Friday, May 3, 2024
16:26 GMT — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Türkiye's move to halt trade with Israel was designed to force the country to a ceasefire over Gaza.
"We have taken some measures to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid to enter" Gaza, Erdogan told a group of businessmen in Istanbul.
"We will oversee the consequences of this step we have taken in coordination and consultation with our business world."
Erdogan also said: "We do not run after hostility or conflict in our region," saying "We know now that we did the right thing."
16:39 GMT — Arrests exceed 2,300 as police clear more US campus encampments
Police ordered pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon a tent encampment at New York University, following weeks of demonstrations and police crackdowns at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2,300 arrests.
About a dozen protesters who refused police orders to leave were arrested and about 30 more left voluntarily, according to NYU spokesperson John Beckman.
The school asked the New York Police Department to intervene “to minimize the likelihood of injury" and disruption, Beckman said.
16:07 GMT — A new sea route for Gaza aid is on track: USAID
The United States expects to have on-the-ground arrangements in Gaza ready for humanitarian workers to start delivering food, treatment for starving children and other urgent assistance by early to mid-month when the American military expects to complete a floating pier for the aid, an official with the US Agency for International Development said.
But aid coming through the new U.S.-led maritime route still will serve only a fraction — half a million people — of those who need help in Gaza, the USAID official stressed to The Associated Press.
15:36 GMT — Yemen's Houthis announce '4th round' of escalation against Israel's war in Gaza
The Yemeni group Houthi said it started the fourth round against Israel as Tel Aviv announced serious preparations for a military offensive against the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza.
The group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, revealed that the fourth phase of escalation "includes targeting all ships that violate the Israeli navigation ban and heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any area targeted by the Houthi forces."
He continued: "If the Israeli enemy launches a military offensive on Rafah, we will impose comprehensive sanctions on all ships of companies associated with supplies and entry to the ports of occupied Palestine, regardless of their nationality."
15:36 GMT — US relocates Gaza pier construction due to bad weather
US forces have moved construction of a temporary pier for Gaza aid deliveries from an offshore area to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to high seas and winds, the military said.
"Yesterday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) temporarily paused offshore assembly of the floating pier in the vicinity of Gaza due to sea state considerations," the military command said in a statement.
"Forecasted high winds and high sea swells caused unsafe conditions for Soldiers working on the surface of the partially constructed pier," it said.
"The partially built pier and military vessels involved in its construction have moved to the Port of Ashdod, where assembly will continue, and will be completed prior to the emplacement of the pier in its intended location when sea states subside."
14:12 GMT — Netanyahu comments intended to torpedo truce prospects — Hamas
A senior Hamas official has accused Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu of issuing statements intended to torpedo prospects for a truce in the nearly seven-month war in Gaza.
Hossam Badran told AFP that Hamas was in the process of conducting internal dialogues within its leadership and with allied militant groups before negotiators return to Cairo to continue negotiations towards a truce.
But he warned that Netanyahu's repeated statements insisting he will send troops into the territory's far southern city of Rafah were calculated to "thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement".
"Netanyahu was the obstructionist in all previous rounds of dialogue and previous negotiations, and it is clear that he still is," he said in a telephone interview.
"He is not interested in reaching an agreement, and therefore he says words in the media to thwart these current efforts."
14:10 GMT — 'Slightly' more food available in Gaza but famine still looms: WHO
The availability of food in Gaza has very slightly improved, though the risk of famine in the besieged Palestinian territory remains, the World Health Organization said.
"The food situation has a little bit improved. There's a bit more food," Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told a press briefing in Geneva via video-link from Jerusalem.
Compared to a few months ago, "definitely there is more basic food, more wheat, but also a little bit more diversified food on the market", he said.
Peeperkorn stressed that local food production in the densely populated Gaza — such as fruit, vegetables and fish — had been "destroyed" by the war.
The threat of famine had "absolutely not" gone away, he said.
13:22 GMT — Yemen's Houthis say will target ships heading to Israeli ports
Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range, military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech.
"We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach," he said.
The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israeli war on Gaza could spread and destabilise the Middle East.
12:55 GMT — Over 10,000 women killed in Gaza: UN agency
More than 10,000 women were killed in the ongoing Israeli onslaught on besieged Gaza, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said.
In a statement, the agency said: “The war in Gaza continues to be a war on women.”
"Over 10,000 women have been killed and 19,000 injured," it added. The agency also said: "37 children lose their mother every single day."
It stressed that "conditions are appalling," noting that "over 155,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women faced with severely limited access to water and sanitary items."
