Gaza live: Israel continues bombing central Gaza

The student newspaper at the University of California (UCLA) has accused the administration of being complicit in the violence against pro-Palestine protesters and of failing to protect its students. 

In an editorial, Daily Bruin said the university's administration "stood by and watched as the violence escalated" on Tuesday. 

It added that pro-Israeli counter-protesters tore down barricades set up by the pro-Palestine students while laser pointers flashed into their encampment before fireworks "rained down on tents and the individuals inside".

"Daily Bruin reporters on the scene were slapped and indirectly sprayed with irritants. Despite also being students, they were offered no protection.

"The world is watching. As helicopters fly over Royce Hall, we have a question.

"Will someone have to die on our campus tonight for you to intervene, Gene Block?" the editorial said, addressing the university's chancellor.

"The blood would be on your hands," it added. 

Police cleared the area where a pro-Israeli mob attacked pro-Palestine protesters at the University of California in Los Angeles in the early hours of Wednesday, according to local reporters. 

Anthony Cabassa, an independent journalist at the scene, posted on X that police "successfully cleared the area separating both factions".

He added that it appears police have not been ordered to clear the pro-Palestine encampment or arrest anyone.

For hours, a pro-Israeli mob at least 100 strong violently assaulted the peaceful encampment, launching fireworks at them, using tear gas and striking some students with sticks.

The student newspaper Daily Bruin said at least five people were injured. 

The clashes lasted for hours before police intervened, according to local reports.

Los Angeles police are "watching" as pro-Israeli mob violently attack pro-Palestinian students at the University of California, according to journalists and outlets at the scene. 

Student newspaper Daily Bruin said police "remain at a standstill watching" as skirmishes continue between the two groups of protesters. 

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said earlier it received a request by UCLA to intervene amid the chaos on campus. 

"The LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety," the police department said on X. 

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments on Gaza ceasefire talks are an attempt to put pressure on the Palestinian group and acquit Israel.

Abu Zuhri also said the group was still studying the recent ceasefire offer.

Blinken claimed earlier on Wednesday that the only reason a deal wouldn't be achieved is because of Hamas, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying on Tuesday that he will not agree to end the war, a key demand by the group. 

Pro-Israeli protesters attacked the pro-Palestine encampment at the University of California using fireworks and bear spray, according to the student newspaper Daily Bruin. 

Footage online showed crowds clashing and fights break out as the pro-Israeli crowds attempted to remove barricades set up to separate to separate the two groups.

Initial reports say a number of people have been wounded in the fights. 

Hundreds of workers have blocked the entrances to the UK’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT) in protest against Britain's arms sales to Israel.

DBT oversees arms export licences and has the power to approve or deny the sale of British arms to other countries.

Activists said they shut down access to DBT in support of civil servants who requested to “cease work immediately” on arms export licences to Israel over fears they could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza. 

The protest outside DBT is also part of an organised blockade against arms factories across the UK to pressure the government to end its support for Israel.

Israeli forces have killed at least 33 Palestinians and wounded 57 more over the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in over six months to more than 34,568, with at least 77,765 wounded and an estimated 10,000 missing and presumed dead, according to the Palestinian health ministry and civil defence in Gaza.

More than 70 percent of the victims are children and women, according to health officials.

United Airlines UAL.O on Wednesday extended the cancellation of its daily flight from Newark, New Jersey to Tel Aviv in Israel up to 9 May, saying it was completing a safety assessment.

"We continue to closely monitor the situation and will make decisions on all upcoming flights with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews," United said in a statement.

United on 19 April cancelled its flights to Israel until 2 May due to security concerns after Israel's apparent strike on Iran that followed an Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel.

United was the first US carrier to resume its daily non-stop service between New York and Tel Aviv on March 2, while Delta Air Lines DAL.N plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv on 7 June.

Reporting by Reuters

France's foreign minister will travel to Cairo on Wednesday in an unscheduled stop during a Middle East tour as efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza reach a critical point, a French diplomatic source told Reuters. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was determined to get a ceasefire in Gaza that brings captives home as he started talks with Israel's leadership on Wednesday. 

Blinken claimed "the only reason that that wouldn't be achieved is because of Hamas," despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Tuesday that he will not agree to end the war. 

Hamas has repeatedly said it will not sign off on any ceasefire deal that does not guarantee a permanent end to Israel's assault on Gaza.

Far-right Israeli minister Orit Strook said a government that ignores thousands of soldiers who want to continue fighting in Gaza to save 22 or 33 people shouldn't exist, referring to captives, has not right to exist. 

In an interview with Army Radio on Wednesday, the settler leader called a ceasefire deal being discussed with Hamas "reckless, horrible and terrible". 

New York City police violently raided Columbia University late on Tuesday to arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, some of whom had seized an academic building, and to remove a protest encampment the Ivy League school had sought to dismantle for nearly two weeks.

Shortly after police moved in, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik released a letter in which she requested police stay on campus until at least 17 May - two days after graduation - "to maintain order and ensure that encampments are not re-established."

Within three hours the campus had been cleared of protesters, said a police spokesperson, adding "dozens" of arrests were made.

At the start of the raid around 9pm, throngs of helmeted police marched onto the elite campus in upper Manhattan, a focal point of student rallies that have spread to dozens of schools across the US in recent days expressing opposition to Israel's war on Gaza.

"We’re clearing it out," the police officers yelled.

Soon after, a long line of officers climbed into Hamilton Hall, an academic building that protesters had broken into and occupied in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Police entered through a second-story window, using a police vehicle equipped with a ladder.

Students standing outside the hall jeered police with shouts of "Shame, shame!"

Police were seen loading dozens of detainees onto a bus, each with their hands bound behind their backs by zip-ties, the entire scene illuminated with flashing red and blue lights of police vehicles.

"Free, free, free Palestine," chanted protesters outside the building. Others yelled "Let the students go."

“Columbia will be proud of these students in five years,” said Sweda Polat, one of the student negotiators for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the coalition of student groups that has organised the protests.

She said students did not pose a danger and called on police to back down, speaking as officers shouted at her and others to retreat or leave campus.

Reporting by Reuters 

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Gaza's health ministry said that 47 people were killed in the past 24 hours and 61 were injured, bringing the total to 34,535 Palestinians killed since the start of the war and 77,704 injured.

In other developments:

• The International Court of Justice ruled against issuing emergency orders to stop German arms exports to Israel, however, the court didn't grant Berlin's request to throw out the case. 
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will invade Rafah "with or without a deal". 
• The American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has been forced to close over 100 of its Malaysian outlets amid a month's long boycott campaign over US support for Israel's war on Gaza.
• The White House said that Israel will open a new crossing into northern Gaza this week after a request from US President Joe Biden.
• In an interview with Time, former US President Donald Trump didn't rule out a withdrawal of military aid to Israel over its ongoing war on Gaza.
• France's foreign minister said to Netanyahu that launching an offensive in Rafah is a "bad idea" and would not lead to any resolution to the war in Gaza.
• On Tuesday, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced concern over reports of mass graves unearthed in Gaza, which included sites at two hospitals.

On Tuesday, United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths cautioned that despite worldwide appeals for Israel to refrain from targeting Rafah in the Gaza Strip, "a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon."

He also said in a statement that Israeli improvements to aid access in Gaza "cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah."

On Tuesday, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres voiced concern over reports of mass graves unearthed in Gaza, which included sites at two hospitals.

He also raised allegations that those buried may have been unlawfully killed, stressing the need for an independent investigation.

"It is imperative that independent international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed the immediate access to the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied," Guterres said.