Israeli Hostilities
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CIA director in Cairo for meetings on Gaza fighting: Egyptian sources
An Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo airport have said that CIA Director William Burns has arrived in the Egyptian capital for meetings about the conflict in Gaza, Reuters reports.
The CIA declined to comment, reflecting its policy of not disclosing the director’s travel.
Iran slams US for clamp down on pro-Palestine student protests
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has condemned US authorities for violently suppressing the protests of pro-Palestinian students across the country, Al Jazeera reports.
He wrote on X: “The move of the US government authorities to distort the truth and describe genuine student and academic anger and protests as anti-semitism, in order to justify and use of violent suppression tools to silence the peaceful protests and gatherings of pro-Palestine students, does not diminish the ugliness of their actions.
“A significant number of Jewish people, including Jewish students, have declared their disgust with the hateful crimes of the Zionist regime and the US government’s shameful support for the regime.”
Britain sanctions Israeli groups, individuals for violence in West Bank
The UK has imposed sanctions on two “extremist” groups and four individuals in Israel who it blamed for violence in the West Bank, Reuters reports.
The UK Foreign Office named Hilltop Youth and Lehava as two groups which it said were known to have supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The four individuals sanctioned were responsible for human rights abuses against these communities, the statement added.
Among them are Noam Federman, who has trained settler groups in committing violence and Elisha Yered, who has justified killing Palestinians on religious grounds.
155,000 pregnant, breastfeeding women in Gaza lack proper access to water, says UN agency
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, has said that currently 155,000 of pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza have “severely limited access” to water and sanitation.
More than 10,000 women have been killed in the Gaza strip, while 19,000 others have been wounded, according to the agency’s report.
Many of the victims are mothers, meaning that an average of 37 children are losing their mothers every day, UNRWA said.
Bahrain says group that claimed Israel attack ‘operates outside kingdom, designated as terrorist’
Authorities in Bahrain have confirmed that Saraya al-Ashtar, or al-Ashtar Brigades, the group that claimed a drone attack in Israel “operates outside the kingdom” and has previously been classified “as a terrorist organisation”, Al Jazeera reports.
State media quoted Mohammed al-Abbasi, the official spokesman for the National Communication Centre, as saying that several other countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, had also designated al-Ashtar Brigades as such.
Death toll from overnight Rafah attack climbs to 7
The death toll from an overnight air strike on a home in northern Rafah has now risen to seven, with four of the victims being children, reports Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abou Azzoum from the southern Gaza district.
Elsewhere in Rafah, especially to the east, there has been a “surge in air strikes and artillery bombardment,” said Abou Azzoum
Israeli military attacks have also intensified in parts of northern Gaza, such as Sheikh Ijlin neighbourhood, as well as central Gaza, where eyewitnesses say there is “constant intensive artillery bombardment”, according to Abou Azzoum.
“A number of casualties have been transferred to al-Aqsa Hospital,” he said.
Israeli forces detain 53 Palestinian journalists: report
In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society has issued a reminder that 53 Palestinian journalists are currently detained by Israeli forces, Al Jazeera reports.
Forty-three of the journalists were detained following October 7, the group said, including four who have been deemed “forcibly disappeared” because Israel has provided no information about their status or whereabouts.
“The targeting of Palestinian journalists has been and remains one of the most prominent policies pursued by the occupation throughout its history,” said the Prisoner’s Society.
Turkey says Israel trade halted until permanent Gaza truce
Turkey’s trade halt with Israel will continue until a permanent truce in Gaza is secured as well as unhindered humanitarian aid flow to the region, according to Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat.
Turkey stopped all exports and imports to and from Israel on Thursday, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories.
Israel’s uncompromising attitude and worsening situation in Gaza prompted Turkey to halt trade, Bolat said, in a speech in Istanbul while announcing April trade figures. The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8bn in 2023.
‘I had many dreams for us’, says widow of Palestinian journalist
Saeed al-Taweel was one of the first Palestinian journalists to be killed in the Gaza war.
