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Rafah, Gaza and Jerusalem CNN —Dozens of people were killed on Sunday after a fire broke out following an Israeli airstrike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza. “Several civilians are still trapped inside the camp, which was attacked without warning,” a Palestinian man filming the fire said. Palestinians mourn over the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, the Gaza Strip on Monday. It was among the deadliest strikes by the Israeli military on Gaza’s southernmost city since Israel began its operation there on May 7. Qatar, another key mediator, said Israel’s strike could “hinder” ongoing negotiations, and called the attack a “serious violation of international law.”Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp housing internally displaced people in Rafah, Gaza on Monday.

Persons: ”, Jehad, ” Avichay Adraee, Yifat, Yerushalmi, “, ” Israel, Staff Yassin Rabia, Khaled Nagar, peered, Abed Rahim Khatib, Mohammad Abu Al Subeh, Abu Al Subeh, “ It’s, ” Abu Nidal Al Attar, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Israel, Emmanuel Macron, Critics, Israel’s, Eyad Baba Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, CNN, Gaza Health Ministry, Hamas, Sunday, Israel Defense Forces, IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, IDF, West Bank, Staff, International Court of Justice, United Nations ’, Ministry of Health, Getty, UN, ” Medical, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, ICJ Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel, “, rummaging, Kuwait, Nuseirat, Egypt, Qatar, AFP

This week, Karim Khan, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Patrick Kingsley, the Times’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, explains why this may set up a possible showdown between the court and Israel with its biggest ally, the United States.

Persons: Karim Khan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Patrick Kingsley Organizations: Criminal Locations: Jerusalem, Israel, United States

☆ Opinion | Western Europe Is Starting to Send a Vital Warning to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 140 countries and the Holy See have recognized the right of Palestinians to have a state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. What is noteworthy about this latest move, though, is that major Western European countries, and the United States, had resisted going there, arguing that peace should be worked out between the two parties. My focus is always on the practical: Will these recognitions of a nonexistent Palestinian state with undefined borders lead to the only sustainable solution — a real-life peace between two states for two indigenous communities — Jews and Palestinians? The answer is yes and no. In the short term, these diplomatic recognitions from fellow democracies will not move the Israeli public, Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, told me.

Persons: Yohanan Plesner, ”, “ Organizations: West, Israel Democracy Institute Locations: Spain, Norway, Ireland, Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem, United States, Israel

☆ Netanyahu denies Israel is starving civilians in Gaza as a method of war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Israel has allowed 20,000 trucks of aid into Gaza, Netanyahu said – a fraction of what would have entered in the same period under normal times. Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza, following Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks, has reached its seventh month and left more than 34,000 people dead. Netanyahu is deeply unpopular in Israel, where he is also facing an ongoing corruption trial. Speaking to Tapper, Netanyahu rejected accusations that he avoids Israeli media in favor of international press, saying he has done up to 20 press conferences with Israeli journalists. An ICC warrant would compel more than 100 member-nations of the court to arrest Netanyahu if he traveled in their territory.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, CNN’s Jake Tapper, Karim Khan, – Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant –, Khan, Netanyahu, Gallant, Tapper, –, ’, ”, Critics, “ That’s, “, Khan’s, Joe Biden, ” Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Franklin Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Israel, Vladimir, Putin, ” Khan Organizations: CNN, Israeli, Criminal Court, ICC, Israel’s, Gaza, West Bank, Amnesty, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, East Jerusalem, France, Africa

☆ Amal Clooney supports ICC’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Human rights attorney Amal Clooney is among a group of legal experts who advised the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to seek arrest warrants against the top leaders of Israel and Hamas. The panel was convened by the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and tasked to review the evidence and legal analysis underpinning his application for warrants against three Hamas leaders and two Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It issued a detailed legal report on Monday, which said the panel found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the individuals named in the arrest warrants have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. Clooney, who has represented victims of mass atrocities, faced online criticism prior to her announcement for not speaking about Israel’s siege on Gaza. In a statement shared on her Clooney Foundation for Justice website on Monday, she explained how she had found herself advising Khan.

