US Columbia University suspends two student associations after protests calling for ceasefire in Gaza
The American University of Columbia announced on Friday the suspension of two student associations which organized demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, accusing them of having “repeatedly violated” the rules of the university.
Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace will be suspended for the entire fall semester, announced Gerald Rosberg, vice president of the university.
“This decision was made after both associations repeatedly violated the university’s rules on holding events on campus, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that took place despite warnings and gave rise to threatening speeches and intimidation,” he said in a statement.
Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh to demand an end to violence in Gaza
Arab leaders and Iran’s president are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a joint summit that is expected to highlight the urgency of ending Israel’s attacks on Gaza before conflict engulfs the region.
The Arab League and the OIC were initially scheduled to hold their meetings separately, but the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced early Saturday that the two organizations’ summits would be held jointly.
This decision highlights the need to reach “a unified collective position that expresses the common Arab and Muslim will regarding the dangerous and unprecedented events observed in Gaza and the Palestinian territories”, declared the Saudi Press Agency.
Emmanuel Macron “urges Israel to stop” bombings killing civilians in Gaza
French President Emmanuel Macron “urges Israel to stop” the bombings killing civilians in Gaza, in an interview with the BBC broadcast Friday evening.
“We share (Israel’s) pain. And we share their desire to get rid of terrorism.” But there is “no justification” for bombings killing civilians in Gaza, he said, mentioning “babies, women and the elderly.”
Find the highlights of this interview in our dedicated article.
Israel downgrades its record of Hamas attacks
Israel has revised downwards the death toll from the Hamas attack launched on October 7 on its territory, from 1,400 to 1,200 dead, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP on Friday.
The Israeli army has reported 37 soldiers dead since the start of the ground offensive.
The Health Ministry of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, announced that 11,078 people, including 4,506 children, had been killed in Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
Half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip no longer work “at all”
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast on the conflict that has been pitting Palestinian Hamas against Israel for five weeks.
The IDF continues to shell the Gaza Strip, particularly schools and hospitals, promising to “kill” Hamas fighters “who fire from hospitals” in Gaza.
THE Gaza’s health system is “on its knees”alerted the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Friday, noting that half of the territory’s 36 hospitals were no longer functioning “at all” and counting “more than 250 attacks” on health establishments in Gaza and the West Bank since the start of the war.