12:14 GMT — Gaza death toll tops 34,600 as Israeli onslaught continues
The Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 34,622 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The tally includes at least 26 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77,867 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war between Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Israel.
12:02 GMT — Britain sanctions Israeli groups for violence in West Bank
Britain announced new sanctions on "extremist Israeli groups" and a number of individuals who it said were behind the violence in the occupied West Bank, according to a statement from the British Foreign Ministry.
11:57 GMT — Israel detains 53 Palestinian journalists: NGOs
Israel keeps 53 journalists in its prisons, including 43 who were arrested after the outbreak of the war against Gaza on October 7, 2023, said the Palestinian Prisoner Society and the Addameer association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.
The two institutions said the Israeli forces arrested and detained a total of 70 journalists after the outbreak of the war, including 43 who are currently held in their prisons.
It indicated that "four journalists from Gaza are still under forced disappearance."
In their joint statement, the two Palestinian groups said the arrests highlighted "the systematic policies used by the occupation regime over many decades against Palestinian journalists."
11:39 GMT — Türkiye's President Erdogan denounces Western support for Israel
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the West for its ongoing support to Israel.
"All Western countries, led by the US, are supporting Israel and they are sparing no efforts to condemn the poverty-stricken Palestinians to death," he said.
Erdogan also added that the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine is "unacceptable." "Israel has brutally killed 40,000 to 45,000 Palestinians so far. As Muslims, it is unthinkable for us to stand by and watch this happen," he added.
10:40 GMT — Rafah operation could result in 'slaughter of civilians': UN
An Israeli army's invasion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk and be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations of the entire enclave, the UN humanitarian office said.
Israel has warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation, having fled months of Israeli bombardments.
"It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, at a Geneva press briefing.
10:14 GMT — Harvard to install safety barriers amid pro-Palestine encampment
Harvard University announced plans to install three-foot orange barriers in some locations around the pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard at the center of the campus to ensure safety during freshmen move-out.
The barriers, slated to be in place until May 15, will be positioned between key buildings bordering the encampment, including Massachusetts Hall, Harvard Hall, Matthews Hall, Hollis Hall, and University Hall, according to the university's spokesperson Jason A. Newton.
These measures aim to manage pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow during the ongoing occupation.
Harvard has progressively implemented measures to mitigate the encampment's impact on normal operations, including restricting access to the Yard and relocating events and exams.
Spokesperson Newton stressed pedestrian safety, urging individuals to maintain "a safe distance from vehicles" and keep "egress passageways clear."
09:36 GMT — Hamas calls for global action over Israeli targeting journalists
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called for global action to “criminalise” Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists.
In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, Hamas said: “We call for global action to denounce, expose and criminalise the occupation’s violations, and to protect Palestinian journalists and media professionals from the oppression and terrorism of the (Israeli) occupation".
The Palestinian group affirmed that Israel’s “crimes against journalists will not obscure the reality of its terrorism and aggression".
Hamas stressed that Israel "failed to prevent the spread of the Palestinian narrative at the Arab, Islamic and international levels".
At least 141 journalists and media professionals were killed and more than 70 others were injured by Israeli army gunfire in addition to the arrest of dozens during the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza-based Government Media Office said.
09:29 GMT — Hamas hails Türkiye's suspension of trade with Israel as ‘victory’
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas praised Türkiye’s decisions to suspend trade with Israel considering it a “victory for the Palestinian people.”
“We highly value the decisions recently taken by the Republic of Türkiye as a victory for our Palestinian people who are being subjected to a horrific genocide,” Hamas said in a statement.
The movement hailed both the cessation of commercial trade with Israel and Türkiye’s decision to join the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Tel Aviv before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
09:12 GMT — Israel delays vote on closure of Al Jazeera television
The Israeli Cabinet postponed voting on a decision to ban Al Jazeera television in the country until next Sunday, local media reported.
The Israeli Walla website said that the Cabinet did not vote at its meeting on Thursday evening on a decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel.
“The Cabinet, which met on Thursday evening, was supposed to vote on a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi to ban Al Jazeera's activities in Israel, but at the last minute, the vote was postponed,” the website added.
0905 GMT — Israeli diplomat in Russia says ceasefire in Gaza possible for exchange of hostages
An Israeli diplomat working in Russia said that her country might consider a ceasefire in Gaza only under the condition of a hostage exchange with Hamas.
"A temporary ceasefire is only possible to free the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza," Julia Rachinsky-Spivakov told local media answering a question about a possibility of declaring a pause in hostilities for the time of religious holidays.
