Israel's Gaza invasion - Day 206

Arab and Muslim officials meeting in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh have urged the international community to impose “effective sanctions” on Israel in response to its “war crimes” against Palestinians, Alarabiya English reports.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan chaired the meeting of the Ministerial Committee, which was attended by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, as well as officials from Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The officials called on the international community to impose “effective sanctions” on Israel, advocating for measures such as halting arms exports to the country, according to the Saudi foreign ministry.

The officials accused Israel of violating international law and committing “war crimes” in both Gaza and the West Bank and expressed their opposition to Israel’s long-feared invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says if a ceasefire deal is approved it will lead to the dissolution of the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government.

On X, Ben-Gvir wrote a “reminder” to a previous post he made in January, saying, “Reckless deal = dismantling of the government.”

His comments come after hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Netanyahu’s government will have “no right of existence” unless Israel invades Rafah where Hamas battalions are allegedly based.

World Economic Forum (WEF) president Borge Brende has said 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”, AFP reports.

However, there will be no Israeli participation at the WEF summit in Riyadh.

“This is more an opportunity to have structured discussions” with “the key players” including mediators Qatar and Egypt, he said. “There will be discussions, of course, on the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza” as well as on Iran, the WEF president added.

Saudi planning minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a press conference on Saturday, previewing the summit, that the world is “walking a tightrope right now, trying to balance security and prosperity”.

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

Al Jazeera reports that a Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that a delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks.

The official has said the delegation will discuss a proposed ceasefire offered by mediators and Israel’s response.

Saudi Arabia has called for regional “stability”, warning of the effects of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by a host of Gaza mediators, AFP reports.

The Gaza situation 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,” Jadaan said. “The region needs stability.”

The health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 34,454 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during nearly seven months of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas.

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 attacked Israel on October 7, AFP reported.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said the United States “is the only country capable” of preventing Israel’s long-feared invasion of Rafah city in southern Gaza, AFP reports.

Speaking at a summit in Riyadh attended by a host of Gaza mediators, Abbas said: “We appeal to the United States of America to ask Israel to stop the Rafah operation.”

He warned it would harm and displace civilians, and be “the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people”.

Northeastern University has said the area on campus where the protests were held was now “fully secured” and “all campus operations have returned to normal”, AFP reports.

In a statement on X, the school said it made the move after “what began as a student demonstration two days ago was infiltrated by professional organisers with no affiliation to Northeastern”.

It added that detained individuals who produced a valid school ID have been released and will face disciplinary proceedings, not legal action. “Those who refused to disclose their affiliation were arrested,” the school said.

Campus activists in the United States are calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, 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. Police have carried out large-scale arrests at universities in recent days, at times using chemical irritants and tasers to disperse demonstrators.

More than 270 settlers have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Al Jazeera reports, quoting the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

The settlers performed Talmud rituals in the mosque’s courtyard under the protection of Israeli soldiers, according to the report.

The military also tightened restrictions at the Old City’s gates for Palestinian worshippers to enter the site located in occupied East Jerusalem.

Police detained nearly 200 people at three US universities in a day as they cleared pro-Palestinian encampments, in the latest campus clashes triggered by protests over Israel’s offensive on Gaza.

According to AFP, 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.

On the opposite side of the country, Arizona State University police arrested 69 people for trespassing after the group set up an “unauthorised 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 on Friday and then ignored repeated orders to disperse.

And in the US heartland, 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.

Yair Lapid has pledged to support the Israeli government in approving a possible deal with Hamas that would bring back captives, amid reports that far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were threatening to pull out of the ruling coalition if the offensive on Rafah is called off for such an agreement, Al Jazeera reports.

“Netanyahu, you have a majority among the people for a deal. And you have a majority in the Knesset for a deal. If you need to get rid of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, I will give you 24 votes in the government,” Lapid wrote on X, referring to the number of seats his Yesh Atid party controls.

“We must bring them home,” he added.

Israeli forces have launched pre-dawns raids across the occupied West Bank, triggering clashes in the village of Beit Sera, west of Ramallah, Al Jazeera reports citing the Wafa news agency.

The soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas during the confrontations, the agency reported.

Israeli forces also raided the towns of Illar, north of Tulkarem, and Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem. A 22-year-old Palestinian man was arrested in Hizma, Wafa reported.

The US president has spoken at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner, offering a toast to “press freedom and democracy” but making no mention of Israel’s incursion in Gaza that has killed at least 97 journalists, Al Jazeera reports.

That’s despite demonstrations outside the hotel which is hosting the dinner, denouncing the Biden administration’s handling of the war and urging guests to boycott the event.

Biden spent most of his speech poking fun at his predecessor and rival, former President Donald Trump, but he also paid tribute to journalists “who literally risked their lives” in their line of work.

“Many have suffered grievous injuries, others have lost their freedom. Journalism is clearly not a crime. Not here, not there, not anywhere in the world,” he said, without specifying where “there” was in reference to.