Persons: Amal Clooney, Karim Khan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Clooney, Khan, “, ” Clooney, Theodor Meron, Lord Justice Fulford, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, ”, ” Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu, Biden, Joe Biden, George Clooney, ” CNN’s Ivana Kottasová Organizations: CNN, Criminal Court, ICC, Hamas, Clooney Foundation, Justice, Criminal, Lord, Palestinian, Israeli, West Bank, Doughty Street Chambers, Columbia Law School, Clooney Foundation for Justice, ISIS Locations: Israel, Gaza, Yugoslavia, United States, East Jerusalem, London, Darfur

☆ Hamas and Israeli leaders may face international arrest warrants. Here’s what that means
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

If approved by a panel of judges, the arrest warrants would be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The decision to seek arrest warrants doesn’t immediately mean the individual is guilty, but is the first stage in a process that could lead to a lengthy trial. The ICC has so far issued arrest warrants against 42 people, 21 of whom have been detained with the help of member states. Signatory states are obliged to apprehend those facing arrest warrants, but leaders have often sought to evade those warrants, restricting their freedom of movement. Video Ad Feedback ICC chief details charges he is seeking against Hamas and Israeli leaders 02:04 - Source: CNNDoes the ICC have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals?

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyah, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al, Masri, Mohammed Deif, Netanyahu, doesn’t, ”, Putin, Haniyah, Omar al, Bashir, Saif Gadhafi, Moammar Gadhafi, Vladimir Putin, hasn’t, Karim Khan, “, Khan, Shelly Aviv Yeini, ” Yeini, Muhammad Nazzal, Gallant, Israel Katz, Yair Lapid, Israel “, Sinwar, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Mike Johnson, CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Benjamin Brown, Melanie Zanona, Aber Salman, Michael Schwartz Organizations: CNN, Criminal Court, Israeli, ICC, The Hague, International Court of Justice, United Nations, UN, Djibouti –, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Reuters, Foreign, National Security, Hague, Defense Ministry, Republican Locations: Israel, Gaza, Chile, South Africa, Qatar, Rome, The, Netherlands, Russian, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, Djibouti, Palestinian, East Jerusalem, Palestine, The Hague, Israeli

☆ ICC seeks arrest warrants against Sinwar and Netanyahu for war crimes over October 7 attack and Gaza war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday. The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States. The decision puts Netanyahu in the company of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, for who the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants. However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Benjamin Netanyahu, Karim Khan, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Khan, Yoav Gallant, — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al, Masri, Al, Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Sinwar, ” Khan, Amanpour, Gallant, “, Israel “, ”, Israel Organizations: CNN, ICC, Israel’s, Brigades, West Bank Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Russian, Ukraine, East Jerusalem

☆ Israeli political tensions boil over, revealing new danger for Netanyahu
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Analysis Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Divisions and disagreements within the Israeli cabinet on the conduct and priorities of the war against Hamas have simmered since the onset of the crisis. That has been a red line for the religious right in the Israeli cabinet. Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, pictured in October, is widely seen to be a leading contender to be the next Israeli leader. Over the next three weeks, compromise may yet keep the war cabinet intact. It would, however, leave the prime minister more exposed to the demands of far-right- members of his cabinet.

Persons: –, Benny Gantz, Mahmoud, Abbas, Gantz, Amir Levy, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Gantz, Itamar Ben Gvir, Yair Lapid, Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, ”, Jack Guez, Yoav Gallant, “, “ Gantz, Anshel Pfeffer, ” Pfeffer, “ Bibi, …, Pfeffer, Gallant, Leo Correa, Bezalel Smotrich Organizations: CNN, Hamas, National Unity Party, Palestinian Authority, Israel, National, Getty, Sunday, Jerusalem Post, AP, Finance Locations: Gaza, “, Iran, Lebanon, Palestinian, Tel Aviv, AFP, Israel, Jerusalem

“I have been clear at home, and I will be clear here,” Ms. Stefanik is expected to say in her speech, according to a prepared version of her remarks reviewed by The New York Times. “There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel.”Her remarks also appear designed to curry favor with former President Donald J. Trump, who has mentioned Ms. Stefanik, a former George W. Bush White House aide and staunch defender of Mr. Trump, as a potential vice-presidential candidate. Ms. Stefanik has positioned herself as one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal defenders in Congress, a role she first staked out during his first impeachment in 2019. Her prepared remarks for Sunday mention Mr. Trump by name three times while highlighting several of his administration’s accomplishments, including a package of Middle East deals known as the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. “We must not let the extremism in elite corners conceal the deep, abiding love for Israel among the American people,” Ms. Stefanik plans to say.

