"Swap Only Option" Hamas Mocks Israel's Failure to Free Hostages, Eyes End to Starvation Policy
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
19 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Columbia univ suspends, expels students over pro-Palestinian protests
Columbia University announced disciplinary action Tuesday against students who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration inside the Ivy League school's main library before final exams in May and an encampment during alumni weekend last year. A student activist group said nearly 80 students were told they have been suspended for one to three years or expelled. The sanctions issued by a university judicial board also include probation and degree revocations, Columbia said in a statement. The action comes as the Manhattan university is negotiating with President Donald Trump's administration to restore $400 million in federal funding it has withheld from the Ivy League school over its handling of student protests against the war in Gaza. The administration pulled the funding, canceling grants and contracts, in March because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and adopting a new definition of antisemitism. Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community, the university said Tuesday. And to create a thriving academic community, there must be respect for each other and the institution's fundamental work, policies, and rules. Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and Rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences. It did not disclose the names of the students who were disciplined. Columbia in May said it would lay off nearly 180 staffers and scale back research in response to the loss of funding. Those receiving nonrenewal or termination notices represent about 20% of the employees funded in some manner by the terminated federal grants, the university said. A student activist group said the newly announced disciplinary action exceeds sentencing precedent for prior protests. Suspended students would be required to submit apologies in order to be allowed back on campus or face expulsion, the group said, something some students will refuse to do. We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation, Columbia University Apartheid Divest said in a statement. Columbia was at the forefront of U.S. campus protests over the war in spring 2024. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment and seized a campus building in April, leading to dozens of arrests and inspiring a wave of similar protests nationally. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has cut funding to several top U.S. universities he viewed as too tolerant of antisemitism. The administration has also cracked down on individual student protesters. Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record, was detained in March over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He is now suing the Trump administration, alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite.
India Today
32 minutes ago
- India Today
More than 100 aid, rights groups call for action as hunger crisis spreads in Gaza
More than 100 large aid and rights groups on Wednesday called for governments to take action as hunger spreads in Gaza, including by demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on the flow of humanitarian a statement signed by 111 organisations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Refugees International, the groups warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave even as tons of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organisations are blocked from accessing or delivering the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes," the organisations said. "The Government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death."The organisations called for governments to demand that all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions be lifted, all land crossings be opened, access to everyone across Gaza to be ensured and for the rejection of military-controlled distribution and a restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response.""States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition."Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies it is responsible for shortages of than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres. The foundation, backed by the United States, has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks were completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and the organisation accused Israel of paralysing its work.- Ends
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to visit West Asia in push for ceasefire in Gaza
President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was heading to the Middle East as the US tries once again to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, a breakthrough that has eluded the administration for months as conditions worsen in Gaza. Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokesperson, told reporters Tuesday that Witkoff was going to the region with a strong hope that the US can deliver a ceasefire deal as well as a new humanitarian corridor for aid distribution. I would suggest that we might have some good news, but, again, as we know, this could be a constantly changing dynamic, Bruce said. Bruce didn't have other details about where Witkoff would be going or what he had planned. It comes as Gaza saw its deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war, with at least 85 Palestinians killed while trying to reach food Sunday. The Israeli army has said it fired warning shots, but says the reported death toll was greatly inflated. The United Nations' food agency accused Israeli forces of firing on the crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid. Bruce said that the incident that took place while civilians were trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel is absolutely horrible" and reinforced why the US is pushing for a new humanitarian corridor to be created as part of any truce. The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place. The US plan calls for a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release some hostages while Israel would free Palestinian prisoners and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. During the 60 days, the sides are also to begin negotiations on a permanent end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas yields power and is disarmed, while Hamas says it will not release all of the hostages until the war is over. It is seeking assurances that Netanyahu will not resume the war after the 60 days, as he did in March after an early ceasefire expired. Hamas is holding 50 hostages 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
