Live Updates
Middle East Eye, May 4 2024
Pro-Palestinian protests briefly disrupt University of Michigan graduation
Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan on Saturday while demonstrators faced off with police at the University of Virginia as US colleges braced for more turmoil during graduation festivities. Videos shared on social media showed dozens of students wearing the traditional keffiyeh headdress and graduation caps and waving Palestinian flags as they walked down the centre aisle of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, among cheers and boos from a crowd of thousands. The ceremony continued and campus police escorted the protesters toward the back of the stadium, but no arrests were made, according to Colleen Mastony, a spokesperson for the university. Tensions briefly flared up once more on Saturday at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Police officers in riot gear could be seen in a video moving on an encampment of Pro-Palestinian protesters, cuffing some demonstrators with zip ties and dragging them across the lawn. Police have so far arrested over 2,000 protesters at colleges around the country.
Evening recap
Here are the day’s main developments:
- The Palestinian health ministry on Saturday confirmed that Israeli forces had killed at least 34,654 in Gaza and wounded 77,908 Palestinians since it began its offensive on Oct 7. The ministry added that Israeli forces had killed 32 people and injured 41 people in the last 24 hours.
- Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in an overnight raid in a village near the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, according to WAFA, which cited Palestinian security sources.
- Hamas negotiators began intensified talks on Saturday on a possible Gaza truce that would see the return to Israel of some hostages, a Hamas official told Reuters, with the CIA director present in Cairo.
- A senior Hamas official on Saturday said the group would not accept a truce that did not completely end the Gaza war, accusing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of “personally hindering” a deal.
- The Palestinian health ministry on Saturday called for an international probe into the death of a prominent doctor in Israeli detention. Earlier this week, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Adnan al-Bursh, a Palestinian surgeon and professor of orthopaedic medicine, was killed by torture while in Israeli detention after he was detained from a Gaza hospital earlier this year.
- Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the Israeli war on Gaza, an official familiar with the Qatari government’s reassessment said.
- A prominent British-Palestinian surgeon who worked in Gaza during the first few weeks of Israel’s war on the besieged enclave says he was barred from entering France for a speaking engagement at the French Senate on Saturday morning. Writing on X, Ghassan Abu Sitta said French authorities had told him that Germany had banned him from entering Europe for one year after German police barred him from entering the country earlier this month.
- Israeli forces detained the Greek consul’s guard at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Al Jazeera. The arrest came as thousands gathered in the Jerusalem church during the Holy Fire ceremony.
- Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza.
Thousands of Israelis protest to demand hostage return
Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza. At a rally in Tel Aviv, relatives and supporters of the more than 130 hostages still in captivity said everything possible must be done to bring them home. Natalie Eldor said:
I’m here today to support a deal now, yesterday. “We need to bring them back. We need to bring all the hostages back, the live ones, the dead ones. We got to switch this government. This has got to end.
The protests were held ahead of the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls this year on May 6.
IOF kill five Palestinians in overnight raid near West Bank’s Tulkarm
IOF killed five Palestinians in an overnight raid in a village near Tulkarm in the West Bank, according to Palestinian security sources. A Reuters reporter at the scene said that IOF had taken some of the bodies following the raid in the village of Deir al-Ghusun. The IOF said it was conducting “counterterrorism activities in the area.”
IOF arrest Greek consul’s guard at Church of the Holy Sepulchre
IOF detained the Greek consul’s guard at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Al Jazeera. The arrest came as thousands gathered in the Jerusalem church during the Holy Fire ceremony. Local media said earlier that Israeli forces tightened security around Jerusalem’s Old City and prevented Christian residents from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the ceremony.
No jobs, no healthcare, no education: Life for Gaza’s Palestinians in Egypt
For the past seven months, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza have been trapped in the besieged territory, trying to avoid the wrath of the Israeli military. Those who can afford to have passed through the Egyptian border and are now seeking refuge there. Many were able to move to other countries but those without visas to travel onward have remained in Egypt. The majority of Palestinians from Gaza in Egypt made their way there for medical treatment, while others are students, dual Palestinian-Egyptian nationals, and residents who could afford the thousands of dollars in bribes to make their exit from the besieged strip.
But reaching the safety of the neighbouring Arab state is no guarantee that their struggles are over. For many Palestinians, it is the start of a new kind of hardship, with their conditions worsening due to the absence of help from both the Egyptian state and international organisations. Middle East Eye has spoken to a number of Palestinians in Egypt, who have requested that pseudonyms be used, as revealing their identities could imperil their continued presence in the country. Read more: No jobs, no healthcare, no education: Life for Gaza’s Palestinians in Egypt.
Palestinian health ministry calls for probe into death of doctor in Israeli detention
The Palestinian health ministry on Saturday called for an international probe into the death of a prominent doctor in Israeli detention. Earlier this week, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Adnan al-Bursh, a Palestinian surgeon and professor of orthopaedic medicine, was killed by torture while in Israeli detention after he was detained from a Gaza hospital earlier this year. In what has been termed a “deliberate assassination”, Bursh, 50, died in the Israel-controlled Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on Apr 19, according to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, and his body remains withheld. In a brief statement, the Palestinian health ministry condemned the reported killing, which it said brings the death toll of Palestinian medical staff killed by Israeli forces during its ongoing assault in Gaza to 491. It said:
The Ministry of Health calls on the International Criminal Court and the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian Territory to open an immediate and urgent investigation into the crime of torture and assassination of the martyr Dr Adnan al-Barsh inside the occupation prisons, in addition to 491 martyrs from the health sector.
