A heavy police presence is in Malmo’s main square where protests against Israel’s inclusion in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest are expected to take place. Officers in more than five vans arrived in Stortorget, or main square, ahead of Eden Golan taking to the stage on Thursday evening in Malmo Arena to represent Israel.

A pro-Palestinian march will take place in the afternoon, which a spokesperson for the force said would cause disturbance to traffic in the city in southern Sweden. The organisers of the march say the demonstration will take place at 3pm local time (13:00 GMT), with it ending at Molleplatsen park.

Shouts of “Free Palestine” could be heard during Israel’s song at the rehearsals for the semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden. The semifinal is to be held tonight.

On the streets of Malmo, there are tens of thousands of people, protesting not only Israel’s war on Gaza but the fact that Israel has been allowed to enter the Eurovision Song Contest this year, and contrasting that with the fact that Russia was barred after their invasion of Ukraine.

There’s a huge Muslim population in Malmo – a lot of people from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine – and they see it in a way as rubber-stamping Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Alongside those demonstrations, there is also a pro-Israeli manifestation – as they’re calling it – of the Jewish community in Malmo. They’re saying it’s not a demonstration, they just want to show solidarity with the Jewish community. They say they’ve come under a lot of threats in the past seven months and they want to show their presence.

If not the top one, it’s definitely among the top three events the police here have had to deal with. They’ve brought in reinforcements from Norway and Denmark, and there are special police forces, and there are snipers on the roof around Malmo Arena.


_{People protest during the Stop Israel demonstration against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on May 9}

Just a little preview of what will happen in Paris if this war still goes on during the Olympics in July. Netanyahu certainly is betting on keeping it going for the rest of the year. Biden is running out of time though.

Amnesty calls on ‘all states’ to halt weapons transfers to Israel, Palestinian groups

Prime Minister Robert Golob announces the Slovenian government has officially started the process of recognising Palestinian as a sovereign state.

He said Slovenia aims to recognise an independent Palestine based on the 1967 borders, or any borders that may later be drawn up as a result of potential future negotiations between Israel and Palestine, and reforms implemented by the Palestinian Authority.

“I call on Israel to put an immediate end to its attacks on Gaza and to use the negotiating table,” Golob said, adding that the governing coalition agreed unanimously on the decision to begin recognising Palestinian statehood.

Slovenia said in a joint statement on March 22 along with Spain, Ireland and that it has agreed to take the first steps towards recognising a Palestinian state.

Since 1988, an overwhelming majority of 142 out of 193 UN member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for an immediate ceasefire, saying the war in Gaza is causing “unimaginable suffering”.

In a statement shared online, the global health agency highlighted the case of seven-year-old Jana who suffers from severe acute malnutrition and dehydration and is one of 46 children who has been receiving treatment at a stabilisation centre.

The child was transferred for treatment from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza to the International Medical Corps field hospital in the south.

“After more than 200 days of conflict, 1.1 million people are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity. The lack of food and safe drinking water has increased the spread of diseases,” WHO said on X.

Maritime corridor for aid doesn’t solve problems driving humanitarian crisis

Hamas delegation leaves Cairo

Hamas’s political bureau says its delegation has left Cairo, where they held ceasefire talks, and is en route to Doha, Qatar.

In a statement, the bureau said Israel’s invasion of Rafah and occupation of the Rafah border crossing were aimed at blocking the efforts of the mediators and escalating the war. It also reaffirmed the group’s “commitment and adherence” to the current truce proposal.

Israeli delegation, CIA director leave Cairo: Report

Cairo truce talks over, Rafah operation to proceed

Israel-US tensions over Rafah is about ‘tactics not objectives’

Nader Hashemi, the Center for Middle East Studies director at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, says it is important not to exaggerate the tensions between the US and Israel as the “Biden Administration continues to solidly support Netanyahu’s war aims in Gaza”.

What has emerged in the context of Rafah, he explained, is a “difference about tactics, not objectives”.