Persons: Ms, Stefanik, ”, Donald J, Trump, George W, Bush, Stefanik’s, Trump’s, Abraham, “ Organizations: The New York Times, House, Abraham Accords Locations: Israel, U.S, Jerusalem

☆ After Outcry, Concertgebouw Will Allow Jerusalem Quartet to Perform
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Javier C. Hernández | More About Javier C. Hernández | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, said Thursday that it would allow the Jerusalem Quartet to perform, two days after it had canceled the ensemble’s concerts amid security concerns related to threatened protests. The Concertgebouw said in a statement that the Jerusalem Quartet would be allowed to perform on Saturday after all, with expanded security measures and a more robust police presence. The ensemble had originally been scheduled to perform on Thursday and Saturday, but the Concertgebouw canceled the engagement, saying it could not ensure the safety of audience members, musicians and employees because of the threat of protests related to the Israel-Gaza war. Simon Reinink, general manager of the Concertgebouw, said in an interview that the hall had reversed course after securing commitments from the police. We were forced to crack the dilemma of security on the one hand and freedom on the other.”

Persons: Simon Reinink, ” Organizations: Concertgebouw, Quartet Locations: Amsterdam, Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza

☆ American medics trapped in Gaza call on US government to help bring them home
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | Muhammad Darwish | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

FAJR Scientific, the United States-based nonprofit organization that brought Kattan and 16 other physicians to Gaza, is now calling on the US government to help coordinate the team’s safe exit from Gaza. ‘This is what clean looks like in Gaza’The FAJR Scientific team recorded video diaries of their experiences and the conditions they face inside the European Hospital exclusively for CNN. Picking up a single vial of Propofol, she describes how the medics were able bring it in with them from the US. FAJR ScientificNo way outFAJR Scientific operates under the umbrella of WHO which, according to FAJR Scientific, has been attempting to coordinate an evacuation. Of the 19 members on the PAMA medical team, 10 are US citizens.

Persons: Ahlia Kattan, ” Kattan, “, ”, Mosab Nasser, Kattan, anesthesiologists, Laura Swoboda, ” Swoboda, We’re, Sameer Khan, “ It’s, they’re, I’ve Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Gaza’s, CNN, WHO, World Health, FAJR, Hospital, “, FAJR Scientific, European Hospital, Palestine American Medical Association Locations: Jerusalem, California, Rafah, Kattan, Gaza, Egypt, FAJR, United States, Gaza ’, Wisconsin

☆ Israeli military calls for investigation after releasing video showing armed men at UN facility in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Jerusalem CNN —The Israeli military is calling on the United Nations to investigate the presence of armed militants at a UN facility in southern Gaza after releasing video that shows armed men at the facility. The Israeli military said the footage was filmed on May 11, three days before the IDF released it. The Israeli military said COGAT, the Israeli agency charged with coordinating humanitarian aid to Gaza, shared the military’s findings with “senior officials in the international community,” including UN officials. The Israeli military released the video one day after a United Nations worker was killed and another injured when the UN-marked vehicle they were driving in was struck in Rafah. The United Nations said they believe a tank fired on the vehicle, and the Israeli military has said the incident is “under review.”

Persons: “ URNWA, Juliette Touma, ” Touma, Touma, COGAT, “, Nir, “ It’s, ” Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, United, UN, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, UNRWA, IDF, United Nations Locations: Jerusalem, United Nations, Gaza, Rafah

☆ Opinion: How an ICC arrest of Netanyahu could play out
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Opinion Dan Perry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —The signs are mounting that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is weighing an indictment against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials over Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza. But in 2015 the ICC stepped in to decide that implicitly it is, by accepting it — without consulting the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), representing ICC member states. Could the highly respected chief prosecutor, Britain’s Karim Khan, be feeling some pressure to play his part in ramping up the pressure on Netanyahu? Netanyahu is on the ropes politically and would almost certainly be trounced in an election held today. Israel desperately needs Netanyahu to be gone, as does the region and the world.