Dublin campus barricaded in pro-Palestine student protest
Students at Ireland’s prestigious Trinity College Dublin University manned an on-campus protest on Saturday against Israel’s war on Gaza, after barricading the main entrance to the site. Student activists described the protest, which began Friday, as a “solidarity encampment with Palestine,” echoing similar protests on US campuses. Dozens of students pitched tents on one of the main squares at the university, which is a Dublin tourist attraction, and piled benches in front of a library which contains the famous Book of Kells mediaeval manuscript. Laszlo Molnarfi, president of the institution’s student union, told Irish public broadcaster RTE that the students demand the university sever any relationships it has with Israel. Molnarfi tweeted:
The Book of Kells is now closed. No business as usual during a genocide.
Security staff closed the campus gates, which are usually open to the public, “to ensure safety,” the university said in a statement. It added that there was an “unauthorised” encampment on the grounds. It said:
While Trinity supports students’ right to protest, protests must be conducted within the rules of the university.
Decapitated body of Palestinian found after Israeli shelling of West Bank home
IOF killed at least five Palestinians during a raid on an occupied West Bank village on Saturday which lasted for 15 hours, according to Israeli media. Al Jazeera said the decapitated body of one Palestinian was found under the rubble of a house shelled by IOF during the raid in the town of Dayr al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarm. The Palestinian health ministry did not immediately confirm the reports. According to Palestinian media, Israeli troops besieged a house and bombed it several times with shoulder-fired missiles during the raid, amid clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters. The house was later demolished by an Israeli military bulldozer. Haaretz said IOF destroyed the house and killed five Palestinians. One person was reportedly detained.
Qatar considers future of Hamas office in Doha: Report
Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the Israeli war on Gaza, an official familiar with the Qatari government’s reassessment has told Reuters. The Gulf state was weighing whether to allow Hamas to continue operating the political office, and the broader review includes considering whether or not to continue mediating in the seven-month conflict, the official said. The official said:
If Qatar isn’t going to be mediating, they won’t see a point in keeping the political office. So that is a part of the reassessment.
The official did not know if Hamas would be asked to leave Doha if the Qatari government did decide to close the group’s office. However, the official did say Qatar’s own review of its role would be influenced by how Israel and Hamas act during the ongoing negotiations. In a report on Friday, The WaPo cited an unnamed US official as saying Washington had told Doha to expel Hamas if the group continues to reject a ceasefire deal with Israel. Hamas negotiators arrived in Cairo on Saturday for intensified talks on a possible Gaza truce that would see the return to Israel of some hostages, a Hamas official told Reuters.
Hamas say ceasefire talks ongoing amid concerns over Rafah
Senior Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera that negotiations are ongoing, with Israel’s planned assault of Rafah being a “key element” of the talks. Hamdan said:
Until now, we are still talking about the main issue, which is the complete ceasefire and complete withdrawal from Gaza. We hope to find some good and positive answers today. Unfortunately, there was a clear statement from Netanyahu saying that regardless of what may happen, if there was a ceasefire or not, he will continue the attack. We want clarity on what this statement means. Our understanding is that any achievement for a ceasefire means that there will be no more attacks against Gaza and Rafah.
Israel increases security around Jerusalem’s Old City: WAFA
WAFA reported that Israeli forces had tightened security around Jerusalem’s Old City in preparation for Christians who plan to celebrate “Great Saturday,” a holy day linked to Orthodox Easter. Eyewitnesses told WAFA that Israeli security placed strict controls at the entrances of the Old City, and prevented many Christians from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
IOF kill 32 people in Gaza in last 24 hours
The Palestine Health Ministry on Saturday confirmed that Israeli forces had killed at least 34,654 in Gaza and wounded 77,908 Palestinians since it began its offensive on Oct 7. The ministry added that Israeli forces had killed 32 people and injured 41 people in the last 24 hours.
British-Palestinian doctor barred from entering France
A prominent British-Palestinian surgeon who worked in Gaza during the first few weeks of Israel’s war on the besieged enclave says he was barred from entering France for a speaking engagement at the French Senate on Saturday morning. Ghassan Abu Sitta tweeted that French authorities had told him that Germany had banned him from entering Europe for one year after German police barred him from entering the country earlier this month.
Blinken says Israeli Rafah attack would cause damage ‘beyond what’s acceptable’
Blinken on Friday renewed his warnings against a major Israeli assault on the crowded Gaza city of Rafah, saying Israel has not presented a plan to protect civilians. Blinken told the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum in Arizona:
Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable.
Morning recap
Here are the latest developments from Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 211th day:
- IOF killed and wounded several Palestinians overnight in shelling that hit areas across Rafah, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and the central Nuseirat refugee camp, according to WAFA.
- The Palestinian civil defence said it recovered the bodies of seven people killed earlier in the war in Khan Younis as they continue efforts to locate more than 10k missing people.
- In the occupied West Bank, IOF killed at least one person in Dayr al-Ghusun town north of Tulkarm during a night raid in which they attacked a home with several shoulder-fired missiles.
- The CIA director, Qatari representatives and a Hamas delegation are all expected in Cairo on Saturday in the latest push to secure a ceasefire deal that would end the Israel war and allow for a prisoner exchange.
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