Blinken arrives in Israel as Netanyahu vows to pursue Rafah offensive

This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.

Summary:

• Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that the military would launch a ground offensive in Rafah "with or without" a truce deal being negotiated with Hamas.

• Amid a renewed US push for a ceasefire, a Hamas team left Cairo on Tuesday after talks on a ceasefire proposal, according to an Egyptian state-owned TV station. The team will return to Cairo with a written response to the proposal, the report added.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel late Tuesday after a stop in Jordan, where he told reporters he will meet Netanyahu Wednesday to discuss means to increase the aid flow to Gaza. 
• Hamas and Fatah expressed the will to seek reconciliation during talks in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.
• At least 34,535 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 77,704 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

10:15pm: UN aid chief warns Rafah assault 'on immediate horizon'

United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that despite global calls for Israel to spare 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."

9:39pm: Portuguese-flagged ship is hit far in Arabian Sea, raising concerns over Houthi rebel capabilities

A Portuguese-flagged container ship came under attack by a drone in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea, corresponding with a claim by Yemen's Houthi rebels that they assaulted the ship there, authorities said Tuesday. 

The attack on the MSC Orion, occurring some 600 kilometers (375 miles) off the coast of Yemen, appeared to be the first confirmed deep-sea assault claimed by the Houthis since they began targeting ships in November. It suggests the Houthis – or potentially their main benefactor Iran – may have the ability to strike into the distances of the Indian Ocean as the rebels previously threatened in their ongoing campaign over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

The attack happened last Friday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, which operates as part of the US-led Combined Maritime Forces in the Mideast. After the attack, the crew discovered debris apparently from a drone on board, the center said. 

8:39pm: Blinken arrives in Israel to push for Gaza ceasefire deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday to push for a much awaited ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Blinken, who is on regional tour, demanded earlier in Amman that Hamas accept a proposal for a ceasefire and release hostages it holds in the Palestinian territory since the war broke out on October 7.

8:34pm: Columbia University threatens to expel student protesters occupying an administration building

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. The school promised they would face expulsion.

The occupation at Columbia – where protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment Monday or be suspended – unfolded as other universities stepped up efforts to clear out encampments. Police swept through some campuses, spurring confrontations with protesters and plenty of arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders have struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life.

And as ceasefire negotiations appeared to gain steam Tuesday, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would inspire campus protesters to ease their efforts. Watch this video report by FRANCE 24's correspondent in New York Jessica Le Masurier. 

01:35

6:36pm: UN chief calls for 'independent' probe over Gaza mass graves

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres expressed alarm Tuesday over reports of mass graves discovered in Gaza including at two hospitals and allegations those buried there were unlawfully killed, as he demanded 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.

6:25pm: Trucks bringing bodies and detainees into Gaza hold up aid says UNRWA

Trucks bringing both bodies and detainees from Israel back to Gaza through the main crossing point of Kerem Shalom regularly hold up aid deliveries, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.

A deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has raised pressure on Israel to boost supplies into the enclave to curb disease among the 1.7 million people displaced by the Israeli-Hamas conflict and relieve hunger amid famine warnings from the United Nations.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told journalists on Tuesday that aid supplies into Gaza had improved in April but listed a series of ongoing difficulties including regular crossing closures "because they (Israel) are dumping released detainees or dumping sometimes bodies taken to Israel and back to the Gaza Strip."

Asked for more details, UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said that Israel had sent 225 bodies to Gaza in three containers since December that were then transported by the UN agency to local health authorities for burial, shutting the crossing temporarily. She did not have details of the circumstances of their deaths and said it was not UNRWA's mandate to investigate.

6:23pm: Blinken says he will bring list of Gaza aid measures to Israel, demands 'no more delays' by Hamas on truce deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that he will take to Israel's leaders a list of measures they still need to take to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, ahead of meetings in Israel on Wednesday.

Blinken, speaking to reporters at a warehouse of Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization where aid shipments from US-based charities are gathered, also said the first shipments of aid directly from Jordan to northern Gaza's Erez crossing would leave on Tuesday.

