10:28 PM, Yesterday
Management of Sciences Po University in Paris reaches agreement with activists
The management of the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris said it had reached an agreement with students holding pro-Palestinian protests on Friday evening. The university promises to organize an internal debate and suspend disciplinary procedures against demonstrators.
“In view of these decisions, the students have committed to stop disrupting classes, exams and all other activities of the institution,” Jean Bassères, temporary director of Sciences Po Paris, wrote in a message to students and professors .
A group of students, activists and supporters of the university’s Palestine Committee attempted to continue the protest Friday inside and outside a Scienses Po building on Rue Saint-Guillaume, in the heart of the chic seventh arrondissement.
Tensions rose when about fifty pro-Israel demonstrators joined around 4 p.m. A confrontation broke out and police moved to separate the two groups.
The actions are reminiscent of those at American universities.
7:56 PM, Yesterday
‘US will not yet impose sanctions on controversial Israeli battalion’
The controversial Israeli Netzah Yehuda battalion does not yet have to fear American sanctions. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote this to Speaker Mike Johnson of the US House of Representatives, ABC News reports. Blinken first wants to wait and see whether Israel itself cleans up the battalion, which is allegedly involved in human rights violations.
Last week, American media reported that the US planned to punish the Netzah Yehuda battalion. That battalion consists of extremist settlers and ultra-Orthodox Jews and is mainly active in the occupied West Bank. They are allegedly involved in abuse and torture of Palestinians. The Israeli army would ignore that. The unit is heavily over-represented in sanctions imposed by the Israeli army itself for crimes against Palestinians.
If the battalion were sanctioned, it would no longer be allowed to use American weapons. Members would also no longer be allowed to receive training from the US. While Blinken acknowledges that the unit is indeed involved in human rights abuses, Blinken expects that Israel will punish the unit itself: “The Israeli government has presented new information about the unit and we will discuss a way to effectively remediate the unit.”
Joram Bolle
7:32 PM, Yesterday
Pro-Palestinian protests at prestigious university in Paris lead to tensions
Pro-Palestinian student protests continue at the prestigious Sciences Po University in Paris on Friday. This was accompanied by sit-ins, the occupation of historic buildings and a tense confrontation with pro-Israel demonstrators. The actions are reminiscent of those at American universities.
A group of students, activists and supporters of the university’s Palestine Committee attempted to continue the protest inside and outside a Scienses Po building on Rue Saint-Guillaume, in the heart of the chic seventh arrondissement.
However, tensions rose around 4 p.m. with the arrival of approximately 50 pro-Israel demonstrators who “Libérez Sciences Po” (“Liberated Sciences Po”) and “Libérez Gaza du Hamas(“Free Gaza from Hamas”) shouted. Some wore masks and motorcycle helmets. A confrontation broke out between the supporters of the two camps amid the many journalists present. The police then moved into action to separate the two groups. to divorce.
Earlier, pro-Palestinian students had begun removing the trash bins blocking the entrance to the building. Activists continued to occupy the location and a sit-in on the sidewalk ensued.
On Wednesday evening, about a dozen tents were set up in the courtyard of another building before police dispersed students demonstrating for the Palestinian cause.
On Friday, the students received support from several politicians, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI). He sent an audio message to the protesters.
The management decided to close several buildings on the Paris campus and “strongly condemns these student actions”.
The management, which has been criticized by some members of the education community for allowing police to intervene on campus, organized a meeting with student representatives on Friday morning.
4:58 PM, Yesterday
UN official: Gaza could take 14 years to be free of rubble and unexploded bombs
It could take fourteen years to clear the Gaza Strip of rubble and unexploded bombs. Pehr Lodhammar, chief officer of the UN mine countermeasures agency (Unmas), said this during a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland. It is estimated that there are about 37 million tons of debris in the hard-hit area.
The enormous trails of destruction left by the war in Gaza became visible earlier this month in southern Gaza. After the Israeli army had largely withdrawn from this part of the area, the first displaced persons returned to the town of Khan Younis. What they found was a city in ruins.
Researchers from the American University of New York and Oregon saw on satellite images that as many as 55 percent of the buildings in Khan Younis have been destroyed or damaged. In the north of Gaza the figure is as high as 70 percent, while in the south of Rafah – where a large-scale attack is imminent – a third of the buildings are no longer standing.
On top of that are the unexploded explosives. “We know that normally at least 10 percent of land munitions fired do not work,” Unmas’s Lodhammar said. “We are talking about fourteen years of work with a hundred trucks.”
Jasper Daams
11:26, Yesterday
Killed Belgian agency employee and 7-year-old son stayed in Hamas militant’s home, says Israeli ambassador
The employee of the Belgian agency Enabel and his 7-year-old son who were killed in an Israeli bombardment of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip were staying in the house of a Hamas militant. This is what Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, the Israeli ambassador to Belgium, says. According to her, the militant was the target of the airstrike. A total of five people, including two children, were killed in the attack. Two other children were injured.
The Israeli ambassador was summoned yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib (MR) and Minister of Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez (Vooruit).
After that meeting, she issued a statement expressing her regret “for every innocent civilian life lost.” “I also explained that the house the family was staying in belonged to an important Hamas militant (who belonged to the extended family of the Enabel employee). That Hamas militant was the target of the airstrike,” said Idit Rosenzweig-Abu.
However, many other victims were killed in the air raid. In addition to Enabel employee Abdallah Nabhan (33) and his 7-year-old son Jamal, the man’s 65-year-old father, his 35-year-old brother and his 6-year-old niece also died. Nabhan’s wife is in a critical condition in hospital. The couple’s two other children – aged 5 years and 7 months – were slightly injured.
Abdallah was on a list of people eligible to leave Gaza, according to Gennez. That list was provided to the Israeli authorities months ago. According to Gennez, the Israeli government bears a “crushing” responsibility and the bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against all international, humanitarian and war laws.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) also pointed the finger at the Israeli government in Parliament. According to him, he is “twice to blame”. Firstly, because, according to him, a country must do everything it can to prevent aid workers from being bombed, but especially because Belgium has been asking for four months to allow all Belgian aid workers and other rights holders to leave Gaza. “Innocent people and children are killed every day. Dear Israeli Government. This has to stop. Now.”
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11:22, Yesterday
Baby born after mother died from seizure
The baby rescued from her dying mother’s womb on Sunday after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza has died. The BBC reports this. The mother was 30 weeks pregnant. 16 other children were also killed in the attack.
On Sunday, an apartment building where several families lived in Rafah was hit by a bomb attack. A pregnant Palestinian woman, her husband and daughter, were killed in Israel’s bombardment. Doctors managed to deliver the unborn baby, a girl, alive through a caesarean section.
She got the name from her mother. The child weighed only 1.4 kilograms and had severe breathing difficulties. She was placed in an incubator to recover, but died on Thursday. Sabreen was buried next to her mother.
The attack happened just before midnight on Saturday. The baby’s family was sleeping at the time. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas fighters and infrastructure.
07:00, Yesterday
Americans start building port for aid to Palestinians
The Americans have started building a temporary port off the coast of the Gaza Strip so that the Palestinians can receive more aid. It involves a platform and a pier. The installation is scheduled to be completed in early May, according to the US Defense Department.
The Pentagon previously reported that construction could take 60 days. About a thousand American troops would be deployed. President Joe Biden wants to provide more humanitarian aid to the suffering Palestinian population. He announced the measure in early March, when Israel stopped truck deliveries.
The American military will not operate on Gazan soil.