Editor-in-chief of Al-Khamsa News, al-Taweel was hit by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City’s Remal neighbourhood while documenting Israeli military attacks, just a few days into the war.
Seven months on, his family tells Al Jazeera they remain grief-stricken, but are inspired by his character.
“I had many dreams for us”, al-Taweel’s widow told Al Jazeera. “I always hoped that my children would be as caring and as kind to me as Saeed was to his mother. But his children didn’t get enough time from him to absorb everything from their father, who died very young.”
Al-Taweel is one of at least 140 media workers to be killed in the war, according to Gaza’s media office, in what is the world’s deadliest conflict for journalists.
Israel says 400 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza
Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says it allowed 400 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza on Thursday.
Posting on X, it also said 56 pallets containing “thousands of meals” were airdropped over northern Gaza. It added that 22 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were delivered to northern Gaza, where food shortages are most acute and the risk of famine is highest.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Wednesday that Israel allowed an average of 163 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day in April.
This is significantly less than the 1,000 daily trucks that officials in Gaza say are required to meet the needs of Palestinians in the enclave.
Dozens of Israeli settlers storm Palestinian hillside: Report
The settlers have reached Jabal al-Urma, a hill on the outskirts of the Palestinian town of Beita in the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency.
Within the town of Beita, sirens have gone off warning residents of a potential settler attack, according to Wafa.
Israeli settlers, sometimes given cover by Israeli security forces, have intensified assaults on Palestinian towns during the war on Gaza, waging more than 800 attacks that have caused casualties or property damage, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Dozens of NGOs warn Biden of ‘catastrophic loss’ of life from Israeli attack on Rafah
A group of 47 nongovernmental and humanitarian organisations sent a letter to US President Joe Biden highlighting the profound risks to the civilian population of Gaza’s Rafah city from an Israeli ground assault.
The joint letter states that no credible humanitarian plan can feasibly ensure the safety of the estimated 1.3 million people currently sheltering in Rafah.
“Displaced Palestinians in Rafah are effectively trapped with no safe alternatives. Many of them are too young, elderly, sick, starving, injured, or disabled to move again,” the letter states.
“Even in the absence of further military escalation, overcrowded conditions, the near total collapse of sanitation infrastructure, the spread of disease, and a dire scarcity of food, water, and medicine in Rafah could kill thousands more by August,” it adds.
The letter ends with a call for Biden to use all the influence of his administration to “prevent such an operation occurring in order to avoid further catastrophic loss of civilian lives”.
Police arrests at US antiwar campus protests near 2,200: Report
The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that police have arrested almost 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks.
The AP calculated the arrest figure based on reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
There have been at least 56 incidents of arrest at 43 different US colleges or universities since April 18, the news agency said.
Palestinian journalists win UNESCO world press freedom prize for Gaza coverage
Gaza’s journalists have been named the winners of the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for their coverage of Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory, the UN’s cultural agency said in a statement.
Established in 1997, the annual prize “honours an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger”, UNESCO said.
“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals, who recommended the winners of the prize.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said on May 1 that, according to preliminary investigations, at least 97 journalists and media workers are among the more than 35,000 killed since the war on Gaza began on October 7.
The dead included 92 Palestinian, two Israeli, and three Lebanese journalists.
Quebec premier calls for McGill University encampment to be dismantled
The Premier of Quebec Francois Legault has called on police to dismantle a pro-Palestine encampment on the McGill University campus in Montreal.
The McGill University administration has also called on police to remove the dozens of tents that have been set up on the campus since Saturday.
Montreal police spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant has said his forces are “still evaluating” the situation and said it is not in the interests of the police or the city of Montreal to immediately intervene in a peaceful protest.
Student-led protests have spread from the US to Canada in recent days. Pro-Palestine camps have been erected across some of Canada’s largest universities, with activists demanding they divest from groups conducting business with Israel.
Leaked details of ceasefire proposal hints at compromises to end war in Gaza: Report
The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that leaked details on truce proposal talks between Israel and Hamas hints at compromises on both sides to end the war on Gaza.