Persons: Dan Perry, Read, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Sudan’s Omar al, Bashir, Moammar Ghadhafi’s, Saif, Netanyahu, Israel’s, Jordan, Egypt —, Dan Perry Moreover, —, Britain’s Karim Khan, Joe Biden’s, Israel Organizations: London, Associated Press, CNN, Criminal Court, Israeli, ICC, West Bank, ISIS, UN, States Parties, West, The West Bank, Bank, Palestinian Authority Locations: Cairo, Europe, Africa, Israel, Gaza, United States, Jerusalem, Sudan, Britain, Iraq, al, Libya, Yemen, Palestine, Palestinian, West Bank, East Jerusalem, Egypt, ramping, Iran

☆ Israel’s return to areas of Gaza it said were clear of Hamas raises doubts about its military strategy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The Israeli military has renewed its fighting in northern Gaza where it previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas’ command structure. The Israeli military also began operating in the area of Zeitoun in central Gaza, as it continues its offensive in eastern Rafah and near the Rafah crossing with Egypt. “Israel’s strategy is not a good one,” said Danny Orbach, a military historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Others say the re-emergence of Hamas “pockets” is not unusual, and that the Israeli military will have to keep re-entering areas in Gaza until no more fighters emerge. “This process will happen again and again,” Amir Aviv, former deputy commander of the Gaza Division of Israel’s military, told CNN, until all “pockets of resistance” are removed.

Persons: Israel’s, Biden, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Israel, Khan Younis, ” Blinken, Israel “, Dawoud Abo, ”, Danny Orbach, Netanyahu, Netanyahu “, ” Orbach, Phil, General Herzi Halevi, Tamir Hayman, Hayman, ” Amir Aviv, “ Organizations: CNN, CBS News, Israel, Dawoud Abo Alkas, Getty, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Israel Defense Forces, Staff, Institute for National Security Studies Locations: Gaza, Palestinian, Zeitoun, Rafah, Egypt, Israel, United States, Rafah –, Washington, ”, Gaza City, Anadolu, East Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel Observes a Solemn Memorial Day
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Israel is observing Memorial Day, a somber annual commemoration that has taken on added significance this year in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack and the war it ignited. Roughly 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage on Oct. 7, according to the Israeli authorities. “Memorial Day is always special in Israel, but this year will be even more intense.”For Israelis whose loved ones are still in Gaza, the day is particularly painful. On Monday evening, the Memorial Day observances will end and Israel will shift to celebrating the country’s 76th Independence Day. Her two children, Yagil and Or, were taken hostage on Oct. 7 and held in Gaza for weeks.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s, Mount, Herzi Halevi, ”, Eyal Brandeis, Brandeis, “, Goren’s, Avner, Nir Oz, Goren, Renana Gome, Gome’s, Yair, ” Ms, Gome, ” Johnatan Reiss Organizations: Monday, Palestinian Locations: Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza, Sufa, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv

Israelis gathered across the country on Monday for the first national day of mourning since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, with protesters disrupting several ceremonies as they demanded that government ministers do more to secure the release of hostages. Israel’s Memorial Day is normally one of the most somber on the country’s calendar, a date when Israelis put aside their differences to grieve fellow citizens killed in war or terrorist attacks. But the protests on Monday underscored how feelings of wartime unity have given way to deep disputes over the war in the Gaza Strip, the fate of hostages taken on Oct. 7 and domestic politics. Critics heckled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he attended a memorial at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the site of Israel’s national cemetery. One person was heard shouting, “Garbage.” Another said, “You took my children.”At a ceremony in Ashdod, on the Mediterranean coast, bystanders shouted at the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, calling him a “criminal,” before his supporters tried to drown them out.

