
Suhail al-Hindi, a senior Hamas official, told AFP the group would “deliver its response clearly within a very short period”, although he would not say precisely when that was expected to happen.
Speaking to AFP by phone from an undisclosed location, he said it was premature to say whether the Hamas envoys, who have returned from talks in Cairo to their base in Qatar, felt any progress was made.
He stressed the aim was “to reach an end to this war”.
Ex-Google workers say firings for protesting Israel contract were illegal
A group of workers at Alphabet Inc’s Google have filed a complaint with a US labour board claiming the tech company unlawfully fired about 50 employees for protesting its cloud contract with the Israeli government, Reuters reports.
The single-page complaint filed late on Monday with the US National Labour Relations Board alleges that by firing the workers, Google interfered with their rights under US labour law to advocate for better working conditions.
PHOTOS: Clashes between protesters in University of California
Blinken’s ceasefire proposal could imperil Netanyahu
Blinken has been pushing home his argument that there is a good offer on the table for Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.
The word in Arabic that Hamas will understand this truce proposal is called “hudna”, which means a long period of long-term sustained quiet, and it’s the basis on which previous truces have been agreed in Gaza.
However, if Hamas agreed to that, it would be perilous for Benjamin Netanyahu because a long-term period of calm in Gaza would throw the focus back on him.
His far-right cabinet members have threatened to bring him down if he doesn’t finish the war in Gaza by routing Hamas; that could imperil his position as prime minister if Israel is forced to go to elections.
Few northern Gaza bakeries reopen as hunger persists
As small supplies of flour trickle into northern Gaza, bakeries shuttered by the war are doing what they can to reopen.
However, many have suffered heavy damage or lost equipment due to Israel’s military campaign, adding to the challenge of providing the food staple to a population that is still on the brink of famine.
Kamel Ajour Bakeries, one of the first large bakery chains to reopen in northern Gaza, was able to salvage machinery from different branches that had been destroyed or damaged by Israeli military attacks.
The bakery, now open 24 hours, seven days a week, makes pitta bread and puffy sandwich loaves at subsidised rates.
“We suffered heavy damage,” said Karam Ajour, a quality control administrator at the bakery. “Thank God we were able to reoperate this place so we can make bread for people again.”
Hamas official says still weighing ceasefire offer, dismisses Blinken’s ‘pressure’: Report
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, has dismissed US Secretary of State Blinken’s assertion that Hamas would be accountable if a ceasefire deal fails, saying it’s a tactic to pressure Hamas while shifting blame away from Israel.
“Blinken’s comments contradict reality. It is not strange for Blinken, who is known as the foreign minister of Israel, not America, to make such a statement,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
“Even the Israeli negotiating team admitted Netanyahu was the one who was hindering reaching an agreement,” he added.
Abu Zuhri said that the group was still studying the recent ceasefire offer. Hamas is seeking the release of prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says Israel needs to destroy the remaining Hamas formations in Rafah in southern Gaza for its own security, with or without a deal with Hamas.
‘Violent, vigilante attack’ on pro-Palestine students at UCLA
This is the largest manifestation of the pro-Zionist, pro-Israel group of counter-protesters, many of whom, are from off campus, Al Jazeera reports.
They are attacking the pro-Palestine encampment on campus. It’s been maintained by students who are protesting Israel’s war on Gaza and calling for the divestment of the university’s financial ties to Israel.
This is the most violent, vigilante attack against these students that I’ve seen.
There was definitely what you could call hand-to-hand combat between the two groups. There were a lot of objects thrown and chemical irritants used. I see smoke, I see fireworks … people beating on the boards that separate the camp from the rest of the campus. I would be surprised if someone hasn’t been injured in the melee tonight.
The people who are attacking are the counter-demonstrators, who are aligned with pro-Israel, pro-Zionist organisations. They are carrying a yellow flag with a crown on it with a word that means “messiah” in Hebrew.
The important thing to note is that there seems to be absolutely no police intervention whatsoever.
Protesters in London demand UK stop sending arms to Israel
Al Jazeera reports that about 600 protesters have gathered outside the building that houses the Department for Business and Trade, which licenses arms exports, including more than $500m of weapons sent to Israel.
“The intention is to mark May 1. They are in solidarity with some of the workers in this building who are concerned that by doing their work they’re effectively contributing to what is going on in occupied Gaza,” he said, adding that the protests have been peaceful.
Dr Jonathon Fluxman of Doctors in Unite told Al Jazeera at the protest that it is “vital” that the UK stops arming Israel.
“They are violating human rights every day … we have to come out to the streets and we have to protest,” he said.
Death toll from Gaza City attack reaches three
At least three people have been confirmed killed and four wounded from an overnight Israeli air attack on a residential building in central Gaza City’s Jalaa Street, reports the Wafa news agency.
Children are among the victims.
Israeli attacks have also struck other areas of Gaza City, including the Zeitoun, Tal al-Hawa, and Sabra neighbourhoods, according to Wafa.