According to the AP, the initial stage of the deal would last for 40 days. During this period, Hamas would start by releasing female civilian captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
After this first release, Israeli forces would withdraw from a coastal road in Gaza and head inland to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid to the starved Palestinian territory.
During this period, displaced Palestinian civilians would be able to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas would also provide a list of captives who are still alive during that time.
Within a period of three weeks, both sides would start indirect negotiations that aim to restore a permanent calm in Gaza, the AP reports.
Three weeks into this first phase, Israeli troops would withdraw from central Gaza.
The second six-week phase would seek to finalise arrangements for a permanent calm in Gaza, and the release of all remaining captives, both civilians and military, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
Israeli military captives held in Gaza would not be released before the start of the calm in the war-torn territory.
The third and final stage, according to AP, would include the release of the remains of deceased captives and more Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan for the territory.
Man shot as Israeli forces conduct raids across the occupied West Bank
Local Palestinian media are reporting that Israeli forces are conducting raids across multiple locations in the occupied West Bank tonight, including:
The city of Hebron.
The towns of Beit Ummar and Halhul, where tear gas has also been fired.
The village of al-Rihiya, south of Hebron.
A Palestinian man has been taken to hospital with a serious head injury after being shot by Israeli forces during the storming of the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarem city.
A Palestinian man has also been killed by gunfire in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, Wafa reports. It is not clear who is responsible for the shooting.
Iraqi fighter groups claim missile attack on Tel Aviv
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned armed groups, has said it launched multiple cruise missiles at Israel on Thursday, the Reuters news agency reports.
A source from the group told Reuters that al-Arqab-type cruise missiles were fired at the city of Tel Aviv for the first time. Israel has yet to comment on the attack.
The Iraqi armed groups have claimed multiple attacks on US forces stationed in Iraq and Syria, as well as targets in Israel, since October.
US military says it destroyed three Houthi uncrewed aerial systems in Yemen
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that it “engaged and destroyed” three uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
“It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM wrote in a post on X.
California Republicans want university leaders fired over antiwar protests
Republican party leaders are calling for the removal of university administrations in California, saying they should have prevented campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza from escalating into “lawlessness and violence”.
According to The Associated Press news agency, Republicans want the leaders at universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt removed, and are also pushing for a proposal that would cut pay for university administrations.
“We’ve got a whole lot of people in these universities drawing six-figure salaries and they stood by and did nothing,” California State Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher told reporters.
“There does need to be accountability,” he said.
The Republican call comes amid the police arrest of at least 50 UCLA student and faculty protesters and the removal of a campus encampment where students had been campaigning against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Republican proposals would need the approval of Democratic lawmakers, who hold supermajorities in both chambers at the California State Capitol.
‘Divest from Israel’ – Decoding the Gaza protest call shaking US campuses
The student-led protests being held across US campuses have multiple demands, but one common cause is demanding that schools stop doing business with Israel.
Many of the universities are in command of multibillion-dollar endowments, and students have demanded they withdraw their investments from companies that do business with Israel.
Protesters at the Ivy League Brown University are the first at an elite college to reach an agreement with their administration. They ended their encampment after the college agreed to hold a vote on whether to divest from firms supporting Israel.
Democratic and Republican US senators held a virtual meeting with senior officials from the International Criminal Court over potential arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, reports news site Axios.
Biden breaks silence on college protests over Gaza conflict
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under mounting political pressure, US President Joe Biden broke his silence on campus unrest over the war in Gaza on Thursday (May 2), saying Americans have the right to demonstrate but not to unleash violence.
"There is a right to protest, but not a right to cause chaos," Biden said in remarks at the White House.
Student-led protests spread to Canada, where encampments have been erected at the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal, among other campuses.
Gaza needs biggest post-war reconstruction effort since WWII: UN
GAZA STRIP (AFP) - The United Nations said Thursday (May 2) that the post-war reconstruction of Gaza would require an international effort unseen since the aftermath of World War II, estimating it could cost up to US$40 billion.
It came as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh struck an optimistic tone over a possible truce and hostage release deal for Gaza, after weeks of largely stalled negotiations.