Persons: Israel’s, Critics, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mount, “, ”, Itamar Ben Locations: Gaza, Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, Ashdod

☆ Opinion | Biden’s Real Mistake in Pausing Military Aid to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is unfortunate that President Biden chose to announce his pause of some weapons sales to Israel while on a political campaign swing through Wisconsin. I use that word — “unfortunate” — not because I don’t understand why Biden did so, but because the move has enabled Benjamin Netanyahu to deflect attention from the fact that the most dangerous leader threatening Israel today is not Biden but Bibi. Netanyahu’s policies have not and will not produce a sustainable victory in Gaza, cannot secure Israel against its greatest existential threat — Iran — and are endangering world Jewry and undermining America’s broader Middle East strategic needs and goals. That is the real source of tension between Washington and Jerusalem today. It is not Biden’s temporary hold on sending Israel a fresh supply of 2,000-pound bombs and some other offensive weapons — which Biden has been warning Israel for months that he would do if Israel attempted to pulverize Rafah, the way that it did Gaza City and Khan Younis, without an evacuation of civilians.

Persons: Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bibi, Israel, Khan Younis, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Hamas ❤️ Biden Organizations: Israel, National Security, Hamas Locations: Israel, Wisconsin, Gaza, Iran, Washington, Jerusalem, Rafah

CNN spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who worked at the Sde Teiman desert camp, which holds Palestinians detained during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Reports of abuse at Sde Teiman have already surfaced in Israeli and Arab media after an outcry from Israeli and Palestinian rights groups over conditions there. CNN has requested permission from the Israeli military to access the Sde Teiman base. The account tallied with details of a letter authored by a doctor working at Sde Teiman published by Ha’aretz in April. The structure, which resembles an animal pen, is located in the central area of the Sde Teiman compound.

Persons: Sde Teiman, ”, “, –, Ofer, Patrick Gallagher, Adnan al, Bursh –, Mohammed al, Ran, ” Dr, Mohammed Al, Shawish, abasement, “ You’d, Teiman, Ha’aretz, Israel, Ray, Tal Steiner, ” Steiner, – Ofer, West Bank –, Ibrahim Yassine, Abu Salah, Al, Barbara Arvanitidis, Tamara Qiblawi, Matthew Chance OSINT, Allegra Goodwin, Alex Platt, Abeer Salman, Ami Kaufman, Kareem Khadder, Mohammad Al Sawalhi, Carlotta Dotto, Lou Robinson, Mark Oliver, Tom James, Sarah Tilotta, Mark Baron, Julie Zink, Augusta Anthony Motion, Yukari Schrickel, Laura Smith, Eliza Mackintosh, Dan Wright, Matt Wells Editor’s, Matthew Chance, Al Hilou Organizations: Israel CNN —, CNN, Israel Defense Forces, Military, IDF, West Bank, Bosnian, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Social Media, CNN Al, “, Ha’aretz, for Human Rights, Nasser Hospital, Planet Labs PBC Planet, Planet Labs, Palestinian Red Crescent Society Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Al, Ahli, Israel’s, “, London, Sde, Jerusalem

☆ UNRWA to close East Jerusalem headquarters after arson attack by ‘Israeli extremists’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Hande Atay Alam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees will shutter its East Jerusalem headquarters after the compound was set on fire by “Israeli extremists” while staff were inside, its chief said Thursday. “This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies’ staff were on the compound,” Lazzarini said. Israeli officials have long criticized UNRWA, which plays a central role in feeding and sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. Anything less will set a new dangerous standard.”CNN has reached out to the Israeli government for comment.

Persons: ”, Philippe Lazzarini, ” Lazzarini, Lazzarini, “, UNWRA, Israel Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UNRWA, ’, UN Locations: Jerusalem, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Israel

But the cameras stopped rolling when Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief in Ramallah, in the West Bank, ordered all of them to go home. Israeli authorities descended on a room used by Al Jazeera in the Ambassador Hotel in East Jerusalem, confiscating broadcast equipment. Al Jazeera, the influential Arab news network, says it will continue reporting and broadcasting from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The shutdown order, which lasts 45 days and can be renewed, was a break long in the making. Mr. al-Omari said that soon after the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the network stopped using an office in West Jerusalem, saying that far-right Israelis had used intimidation tactics against the staff there.