Blinken demanded that Hamas accept a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages as the Palestinian militant group prepared its response.

"No more delays, no more excuses. The time to act is now," Blinken told reporters on the outskirts of Amman.

5:56pm: China says Hamas and Fatah express will for reconciliation

Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have expressed the will to seek reconciliation through dialogue at unity talks in Beijing, China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The two factions have failed to heal political disputes since Hamas fighters expelled Fatah from the Gaza Strip in a short war in 2007, and their talks took place against the backdrop of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

"The Palestinian National Liberation Movement and Islamic Resistance Group representatives arrived in Beijing a few days ago for in-depth and candid dialogue," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular briefing.

"They agreed to continue the course of talks to achieve the realisation of Palestinian solidarity and unity at an early date."

Lin said both sides had thanked Beijing for its efforts to "promote Palestinian internal unity and reached an agreement on further dialogue".

5:31pm: Hamas officials leave Cairo after talks on a ceasefire proposal

Hamas representatives left Cairo Tuesday after talks with Egyptian officials on a new Gaza ceasefire proposal, according to Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel. 

Reporting from Jerusalem, FRANCE 24's Irris Makler said an Israeli delegation "was meant to go to Cairo on Tuesday, but has put that off until tomorrow, which is when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be here.

The US has heightened pressure on all sides to reach a ceasefire – a message pushed by Blinken, who was on his seventh regional tour since the Gaza war broke out. 

Blinken, who arrived in Jordan on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia, called for a redoubling of aid efforts.

02:59

5:31pm: Israeli offensive on Rafah is bad idea, French foreign minister tells PM Netanyahu, says source

An Israeli offensive in Rafah is a bad idea and would not resolve anything in the country's fight against Hamas, France’s foreign minister told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, a French diplomatic source told Reuters.

"It is a bad idea to do it. There are too many uncertainties over the humanitarian issues", Stéphane Séjourné told Netanyahu during a meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, the source with direct knowledge of the conversation said.

5:14pm: Israel's Netanyahu says ICC arrest warrants would be scandal on historic scale

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for government officials on charges related to the conduct of its war against Hamas it would be a scandal on a historic scale.

"The possibility that they will issue arrest warrants for war crimes against IDF (Israel Defence Force) commanders and state leaders, this possibility is a scandal on a historic scale," Netanyahu said.

"I want to make one thing clear: no decision, neither in The Hague nor anywhere else, will harm our determination to achieve all the goals of the war - the release of all our hostages, a complete victory over Hamas and a promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."

4:52pm: Columbia protesters' building takeover is 'wrong approach', White House says

US President Joe Biden opposes the seizure of a Columbia University campus building by pro-Palestinian protesters, the White House said Tuesday as demonstrations raged at colleges across the country.

"The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told an online briefing.

"That is not an example of peaceful protest."

Masked demonstrators smashed windows and entered the Hamilton Hall building at the Ivy League university in New York, barricading themselves inside with metal tables.

Read morePro-Palestinian student protesters take over Columbia University building

4:47pm: New aid crossing to open in northern Gaza this week, White House says

Israel will open a new crossing into northern Gaza this week after US President Biden requested it in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the White House said on Tuesday, adding that more than 200 aid trucks are entering each day.

3:58pm: Lebanese students stage rare university protest against Israel

Hundreds of students gathered at university campuses in Lebanon on Tuesday to protest against Israel, the country's first coordinated university protests over Gaza, which participants said were inspired by sit-ins in the United States.

Students, alumni and other Lebanese gathered at campuses in the capital Beirut and elsewhere on Tuesday, waving Palestinian flags and posters demanding their universities boycott companies that do business in Israel.

Rayyan Kilani, 21, who is graduating this semester from the 150-year-old American University of Beirut (AUB), said students had decided it was worth risking their degrees to show support for the Palestinian cause.

