Israel-Palestine live: Israel bombs Unrwa building in Gaza

Andrew Feinstein, a former MP with the African National Congress who worked with Nelson Mandela, explains in a video how Israel weaponises antisemitism to curb any criticism of its actions.

Columbia University has become the latest university to be under investigation for its handling of antisemitism and “failure to protect Jewish students” on campus, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced on Monday.

The academic institution joins other Ivy League universities under investigation, including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Many pro-Palestine protests on university campuses have been deemed as antisemitic by pro-Israel groups, however, many allegations equate pro-Palestinian sentiment with antisemitism.

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Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press conference on Tuesday that Washington is reviewing reports of whether Israel has harmed civilians in its war in Gaza.

That review is taking place under guidelines aimed at ensuring countries receiving American weapons do not violate international humanitarian law.

Miller said the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance is being used to assess incidents in the current war.

The Biden administration has faced heavy criticism for continuing to supply weapons to Israel as allegations pile up that US weapons have been used in strikes that have killed or injured civilians. Israel is a large recipient of US arms and gets billions of dollars in military aid each year from Washington.

Israel's military has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, since October. Still, on Tuesday Biden urged the House of Representatives to quickly pass a funding bill that includes another $14bn in military assistance to Israel.

US President Joe Biden is calling on American lawmakers in the House of Representatives to pass a proposal that would send billions of dollars in aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

The aid is part of a larger $95bn national security funding bill that Biden is keen on getting turned into law.

The bill supported by the president also bans funding for Unrwa, drawing condemnation from a number of members of Congress as well as aid organisations.

The bulk of the bill provides $60bn in military aid to Ukraine, whose stock of ammunition supplies is rapidly dwindling. But it also sets aside $14bn in aid to Israel which Biden in a statement said, “will provide Israel with what it needs to protect its people against Hamas terrorists”.

While it earmarks $1.6bn in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza, it specifically prohibits funds from going to the UN Agency for Palestinian Relief (Unrwa), in response to Israeli allegations that members of the agency have ties to Hamas.

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Biden urges Congress to approve $14bn for Israel as UN warns of 'slaughter' in Rafah

Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a prominent pro-Palestinian advocacy group in New York City, had its main Instagram page, backup accounts, and founder’s account shut down on Friday.

“As Zionist forces continue their crackdown on Palestine online and in the streets, Instagram has permanently deleted both WOL & WOL chair Nerdeen Kiswani's main and backup accounts, with no option to appeal or request a review to restore them,” WOL wrote on X.

According to New York Jewish Week, a spokesperson for Meta told them that the accounts had been removed because they violated the platform’s community guidelines, including its “Dangerous Organizations & Individuals policy”.

Kiswani received a message from Meta saying that her accounts were removed because “Your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Community Guidelines.”

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'We won't be silenced': Meta removes Instagram accounts of pro-Palestine advocacy group

Axios is reporting that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is blocking a US-funded flour shipment to Gaza because its recipient is Unrwa.

The news site said that the move violates a commitment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally made to President Joe Biden several weeks ago.

Earlier, we reported that a former Palestinian prisoner was shot dead by an Israeli sniper after leaving Nasser Hospital - he had been sent by Israel to warn the hospital to evacuate.

The Palestinian health ministry is now saying that at least three Palestinians were killed and 10 others were injured by Israeli sniper fire on the hospital.

South Africa made an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether Israel's decision to extend its military operations in Rafah required that the court use its power to prevent further breaches of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.

The ICJ later acknowledged receipt of the request on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Last month, the ICJ denied Israel's request to drop the case brought by South Africa, mandating that Israel halt any possible acts of genocide and secure proof of such actions. 

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South Africa urges ICJ to intervene to halt Israel's Rafah offensive

Amnesty International's European Union office said on X that countries should suspend arms transfers to Israel, echoing the remarks of the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms," Borrell said on Monday.

The rights group also signed a statement by more than a dozen rights groups calling on all UN member states to stop arming Israel and Palestinian groups fighting in Gaza.

Israeli forces have sent Palestinians formerly imprisoned by Israel to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to tell people sheltering there to evacuate the premises, a surgeon at the hospital confirmed to MEE.

However, reports on the ground say that after one of those prisoners left the hospital, he was shot dead by an Israeli sniper.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi movement, said the group was able to prevent Israeli-linked ships from passing through the Gulf of Aden over the past week.

In a televised speech, he said the last week "is a real victory".

Samaher Esmail, a Palestinian-American woman and grandmother who was arrested by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, has been detained for eight days now.

A statement from her family says that she was dragged out of her home "without allowing her to put on her hijab, (illegally) rendered to Israel and beaten badly in Israeli custody. To date, she has not been charged with any crime".

The family also says that the US embassy in Israel has had their requests to visit her denied.

"The United States is not without tools to obtain consular access to Ms Esmail and to end her ordeal. It just has to find the moral courage to do so, which has been, thus far, a tall order," the family said.

Esmail is one of three Palestinian Americans who were detained by Israel in the West Bank.

A lawyer who visited her last week said the 46-year-old was covered in bruises all over her body.

In response to Israel attacking two of its journalists in Gaza, Al Jazeera released a statement condemning the incident and calling on press freedom groups to hold Israel accountable for its attacks on media.

According to the news organisation, an Israeli military drone targeted one of its crews in Rafah, injuring Al Jazeera Arabic reporter Ismail Abu Omar and photojournalist Ahmad Matar. Abu Omar's injuries led to his leg being amputated.

Al Jazeera said the attack was a "new part in the series of the deliberate targeting of Al Jazeera's journalists and correspondents in Palestine".

"The network stresses that this targeting comes as intimidation to journalists to prevent them from reporting the heinous crimes committed by the occupation army against innocent civilians in Gaza," it said.

"Al Jazeera renews its call on the international community and media freedom organisations to take immediate measures to protect journalists in Gaza and to hold the Israeli occupation army accountable."

Dr Khaled Alserr, one of the last remaining surgeons at Nasser Hospital, described a "horrible" scene inside the largest hospital left in Gaza.

Speaking via voice notes on WhatsApp, Alserr told Middle East Eye that the Israeli army had bombed a warehouse inside Nasser hospital on Tuesday and had been continuously bombing the medical facility in Rafah for the last three days.

"Today, the Israeli army told everyone that they will bomb the hospital and told people to evacuate the hospital within half an hour," said Alserr.

"They (the Israelis) shouted at people, using speakers on a drone and sent messages via people they have imprisoned before, by sending them to the hospital administration, telling them that they must leave.

"And despite telling people to evacuate the hospital through a 'secure way' - they shot three civilians in front of the hospital gates."