Israeli archaeology conference cancelled after interference from far-right minister
The Israel Exploration Society’s annual conference has been cancelled today after the country’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu objected to the participation of an Israeli academic who had spoken out against Palestinian “dispossession”.
Rather than comply with the minister, the society called off the conference.
The Times of Israel reports that Eliyahu had instructed the Israeli Antiquities Authority to cancel the participation of Tel Aviv University archaeologist Raphael Greenberg.
Eliyahu said the professor had, due to his activities, “spit into the well of the heritage of the people of Israel where they drink”.
Greenberg wrote an open letter in February against participation in another conference focused on archaeology in the occupied West Bank.
“You must also be aware that Israel and the settlers whom you have joined have weaponized archaeology in Jerusalem and the West Bank, using it as a lever to dispossess Palestinians and enlarge the settler footprint,” Greenberg wrote in his open letter.
8\ Greenberg’s letter was followed by international criticism of the February conference. Notably, the Palestine Exploration Fund condemned it for normalizing “academic activities which are in breach of international law.” https://t.co/4nKpTSXNpn >>
— Emek Shaveh (@EmekShaveh) April 2, 2025
Hamas officials reject latest Israeli Gaza truce proposal: Report
Previously, we reported that Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal proposed by mediating countries at the end of March, but that Israel rejected it and proposed a counter-offer.
The AFP news agency now reports that two Hamas officials have accused Israel of “blocking a proposal from Egypt and Qatar and trying to derail any agreement”. “Hamas has decided not to follow up on the latest Israeli proposal presented through the mediators,” one of the officials said.
The original proposal tabled by mediators called for Hamas to release five captives within 50 days, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners – including 150 serving life sentences – as well as 2,000 detainees from Gaza. The proposal would also have seen negotiations begin immediately on a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel, however, countered this by requesting 10 captives be released on the first day of a 40-day truce, in exchange for 120 Palestinians sentenced to life, and 1,111 Palestinian detainees from Gaza. Israeli negotiators have also refused to withdraw from Gaza and insisted on Hamas’s disarmament as a condition for negotiations.
Germany urges return to ‘serious’ talks on Gaza ceasefire
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for a return to “serious” negotiations to end the war in Gaza.
“What is needed now is a return to the ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” Scholz said, urging a return to “serious negotiations with the aim of agreeing a post-war order for Gaza that protects Israel’s security”.
Speaking alongside Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Berlin, Scholz also called for more humanitarian aid for Gaza.
“No humanitarian aid has reached Gaza for a month,” he said. “This cannot and must not continue.” Scholz added that “a sustainable peace that stabilises the situation in the West Bank as well as Gaza can only be achieved through a political solution”.
Abdullah also called for a return to a ceasefire and for aid deliveries to resume into Gaza. “Israel’s war on Gaza must stop. The ceasefire must be reinstated … and aid flow must resume,” he said.
“The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza has already reached unspeakable levels and action must be taken to immediately address it.”