"Looking at the Palestinians in Gaza and students in Gaza that lost their universities, their lives and their families, a degree would not matter to us as much as a liberated Palestine from the river to the sea," she said.

3:55pm: Blinken presses for Gaza aid on Jordan visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called for the redoubling of efforts to bring aid into Gaza as he held talks in Jordan on coordination.

Blinken, on his latest tour of the region since the Gaza war erupted in October, observed Jordan's efforts to bring in food and supplies and praised the "extraordinary work" led by the United Nations.

"This is a critical moment in making sure that everything that needs to be done is being done," Blinken said as he met in Amman with the UN humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag.

Blinken met separately with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi both on aid and on diplomacy for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that includes the release of hostages.

3:22pm: The top UN court rejects Nicaragua's request for Germany to halt aid to Israel

The top UN court rejected on Tuesday a request by Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel and renew funding to the U.N. aid agency in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice said that legal conditions for making such an order weren't met and ruled against the request in a 15-1 vote.

“Based on the factual information and legal arguments presented by the parties, the court concludes that, as present, the circumstances are not such as to require the exercise of its power ... to indicate provisional measures,” said Nawaf Salam, the court's president.

However, the 16-judge panel declined to throw out the case altogether. The court will still hear arguments from both sides on the merits of Nicaragua’s case, which alleges that Germany failed to prevent genocide in Gaza. That will likely take months.

3:02pm: Israel to wait till 'Wednesday night' for Hamas reply to Gaza truce proposal

A top Israeli official said the government will wait until Wednesday night for a Hamas response to a Gaza truce proposal before deciding whether to send envoys to Cairo for ceasefire talks.

"Israel will make a decision once Hamas provides their answer," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "we will wait for answers until Wednesday night and then decide".

1:25pm: Turkish national stabs Israeli policeman in Jerusalem, is shot dead 

A Turkish national on Tuesday stabbed an Israeli border policeman in Jerusalem and was then shot dead by officers at the scene, Israeli police said.

The border policeman was moderately wounded. Police identified the attacker as a 34-year-old Turkish citizen.

Israeli security forces have been on high alert since the October 7 Hamas attacks that sparked the six-month-old war in Gaza.

"A terrorist armed with a knife arrived in the Old City of Jerusalem ... charged at the border police officer and stabbed him," said a police statement.

The wounded policeman and another officer on scene fought off and shot the attacker, who was later pronounced dead, it said.

1:24pm: UN 'alarmed' at impact of Lebanon border clashes on children

The United Nations children's agency warned Tuesday that conflict on Lebanon's border was taking a heavy toll on children, with thousands out of school and healthcare "critically impacted".

"We are deeply alarmed by the situation of children and families who have been forced from their homes," Edouard Beigbeder, the Lebanon representative for UNICEF, said in a statement.

He further warned of "the profound long-term impact the violence is taking on children's safety, health and access to education". "We call for an immediate ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians," he said.

"We must redouble our efforts to make sure every child in Lebanon is in school and learning, is protected from physical and mental harm, and has the opportunity to thrive."

1:22pm: Gaza supplies better but not enough to reverse trend towards famine, UNRWA chief says 

The availability of food and other humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza improved in April, but there is still far from enough to reverse the trend towards famine, said the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

"It is true that there have been more supply entering during the month of April, but this is still far from enough to reverse the negative trend," said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner general, at a press conference in Geneva, describing a race against the clock to roll back hunger and famine.

He said that only a handful of countries still have a block on their funds to UNRWA following Israeli accusations that members of its staff took part in the October 7 Hamas attacks. The agency has also raised $115 million in private funding, he said.

Lazzarini said that $267 million of UNRWA’s funding was still suspended over allegations that some UNRWA staff had participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The accusations in January led to many donors freezing some $450 million in funding at a time when Gaza's 2.3 million people are in dire need of food, water, shelter and medicine.

"It's money which we were aware was committed and which remains suspended for the agency. The total amount is $267 million. The bulk of it comes from the United States," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told a press conference in Geneva.