08:12 GMT — Israel confirms death of hostage held in Gaza
An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, the government and the kibbutz where he had lived said.
Dror Or, 49, is the latest hostage to have been confirmed dead by Israel after begin captured during the Hamas attack.
Or was killed and his body held in Gaza since October 7, the Beeri kibbutz said. It was one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel from Gaza.
Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by fighters during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 35 of them are dead including Or.
07:45 GMT — 4 children among 7 killed in Israeli raid in southern Gaza
At least four children among seven Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in an Israeli raid targeting a house in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, medical sources told Anadolu.
The victims were said to be from the Shaheen family, and lived in the Al-Zuhur neighbourhood.
Multiple civilians were also wounded in Israeli airstrikes on a house in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood, Rafah, and on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Wafa news agency.
05:50 GMT — Rebuilding Gaza require efforts not seen since World War II — UN
Rebuilding Gaza will cost as much as $40B and require an effort on a scale the world has not seen since World War II amid “unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction”, the United Nations says.
“The United Nations Development Programme’s initial estimates for the reconstruction of… the Gaza Strip surpass $30 billion and could reach up to $40 billion,” said UN assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari.
“The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented… This is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II,” Dardari told a press conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.
05:03 GMT — Hamas officials to visit Egypt for talks as Israel batters Gaza
Hamas has said that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further ceasefire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the resistance group to end Tel Aviv's brutal war in besieged Gaza.
After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the ceasefire efforts appear to have reached a critical stage, with Egyptian and American mediators reporting signs of compromise in recent days.
But chances for the deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas which many experts say is far-fetched.
04:22 GMT — Israel wounds Syrian soldiers in fresh attacks
Syrian regime's Defence Ministry has said Israel wounded eight soldiers in air strikes near Damascus.
"The Israeli enemy launched air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a site near Damascus... injuring eight soldiers," the ministry said in a statement.
04:00 GMT — Israel confirms death of captive in Gaza
An Israeli man held in besieged Gaza since October 7 has been confirmed dead, Israel said.
Dror Or, 49, was killed, and his body was held in Gaza since October 7, said the settlement where he had lived.
Israeli officials did not say how they learned of Or's death.
03:46 GMT — France's Po Sciences University closes main site over Gaza protests
France's prestigious Sciences Po University has said it would close its main Paris site due to a fresh occupation of buildings by dozens of protesting pro-Palestine students.
In a message sent to staff, its management said the buildings in central Paris "will remain closed tomorrow, Friday May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home".
A committee of pro-Palestinian students earlier announced a "peaceful sit-in" at Sciences Po and said six students were starting a hunger strike "in solidarity with Palestinian victims" in Gaza.
03:11 GMT — Quebec seeks dismantlement of pro-Palestine encampments
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestine camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.
The Canadian protests come as police have been arresting hundreds on US campuses, and the death toll in Gaza has been mounting.
While McGill had requested police intervention, law enforcement had not stepped in to clear the.
02:25 GMT — Hamas wants Israel held accountable for torturing Palestinians to death
Hamas has called for Israel to be held accountable for the death of two Palestinian prisoners, including Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, due to torture.
"The deaths of our people abducted from Gaza in Israeli jails under torture confirm the atrocious war crimes continuing against our people," the movement said in a statement.
The statement noted: "Israel forcibly took many of our people from schools and hospitals to detention centres…, including doctors, whose crime was their humanitarian duty towards people."
02:17 GMT — Palestinian journalists win World Press Freedom prize
UNESCO has awarded its World Press Freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the Israeli carnage in besieged Gaza.
"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.
"As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression."
02:10 GMT — Yemen's Houthis threaten '4th round of escalation'
The Yemeni group Houthi said that it is preparing a "fourth round of escalation" if the Israeli carnage on besieged Gaza continued.
"If Israel and the US persist in aggression against the Palestinian people, there will be a fourth round of escalation against this occupying enemy," group leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a recorded speech reported by the Houthi-run Saba News Agency.
02:00 GMT — Israel withholding '500 bodies' of slain Palestinians in jails
The Palestinian National Campaign to Retrieve the Bodies of the Martyrs has accused Israel of withholding the bodies of 500 slain Palestinians who died inside Israeli occupation jails, including the bodies of 58 others since the beginning of 2024, WAFA news agency reported.
"Withholding the bodies in the cemeteries and the occupation's refrigerators constitutes an affront to the human dignity of a person, during his life and after his death, and a collective punishment," the campaign said, urging international organisations to demand the release of the bodies to let the families bury them.
For our live updates from Thursday, May 2, click here.