“Given rising domestic opposition to Biden’s Gaza policy, the US wants a lower civilian casualty toll than Israel does,” he said. “Objectively, what has transpired is a minor shift in US support for Israeli policy in Gaza.”

“It has moved from 100 percent support to 99 percent support. Israel can still bomb Rafah with impunity. It can displace the 1.4 million people residing there. It just cannot do this with US-made 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs that Israel has used in other parts of Gaza,” Hashemi added.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant tells Israel’s “enemies and friends” that it will do whatever is necessary to achieve its war aims in Gaza and on its border with Lebanon in an apparent response to US pressure to halt its operation in Rafah.

“I turn to Israel’s enemies as well as to our best of friends and say, the State of Israel cannot be subdued,” he said, according to remarks released by his office. “We will stand strong. We will achieve our goals. We will hit Hamas. We will hit Hezbollah, and we will achieve security.”

In an apparent message to Biden, who has opted to suspend some weapons deliveries to Israel, Netanyahu has posted a video of an address he delivered on Sunday to commemorate the Holocaust.

In the speech, Netanyahu said, “No amount of pressure … will stop Israel from defending itself” and achieving its war objectives.

“Eighty years ago in the Holocaust, the Jewish people were totally defenceless against those who sought our destruction. No nation came to our aid,” he said.

Palestinian Civil Defence teams have exhumed 49 bodies from another mass grave recently uncovered at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. It is the seventh mass grave discovered during the war, according to health officials.

“The corpses are those of children, women, and men, and most of them were patients,” paramedic Adel al-Mashharawi told Al Jazeera.

Dr Zouhair Lahna recounts his time in Gaza and tells Al Jazeera he is pained by the memories of the sick, wounded and dying. Although he has worked in conflict zones across the globe, the Moroccan French pelvic surgeon and obstetrician said has never seen anything like the Israeli war on Gaza.

Mercy Corps aid workers in Gaza have shared their stories about the impact of prices spiking by seven to 10 times the original prices before the war. Staff member Lojain, currently located in Gaza City, said that from December to March, essential supplies vanished – no milk for her baby niece, no flour, pasta or vegetables were available.

“We survived on whatever scraps we could find, even moldy bread. The famine and communication blackout were particularly harrowing experiences for me,” she said.

Getting essentials such as water and wood is a “constant concern” because of exorbitant prices, she said. Something as simple as drinking tea or coffee is impractical, Lojain said. Staff member Nader added: “Just a few weeks ago, I was able to buy sugar for 10 shekels [$2.70]. However, the price of a pack of sugar jumped to 70 shekels [$18.80].”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has shared photos on X documenting how its members evacuated the body of “a martyr following the targeting of a motorcycle at the Abu Halawa junction in Rafah”.

Israeli forces attack ‘middle, western parts’ of Rafah

‘We have what we need’ for Rafah invasion: Israeli army

What weapons has the US delivered to Israel since October 7?

Relaxing Turkey’s ban on exports to Israel is “out of the question” though companies have three months to fulfil existing orders via third countries, a Turkish Trade Ministry source has been quoted as saying by Reuters.

In a document seen by the news agency, the Trade Ministry outlined the three-month reprieve for companies exporting to Israel. Ankara introduced the trade ban with Israel last week.

Separately, Israel’s foreign minister claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had retreated on his earlier position and lifted many of the trade restrictions he imposed on Israel, adding the lesson to draw was not to succumb to threats “of a dictator”.

Israeli claims of Ankara easing trade ban ‘absolutely fictional’: Turkish minister

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group says it has fired weapons at Israel’s Ramia military site near the border, destroying one of its newly set up “technical systems”.

Hezbollah also fired a rocket at Israel’s al-Samaqa military site, which is located in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfarchouba, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The Hezbollah attacks follow an alleged Israeli drone attack on a car in southern Lebanon that killed four of its members, according to Lebanese security sources cited by Reuters.

Israeli military attacks Hezbollah positions after rocket, drone attacks

Hezbollah claims attack to avenge ‘assassinated’ members