1:06pm: Netanyahu says troops to enter Rafah 'with or without' Gaza truce

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Israeli military will launch a ground offensive in Rafah "with or without" a truce with Hamas in Gaza.

"The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory," Netanyahu told representatives of hostages' families, according to a statement issued by his office.

12:42pm: France shares more proposals with Israel over southern Lebanon

French officials shared on Tuesday proposals made to Lebanese authorities to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said, as Paris attempts to work as an intermediary between the sides.

"A number of proposals that we made to the Lebanese side have been shared (with you)," Séjourné said ahead of a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem.

"We have a relationship with Lebanon, 20,000 citizens there and the war in 2006 was particularly dramatic for them."

Séjourné was in Lebanon on Sunday where he met officials including politicians close to Hezbollah. French officials say they had seen progress in the responses from Lebanese authorities.

12:23pm: Top French university loses funding over pro-Palestinian protests

The Paris region authority sparked controversy Tuesday by temporarily suspending funding for Sciences Po, one of the country's most prestigious universities, after it was rocked by tense pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

"I have decided to suspend all regional funding for Sciences Po until calm and security have been restored at the school," Valerie Pecresse, the right-wing head of the greater Paris Ile-de-France region, said on social media on Monday.

She took aim at "a minority of radicalised people calling for anti-Semitic hatred" and accused hard-left politicians of seeking to exploit the tensions.

Regional support for the Paris-based university includes 1 million euros earmarked for 2024, a member of Pecresse's team told AFP.

On Tuesday, the university's acting administrator, Jean Basseres, said he regretted the decision. "The Ile-de-France region is an essential partner of Sciences Po, and I wish to maintain dialogue on the position expressed by Mrs Pecresse," he told French daily Le Monde in an interview published Tuesday.

11:52am: Hamas officials leave Cairo after talks on a ceasefire proposal

Officials from Hamas have left Cairo after talks with Egyptian officials on a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel said Tuesday. 

The channel, which has close ties with Egyptian security agencies, said a Hamas delegation will return to Cairo with a written response to the ceasefire proposal, without saying when.

06:49

11:23am: The Debate: Generational shift? Gaza war protests spread across US campuses

For the first time since the Vietnam War, Columbia University has brought in police to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment, sparking further sit-in protests across the US. FRANCE 24's show The Debate examines the students' calls for a ceasefire and asks, will the seemingly endless war in Gaza tear the American left apart, the way the Vietnam War did?

44:22

11:03am: Blinken heads to Jordan to push for Gaza aid

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed Tuesday to Jordan where he will discuss ways to boost aid deliveries into Gaza and quietly thank the kingdom for its help during recent Iran-Israel clashes.

Blinken flew to Amman after talks with Gulf Arab leaders in Riyadh, part of his seventh tour of the region since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

The top US diplomat will meet Jordan's King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi as well as UN humanitarian aid and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.

Later in the day, Blinken will head to Israel where he will discuss the latest negotiations aimed at securing a temporary ceasefire and a release of hostages.

10:44am: Russia says United States is being hypocritical over ICC and Israel

Russia said on Tuesday that the United States was being hypocritical by opposing the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation of Israel but supporting the court's warrant for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin.

"Washington fully supported, if not stimulated, the issuance of ICC warrants against the Russian leadership," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a post on Telegram.

But "the American political system does not recognise the legitimacy of this structure in relation to itself and its satellites", Zakharova said, adding that such a position was intellectually "absurd".

The Kremlin has called the issuing of the warrant against Putin outrageous and legally void, as Russia is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC.

Israel is not a member of the ICC, while the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015.

10:05am: Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 34,535

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that at least 34,535 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.

The tally includes at least 47 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 77,704 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

9:30am: China says Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah met for talks in Beijing

China said Tuesday that rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah met in Beijing recently for "in-depth and candid talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation".

"Representatives of the Palestine National Liberation Movement and the Islamic Resistance Movement recently came to Beijing," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, referring to the groups by their formal names, adding that they made "positive progress".

