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SvennoJ on 10 May 2024
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UN Security Council members urge investigation into Gaza mass graves

The Security Council members have expressed “deep concern” over reports that hundreds of bodies – including women, children and the elderly – were uncovered in mass graves in and around Gaza’s Nasser and al-Shifa Hospitals.

The UNSC members “underlined the need for accountability for violations of international law”.

They also called for investigators to have “unimpeded access to all locations of mass graves in Gaza to conduct immediate, independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigations to establish the circumstances behind the graves”.

Earlier this week, a seventh mass grave in Gaza was uncovered at al-Shifa Hospital – the largest health facility in the enclave.

Palestinian authorities have been investigating allegations that Israeli forces killed patients and medical staff during a two-week raid on the complex.


UN team in Palestine condemns Israeli attack on office

The UN country team in Palestine has condemned an attack by Israelis, some of them armed, on the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that led to its closure.

“Yesterday’s attack at the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, after weeks of threats and intimidation, are utterly unacceptable. It is imperative that Israeli authorities take swift action to investigate the incident and hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” it said in a statement.

“This is not an attack on UNRWA alone, but an assault on the entire UN system operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The UN in Palestine demands accountability for these acts, for immediate intervention by law enforcement should similar incidents occur in the future, and for Member States to recognise the longer-term consequences these attacks on the UN will have.”


US crackdown on Gaza protests signals ‘erosion of intellectual freedom’: UN expert

The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to education says a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on US college campuses signals “a concerning erosion of intellectual freedom and democratic principles within educational settings”.

“I am deeply troubled by the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, arrests, detentions, police violence, surveillance and disciplinary measures and sanctions against members of the educational community exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” said Farida Shaheed."

“I am particularly concerned about the unequal treatment of protesters based on their political stance, particularly targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators.”

Students have enacted protest encampments in support of Palestinians in Gaza at dozens of universities across the US and around the world in recent weeks. Some university administrators have called in police to clear the demonstrations, arresting hundreds of people.

 

Harvard University issues suspension notices to pro-Palestine students

The prominent US university reportedly started sending out suspension notices to students who participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus.

The Palestine Solidarity Committee at the university said suspensions are effective immediately. “Students are now at risk of degree withholding, eviction, food insecurity, and deportation. Details to follow.”

The move came after the students rejected a request to put an end to their encampment with calls on Harvard to divest from Israel.

Police forces made more arrests on Friday as they raided US universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), tear-gassing demonstrators and taking down camps.