Israel’s incursion in Gaza is expected to get top billing at a Saudi Arabian-hosted special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which begins today, Al Jazeera reports.

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, the capital of the world’s biggest crude oil exporter.

“The world is today walking a tightrope… trying to balance security and prosperity,” Saudi Planning Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a news conference previewing the event.

Borge Brende, the WEF president, also said that 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.

A humanitarian aid flotilla destined for Gaza was halted after Guinea Bissau decided to remove its flag from two vessels, activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition has said, Reuters reports.

“The Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR), in a blatantly political move, informed the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that it had withdrawn the Guinea Bissau flag from two of the Freedom Flotilla’s ships, one of which is our cargo ship,” the activists said.

The three-strong flotilla had been due to sail on Friday from ports in Turkiye with more than 5,000 tonnes of aid on board, the activists said, and described the inspection and request by Guinea Bissau authorities as unusual and political.

GBISR was not immediately available for comment.

The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is the primary organiser of the civilian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is comprised of human rights activists, including lawyers, doctors and nurses who came together to deliver aid directly to Gaza.

The St Louis Post Dispatch is reporting dozens of arrests at the Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, as students protesting Israel’s offensive on Gaza tried to set up an encampment, Al Jazeera reports.

The website said the exact number of people arrested was not immediately clear but included the Green Party’s presidential candidate, Jill Stein.

The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Missouri) condemned the “heavy-handed response to a peaceful protest”, saying students “must be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights and to oppose Israel’s genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced starvation in Gaza”.

Momodou Taal, a PhD student at Cornell University in the state of New York, said students protesting Israel’s incursion in Gaza have received threats and been subjected to doxing, but received no protection from their school, Al Jazeera reports.

“We’ve had death threats. We’ve had — while we were praying Salat al-Jum’ah — we’ve had police videoing and take pictures of us… other students take pictures of us, dox[ing] us,” he told Al Jazeera. “We no longer have faith in the administration to be a place safe for Muslim students, for Arab students, for Palestinian students and by and large those students of colour and pro-Palestinian students.”

Taal was among four students Cornell “temporarily suspended” for setting up an encampment on the university’s campus. He said some of the consequences of that move is that he “might have to repeat a semester… and graduate later than expected”. That’s “quite a serious thing”, he added.

France’s foreign minister will push proposals to prevent further escalation and a potential war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah during a visit to Lebanon as Paris seeks to refine a roadmap that both sides could accept to ease tensions, Reuters reports.

France has historical ties with Lebanon and earlier this year Stephane Sejourne delivered an initiative that proposed Hezbollah’s elite unit pull back 10 km (6 miles) from the Israeli border, while Israel would halt strikes in southern Lebanon.

France’s proposal, which has been discussed with partners, notably the United States, has not moved forward, but Paris wants to keep momentum in talks and underscore to Lebanese officials that Israeli threats of a military operation in southern Lebanon should be taken seriously.

Some senior US officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find “credible or reliable” Israel’s assurances that it is using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to an internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters.

Other officials upheld support for Israel’s representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial “options memo” to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

Read more here.

The signs of fresh Gaza truce talks come after the United Nations warned that “famine thresholds in Gaza will be breached within the next six weeks” unless massive food assistance arrives, AFP reports.

Aid groups say Gaza’s already catastrophic humanitarian conditions would be worsened by Israel’s vow to attack Hamas fighters still in Rafah city in southernmost Gaza.

“We live in constant terror and fear of repeated displacement and invasion,” Nidaa Safi, 30, who fled Israeli strikes in the north and came to Rafah with her husband and children, told AFP.

The area comes under regular bombardment. Hospital officials said strikes in Rafah and elsewhere killed more than a dozen people overnight.

Among the dead were an entire family, their relative Mohammed Yussef said. “Nobody left: the father, the mother, a girl and two boys” were killed when their house was targeted, he said.

Hamas has said it was studying Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt was in Israel trying to jump-start stalled negotiations, AFP reports.

The armed wing of Hamas also released video footage of two men held hostage in Gaza, identified by Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum as Keith Siegel and Omri Miran.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political arm in Gaza, said it had “received the official Zionist occupation response to the movement’s position, which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13”.

In a statement, Hayya said Hamas “will study this proposal” before responding. The movement has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire, which Israel rejects.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been unsuccessfully trying to seal a new Gaza truce deal ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services, reported “noticeable progress in bringing the views of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations closer”.

In early April, Hamas had said it was studying a proposal, after talks in Cairo, and Al-Qahera reported progress. Days later Israel and Hamas accused each other of undermining negotiations.

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.”

The hostages appeared to speak under duress.

“I have been here in Hamas captivity for 202 days. The situation here is unpleasant, difficult and there are many bombs,” Miran is heard saying in the footage, indicating that the footage was taken earlier this week.

“It’s time to reach a deal that will get us out of here safe and healthy … Keep protesting, so that there will be a deal now.”