French foreign minister heads to Cairo: Report
Stephane Sejourne will travel to Cairo today in an unscheduled stop during a regional tour as diplomatic efforts to secure a truce in Gaza ramp up, a French diplomatic source has told Reuters.
“The surprise visit of the minister is in the context of Egypt’s efforts to free hostages and achieve a truce in Gaza,” the source said.
France has three nationals still held captive in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7.
Sejourne’s reported trip to Egypt follows stopovers in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The foreign minister said in an interview on Tuesday that there was some momentum towards an accord, but that it would only be a first step towards a long-term ceasefire.
He warned that an offensive in southern Gaza City of Rafah would do nothing to help Israel in its war.
ICC investigation ‘clear and present danger’: Herzog
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told journalists during a press briefing with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv that Israel’s “allies and friends” should reject efforts to “use the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel”.
Herzog described the ICC’s reported investigation into Israeli leaders as a “clear and present danger to all democracies and to free and peace-loving nations”.
Several senior Israeli officials have expressed concern in recent days that the ICC is investigating the country’s operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank – amid reports the court could issue warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.
Columbia president asks police to remain on campus until May 17: Report
Nemat Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, has asked New York police to remain on the university’s campus until May 17 to “ensure encampments are not reestablished”, the AFP news agency is reporting.
Students previously re-established their Gaza Solidarity encampment on the lawns of Columbia University after it was dismantled by police on April 18, in a move that saw about 100 arrests and spurred a protest movement across many other US universities.
Trump praises police operation against protesters at Columbia University
The Associated Press news agency reports that former US President Donald Trump called in live by phone to a show on Fox News to praise the police operation against pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University.
As the station broadcast live footage of police clearing Hamilton Hall at the university, Trump said the police raid should have come sooner.
“But it should never have gotten to this,” he told a Fox host.
“They should have done it a lot sooner than before they took over the building because it would have been a lot easier if they were in tents rather than a building. And tremendous damage done, too.”
University protesters released from county jail in Texas
Students arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) were greeted by supporters as they were released from the Travis County Jail.
Police arrested 97 protesters at UT Austin on Monday and dismantled an encampment set up on campus by students calling on the university to cut ties with Israel.
Travis County Attorney General Delia Garza said 65 people arrested at UT Austin had been charged with criminal trespass.
More trauma and death’ if Israeli assault on Rafah goes ahead, UN aid chief warns
UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths has issued a statement warning that a ground operation on Rafah is “on the immediate horizon” despite the world “appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare” the Palestinian city.
Israel’s plan to send ground forces into the last civilian refuge in the Gaza Strip – where more than 1 million people fled in search of safety from Israeli attacks – will “spell even more trauma and death”, Griffiths warns.
“We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing,” he said.
“For agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow,” he added.
“The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that.”
US military says ‘uncrewed surface vessel’ destroyed in Yemen
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that it has “engaged and destroyed an uncrewed surface vessel” in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.
Earlier, we reported that a Portuguese-flagged ship was struck some 600km (373 miles) off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea, in the first deep-sea assault by the Houthis since they began attacking Israeli-linked shipping in November in protest of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Search for survivors after deadly Israeli strike in Gaza City
An Israeli air attack on a house in the centre of Gaza City has killed several people and injured others, the Wafa news agency is reporting, citing local sources.
People are still searching for bodies and survivors in the ruins of the house in Jalaa Street, Wafa added, with the number of people killed in the attack yet to be confirmed.
We’ll bring you more soon.
Students, faculty hold vigil at Austin jail for detained University of Texas protesters
I’m outside the Travis County Jail, where 79 protesters were taken after police broke up an encampment at the University of Texas in Austin.
Throughout the afternoon, we’ve been seeing a trickle of those protesters being released. There’s been a vigil held here that started overnight by faculty and students who say they will stay here until the very last of those arrested protesters is released.
Every time someone is released, the crowd cheers, claps and the drums kick in.
Some of the protesters are holding up blankets and umbrellas to shield them as some of them may come out not wanting the media attention on them.
Students continue protest at Columbia University despite expulsion threats
We are outside the Hamilton Hall, a building that was occupied by a group of students who barricaded themselves inside and displayed a flag there, renaming the building to “Hind’s Hall”, after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed by the Israeli military in Gaza. The students remain there.
The people… outside – many of them are from Columbia University – have come to show their support for the students who remain inside. They are saying that they are not allowed in because the university is on lockdown. Only essential personnel and students that are living inside remain there.
The students inside say they are under siege and that the university is trying to isolate them and force them to quit this protest. We’ve seen the students outside bringing them food and water, so that they can remain inside.
The university is saying the students who remain at the encampment will be suspended and those who took over the hall will be expelled.
Despite these threats, the students inside say that for now they are not going anywhere.
Israel PM warns of Rafah offensive 'with or without' Gaza truce deal
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday (Apr 30) to launch a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip's far-southern city of Rafah "with or without" a truce deal being agreed with Hamas.
The hawkish premier issued the warning despite strong concerns raised by top ally Washington and hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in Israel on his latest Middle East crisis tour.