Persons: Al, Walid al, Al Jazeera, Omari Organizations: West Bank, Al, Gaza, Hamas Locations: Israel, Al Jazeera, West Jerusalem, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Tel Aviv, Ramallah

☆ Opinion | Three Reasons the Campus Protests Are Part of the Problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Readers have been asking me, and I have been asking myself of late, how I feel about the campus demonstrations to stop the war in Gaza. My problem is not that the protests in general are “antisemitic” — I would not use that word to describe them, and indeed, I am deeply uncomfortable as a Jew with how the charge of antisemitism is thrown about on the Israel-Palestine issue. If you are for that, whatever your religion, nationality or politics, you’re part of the solution. If you are not for that, you’re part of the problem. And from everything I have read and watched, too many of these protests have become part of the problem — for three key reasons.

Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Beirut, Jerusalem

☆ Hamas’s Offer to Hand Over 33 Hostages Includes Some Who Are Dead
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Peter Baker | More About Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The disclosure came as part of Hamas’s counteroffer to Israel’s latest proposal, which envisions a first-phase, six-week cease-fire in exchange for the return of some of the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. It was not clear whether Hamas revealed how many of the 33 are still alive and how many are dead. The Israelis initially wanted 40 to be released in the first phase but came to understand that Hamas did not hold that many who fit the criteria. Israeli and American officials have long assumed that some of the hostages may be dead. Protesters blocked major roads in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv late Monday after Hamas’s counteroffer.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Hamas’s counteroffer Locations: Israel, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

☆ Live Updates: Israeli Tanks Enter Rafah and Take Control of Border Crossing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The officials said that the changes were made by Arab mediators in consultation with William J. Burns, the C.I.A. Qatari and Egyptian mediators spoke with him on Monday about the changes that Hamas was ready to accept, the two officials said. Hamas said that Arab mediators had put forward the changes, but one official said that Hamas had suggested them. Mr. Netanyahu said last week that he would carry out an offensive in Rafah “with or without” an agreement. More than one million Palestinians have sought shelter in Rafah as they fled other parts of Gaza under attack by Israel.

Persons: William J, Burns, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Adam Rasgon Organizations: Hamas, U.S, Qatar’s, Ministry, Qatari Locations: Israel, United States, Gaza, Cairo, Rafah, Jerusalem

☆ Biden Puts Arms Shipment to Israel on Hold Amid Dispute Over Rafah Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden paused an arms shipment to Israel last week to prevent the U.S.-made weapons from being used in a long-threatened assault on the city Rafah, administration officials said on Tuesday night, a sign of the growing rift between Washington and Jerusalem over the conduct of the war. The president withheld 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs that he feared could be dropped on Rafah, where more than one million Gazans have taken refuge, the officials said. The administration is reviewing whether to hold back future transfers, including guidance kits that convert so-called dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions. Israeli officials disclosed the weapons pause to Axios earlier this week, but U.S. officials refused to confirm it either at briefings or privately until Tuesday night. Confirmation of the arms pause came just hours after Israel sent tanks into the city in southern Gaza.

Persons: Biden, Biden’s, Israel Organizations: Biden’s Democratic, Hamas Locations: Israel, U.S, Rafah, Washington, Jerusalem, Gaza

☆ Netanyahu Asserts Israel’s Right to Fight Its Enemies in Defiant Speech
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Vivek Shankar | More About Vivek Shankar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday rejected international pressure to rein in its military campaign in Gaza and, speaking at a Holocaust memorial, asserted Israel’s right to fight its “genocidal enemies.”Nearly seven months into the war, Mr. Netanyahu has been steadfast in his goal of destroying Hamas. But Mr. Netanyahu has remained defiant. On Sunday, he spoke at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, to mark the national Holocaust remembrance day. Hamas’s intention, Mr. Netanyahu said, was the same as that of the Nazis. In his speech, which lasted for about 15 minutes and was largely in Hebrew, Mr. Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel was committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, —, Israel Organizations: Israel, Sunday, Yad Vashem Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Jerusalem, Israel

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