Hamas leader says he is studying truce offer in “a positive spirit”

The UN says the cost of rebuilding Gaza is between $30 billion and $40 billion. In the United Kingdom, a police officer admits to broadcasting images supporting Hamas. For Isaac Herzog, American campuses were “contaminated” by “hate and anti-Semitism”… Le Figaro takes stock of the conflict between Palestinian Hamas and the State of Israel this Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Hamas leader says his movement is studying truce offer in ‘a positive spirit’

Hamas studies in a “positive spirit” the truce proposed by the mediation of which Egypt is part, indicated the leader of the Palestinian movement Ismaïl Haniyeh to the head of Egyptian intelligence during a telephone conversation, according to a Hamas press release. He assured Abbas Kamel that Hamas negotiators would return “as soon as possible” in Egypt to conclude the ongoing talks. The response from the Palestinian movement to this truce proposal is awaited, casting doubt on a possible agreement after almost seven months of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli hostage held in Gaza Strip dies

An Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attacks on October 7 has been declared dead, Israeli authorities and relatives announced early Friday. Dror Or, aged 49, was killed and held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, said in a statement the Be’eri kibbutz where he lived, and whose residents were among the most affected by the attack on Israeli territory by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

His wife, Yonat, was killed during this assault while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13 respectively, were kidnapped and then released as part of a truce agreement at the end of November. “It is now confirmed that Dror Or, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, was assassinated and his body held in Gaza”indicated the Israeli government on its official X account, specifying that Alma, Noam and their brother Yahli were now orphans.

Two Palestinians, including a doctor, died of “torture” in an Israeli prison

Two Gazan prisoners, including a doctor at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, died behind Israeli bars, two Palestinian detainee rights groups said Thursday, saying they died of “tortures” and lack of care.

In a joint statement, the Prisoners’ Club and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Committee announced the death “of two detainees from Gaza”of which “Dr Adnane Ahmed Atiya al-Bourch, 50 years old (…) head of the Orthopedics department at al-Chifa hospital”. The other deceased inmate is Abdel Bari Rajab Khadir, 33.

Both are dead “the consequences of torture and medical crimes suffered by detainees in Gaza”affirm the associations, in reference to the lack of care regularly denounced by Israeli and Palestinian human rights defenders.

The cost of the reconstruction of Gaza estimated between 30 and 40 billion dollars by the UN

The UN estimated Thursday the cost of rebuilding the Gaza Strip, ravaged by a war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, between 30 and 40 billion dollars, due to the unprecedented scale of the destruction.

“Estimates from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to rebuild everything in the Gaza Strip exceed $30 billion, possibly going up to $40 billion”said Abdallah al-Dardari, director of the UNDP regional office for Arab States, at a press conference in Amman. “The scale of the destruction is enormous and unprecedented… This is a mission that the international community has not faced since World War II.”

UK police officer pleads guilty to broadcasting footage in support of Hamas

A police officer, charged in the United Kingdom for broadcasting two images on WhatsApp in support of Hamas, an organization banned in the country, pleaded guilty Thursday in a London court. Mohammed Adil, a 26-year-old officer who worked for West Yorkshire Police in the north of England, is facing two charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Shortly after the bloody October 7 attack carried out by Hamas in Israel, he shared an image on WhatsApp, showing a Hamas fighter accompanied by a message attributed to Mohammed Deif, the leader of the al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The prosecutor’s representative at the hearing held at Westminster Magistrate Court also claimed that two of Mohammed Adil’s colleagues had alerted their superiors after seeing these messages and expressing their “worry”. On Thursday, the judge released him under judicial supervision pending the announcement of his sentence on June 4.

“Hate and anti-Semitism” have “contaminated” American campuses, says the president of Israel

Israeli President Isaac Herzog denounced Thursday the “terrifying resurgence of anti-Semitism” around the world, and particularly in the United States, where “renowned universities, centers of history, culture and education” are “contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism”.

On American campuses, “we see with horror the atrocities of October 7 against Israel being celebrated and justified”he continued, in reference to the bloody Hamas attack in Israel, assuring his support “our brothers and sisters, our friends on campus and in Jewish communities across the United States and around the world”.