Irresponsible statements by Israeli PM, ministers ‘must stop’: Lapid
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says the recent announcements, threats and irresponsible statements made by government ministers and the prime minister regarding the captives must stop.
In a post on X, he heavily criticised Netanyahu’s government, saying it has “abandoned” the captives and they should be doing everything to bring them home.
Hamas’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, blamed Netanyahu for “sabotaging the efforts” to reach a truce.
The New York Times reported that an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity and Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, both blamed the Israeli prime minister for stalling the current truce talks.
Netanyahu’s office has said these claims are a “complete lie”.
Students at Oxford, Cambridge universities set up protest encampments
Students at Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom have set up their own pro-Palestine encampments, mirroring the ones on campuses across the United States, Canada and France.
Organisers say it’s in solidarity with Palestinians, and they intend to keep the camp open for an unknown number of days.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from the encampment in Oxford, says about 50 students are currently camped out, and refreshments, media and welcome tents have been set up.
Kendall Gardner, a Jewish-American student protester at the Oxford encampment, said one of the key demands of the students is that the university “divest from all holdings and entities that sponsor or are complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid and the current genocide in Gaza”.
They also demand that Oxford University commits to a Palestinian-led rebuilding of Gaza’s higher education sector.
More on the Student protests in the USA here
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-pro-palestinian-israel-05-06-24/index.html
Israel’s evacuation orders in Rafah ‘unacceptable’: EU’s top diplomat
Josep Borrell said in a post on X that Israel must implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728.
The resolution adopted on March 25, 2024, demands an immediate ceasefire to the war on Gaza.
Egypt raises preparedness level in northern Sinai: Report
Reuters, citing security sources, reports that Egypt has raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, after Israel announced its military operation in Rafah.
In February, Al Jazeera reported that Egypt had built a fortified buffer zone near its border with the Gaza Strip over fears that an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the border.
Cairo has emphasised that such a forced displacement would be comparable to the 1948 Nakba, which saw about 750,000 Palestinians displaced from their homes in the war that led to Israel’s creation.
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