Israel gives Hamas a week to choose between ceasefire deal or Rafah offensive: Report – WION

Israel-Hamas war: More than 2,000 people, including students, have been arrested on campuses across the United States, as of Friday (May 3) in pro-Palestinian protests over the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. 

These demonstrations are no longer limited to the US with people and students across the world taking to university campuses, setting up encampments and showing up in large numbers to protest the war in Gaza. 

Indians travelling to Iran, Israel asked to ‘remain vigilant’

Indians travelling to Iran and Israel should “remain vigilant and be in touch with Indian embassies,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, on Friday. 

“We continue to closely monitor the situation in the region. We have also noted that Iran and Israel have opened their airspace for several days now. We advise Indian nationals to remain vigilant while traveling to these countries and be in touch with the Indian Embassy,” said the MEA spokesperson while responding to a question by the media. 

This comes after the MEA, on April 12, asked Indian citizens not to travel to Israel and Iran “till further notice”. 

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said soldiers “temporarily paused” the work on the temporary pier to boost aid deliveries to Gaza amid unsafe sea conditions, on Thursday. 

“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,” said the CENTCOM in a statement, on Friday. 

The pier will allow “the delivery of large quantities of humanitarian aid from ship to shore by truck, with vehicles driving directly off ships and across the temporary pier to a marshaling yard ashore,” it added. 

Israel has given Hamas one week to agree to the latest deal or warned that it will launch its offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. 

The deal brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar would see the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a six-week halt in fighting. 

The report does not mention when the ultimatum was given but cites Egyptian officials speaking, on Friday, suggesting that Hamas will have until next week to answer. 

The report comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday (Apr 30) said Israel will carry out an operation in Rafah regardless of whether a ceasefire and hostage release deal is reached.

United States President Joe Biden in a statement for World Press Freedom Day, said “far too many” journalists have been killed amid the ongoing war in Gaza. 

“On World Press Freedom Day, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of journalists and media workers around the world risking everything in pursuit of truth,” said Biden. 

He added, “This is especially resonant today; 2023 was one of the deadliest years for journalists in recent memory. One reason for that is the war in Gaza, where far too many journalists, the vast majority of them Palestinian, have been killed.”

Turkey, on Friday, said that it will not resume the more than $7 billion trade with Israel until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. 

Israel’s “uncompromising attitude” and the worsening situation in Rafah – which Israel has threatened to invade – has prompted Ankara to halt all exports and imports, said Turkey’s Trade Minister Omer Bolat.

“We decided to stop exports and imports to and from Israel until a permanent ceasefire is achieved (in Gaza) and humanitarian aid is allowed without interruption,” said Bolat. 

United States

More than 2,000 people have been arrested from dozens of US college campuses in recent weeks, amid the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, according to a tally by the Associated Press. 

WATCH | Paris: Police raid University students 

The police arrested more than 300 protesters on college campuses on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Around 210 were arrested from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

The police, on Thursday (May 2) crackdown on defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges with UCLA witnessing particularly jarring scenes. 

On Friday, the police in Paris entered France’s prestigious Sciences Po university to remove pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied the college’s buildings. 

A Reuters witness saw police enter the buildings and bring out many of the 70-odd protesters inside. Unlike the US, protests on the French campus have been peaceful, with Sciences Po being the epicentre due to the university’s ties with Israel. 

A spokesperson for the university, ahead of the police action, told Reuters that they were seeking to negotiate and “end the standoff”.

Sciences Po’s director Jean Basseres, on Thursday, rejected protesters’ demand to review its ties with Israeli universities. 

Jack, one of the students who spent Thursday night occupying one of the main buildings on the campus in central Paris, told Reuters, on Friday morning that protesters had rejected the ultimatum to clear large parts of the building and restrict their movement to a determined smaller area.

Hundreds of people protesting the ongoing war in Gaza rallied at one of Australia’s top universities on Friday and demanded that it divest from companies with ties to Israel. 

Last week, protesters set up encampments near the University of Sydney’s sandstone main hall. Similar protests have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

The University of Sydney also witnessed dozens of counter-protesters carrying Australian and Israeli flags who had gathered to hear speakers talk about how the pro-Palestinian protests made Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus, reported Reuters. The two groups were separated by lines of security guards. 

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said that the encampment on campus has been allowed since there has been no violence. 

Top Canadian universities including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the University of Ottawa, and Montreal’s McGill University have also witnessed similar pro-Palestinian protests and set up encampments. 

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said that the encampment set up at McGill should be dismantled. The university had requested police intervention, but law enforcement did not clear the encampment and said it was monitoring the situation. 

The students at Canadian universities have called on their colleges to disclose investments and divest from any which helps Israel, asking them to end partnerships with some Israeli institutes. 

Dozens of students at Mexico’s largest university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), set up an encampment, on Thursday. The students have called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.

United Kingdom

Some of the most prominent universities in the United Kingdom have joined the protests against the war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian protesters in cities like Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds have set up camp outside university buildings. 

Trinity College Dublin (TCD), one of the top universities in Ireland, fined its students’ union $230,979 over holding protests, including those against the war in Gaza. 

The students on the campus have been protesting against the university’s response to the war in Gaza and proposed course fee hikes and increased accommodation costs. 

Yemen-based Iranian-backed militant group Houthi said that it will offer education to students suspended from US universities for anti-Israel protests, reported Reuters, on Friday. 

“We are serious about welcoming students that have been suspended from U.S. universities for supporting Palestinians,” an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis, told the news agency. 

“We are fighting this battle with Palestine in every way we can,” the official added. This comes as several universities in the US have threatened to suspend students over the pro-Palestinian student protests. 

(With inputs from agencies)