8:49am: Protesters take over Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in escalation of anti-war demonstrations

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organisers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcasted a play-by-play of the hall’s takeover – which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday’s 2 pm deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday.

8:16am: Columbia University suspends students after call to end Gaza camp unheeded

Columbia University, the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests that have upended college campuses across the United States, began suspending student demonstrators on Monday after they defied an ultimatum to disperse.

In the latest crackdown on the demonstrations, authorities at the prestigious university in New York demanded that the protest encampment be cleared by 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) or students would face disciplinary action.

"These repulsive scare tactics mean nothing compared to the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians," said a statement, read out by a student at a press conference after the deadline, referring to the death toll in Gaza.

A few hours later, Columbia vice-president of communications Ben Chang said the university had "begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus".

He said students had been warned they would be "placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces".

6:48am: ICJ set to rule on Nicaragua's request for Germany to halt aid to Israel

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is ruling Tuesday on a request by Nicaragua for judges to order Germany to halt military aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin’s support enables acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Nicaragua's case is the latest legal bid by a country with historic ties to the Palestinian people to stop Israel’s offensive. Late last year, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the court. The cases come as Israel's allies face growing calls to stop supplying it with weapons, and as some including Germany have grown more critical of the war.

At hearings early this month, Nicaragua’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Carlos José Argüello Gómez told the 16-judge panel that “Germany is failing to honor its own obligation to prevent genocide or to ensure respect of international humanitarian law”.

Israel strongly denies that its assault on Gaza amounts to genocidal acts, saying it is acting in self defence after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people. Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker told judges at the court earlier this year in the case brought by South Africa that Israel is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want”.

4:42am: Biden presses Egypt and Qatar on ceasefire, hostage deal

US President Joe Biden on Monday urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to "exert all efforts" towards securing the release of hostages held by Hamas as part of negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire, the White House said.

Washington, Doha and Cairo have been mediating for months to achieve a truce in the Palestinian territory which has endured relentless bombing by Israel in response to the unprecedented deadly attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7.

Representatives from Egypt, Qatar and Hamas met Monday in Cairo, with the Palestinian Islamist group expected to respond to a proposal for a second truce in Gaza, coupled with a fresh release of hostages.

In separate phone calls Biden spoke with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and discussed "the deal now on the table", the White House said in nearly identical statements.

Biden urged the leaders "to exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas as this is now the only obstacle to an immediate ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza", the White House said.

FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson reports from Washington, DC

01:45

3:50am: Egypt hopeful on Gaza talks, waiting for response, foreign minister says

Egypt is hopeful about a proposal for a truce and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip but is waiting for a final response on the plan from Israel and Hamas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday.

A Hamas delegation left the Egyptian capital Cairo late on Monday to consult with the group's leadership on the latest, tweaked proposal and was expected to report back within two days, two Egyptian security sources said.

Egypt, alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli ground operation in Rafah where more than one million people have taken shelter near its border, has made a renewed push in recent days to revive stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

"We are hopeful the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides, has tried to extract moderation from both sides, and we are waiting to have a final decision," Shoukry said on a panel at a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.

Yesterday's key developments:

• The United States said Monday it opposed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into Israel's conduct in Gaza.

• Hamas’s al Qassam Brigades on Monday said its militants in southern Lebanon had launched a slew of rockets at a northern Israeli military position.
• Hamas has been offered a 40-day ceasefire and the release of "potentially thousands" of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to swiftly accept the Israeli proposal for a truce, calling it "extraordinarily generous".
• Student demonstrators at New York's Columbia University on Monday defied an ultimatum to disperse or face immediate suspension as protests erupted at several US colleges.
• European authorities are clamping down on pro-Palestinian protests, rights groups told AFP, as the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza sharply polarises opinion across the bloc. French police broke up a student protest demanding an end to Israel's bombardment of Gaza at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
• European and Arab foreign ministers met in the Saudi capital to discuss how to join forces on advancing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)