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Live blog: Arab diplomats, Macron discuss ways to stop Israel’s war on Gaza
Israel has killed at least 35,857 Palestinians — mostly innocent babies, children, and women — and wounded 80,293 in its 232-day war on Gaza, while 10,000+ are feared dead beneath the rubble of their shattered homes
Relatives of the Palestinians who were killed by Israel in attacks over Deir al Balah, mourn as the bodies are brought to morgue of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza on May 24, 2024. / Photo: AA
AA
Relatives of the Palestinians who were killed by Israel in attacks over Deir al Balah, mourn as the bodies are brought to morgue of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza on May 24, 2024. / Photo: AA
Saturday, May 25, 2024
2200 GMT — France’s president, Qatar’s prime minister and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have held talks on Israel’s Gaza war and ways to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the French presidency said.
French President Emmanuel Macron organised the meeting amid growing international concerns over Israel’s genocidal war. It came a few hours after the UN’s top court ordered Israel to halt its invasion in the Gaza city of Rafah.
Efforts to revive a “two-state” solution to the wider Middle East conflict and humanitarian efforts for Gaza dominated the talks.
The officials discussed “all the levers that could be activated in order to obtain the reopening of all crossing points” into Gaza, said an Elysee palace statement.
The five countries also discussed how to “increase and deepen their cooperation” and “the effective implementation of the two-state solution, the only effective way to guarantee the peace and security of the state of Israel and to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians,” the statement added.
2223 GMT — NYC college suspends officer who told pro-Palestine protester ‘I support killing all you guys’
A campus safety officer at a public college in New York City has been suspended after footage circulated online showing him cursing at pro-Palestinian protesters during a graduation ceremony and saying he supported killing them all, the school confirmed.
An unidentified protester filmed the officer at Thursday’s graduation for the College of Staten Island, part of the public City University of New York system that was rocked by a recent police crackdown on campus protests.
In a highly edited video shared by Instagram accounts affiliated with student protest organizers, a demonstrator can be heard yelling at the officer, “You support genocide!”
“Yes I do, I support genocide,” says the officer. “I support killing all you guys, how about that?” In another clip posted in the video, the officer can be heard hurling an expletive at another protester, followed by “your mother.”
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West Bank rally calls on Muslim militaries to stop Israel’s carnage in Gaza
2048 GMT — UCLA police make first arrest in mob attack on pro-Palestine encampment
Three weeks after a mob attacked pro-Palestine activists encamped at the University of California, Los Angeles, police have made their first arrest in the violence, a man they say was seen in video footage beating victims with a wooden pole.
The suspect, identified as Edan On, 18, was taken into custody on Thursday in the city of Beverly Hills and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, the UCLA Police Department said in a statement.
The man, who police said had no affiliation with UCLA, was reported by local media to be a Beverly Hills High School student.
His arrest was the first by police in their investigation of the violence that flared on campus between pro-Palestine activists occupying a tent camp to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, and a group who attacked them late on the night of April 30.
The masked assailants, described by university officials and police as “instigators,” stormed the protest site with clubs and poles, sparking a pitched skirmish in which both sides traded blows and doused each other with pepper spray.
2106 GMT — White House, on ICJ ruling, says it has been ‘clear and consistent’ on Rafah
The White House has said it has been “clear and consistent” on its position on Rafah after the United Nation’s top court ordered Israel to halt its invasion in the area.
The US says a full invasion in Rafah would be a humanitarian disaster, but it has continued to supply Tel Aviv with lethal weapons that Israel uses on the besieged Palestinians.
Legal experts say Israel must fully comply with ICJ’s Rafah order, and its allies such as US and UK must suspend all arms sales to Tel Aviv as ignoring world court’s ruling risks “genocide” complicity.
For our live updates from Friday, May 24, 2024, click here
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
