Israel orders further Rafah evacuation
- The Israeli military orders Palestinians to further evacuate eastern Rafah as it intensifies its assault on the area in southern Gaza.
- Health Ministry in Gaza says it has uncovered 80 bodies from three mass graves from inside a section of the al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City.
UN chief discusses Rafah with Qatari PM
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the dire situation in Gaza with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, with the officials agreeing that a full-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah would have catastrophic consequences and must be prevented, a UN read-out says.
Guterres expressed “deep appreciation for Qatar’s continued mediation efforts to broker a deal for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate release of hostages”, the statement added.
Protesters slam ‘double standards’ over Israel’s Eurovision participation
Adel Sadat, an organiser in the Malmo demonstrations against Israel’s Eurovision participation, says there are two main reasons for the protests.
“One is national and one is international,” he told Al Jazeera.
The national component was against the Swedish government and the local authorities in Malmo for allowing the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Sweden.
And then the international, of course, we stand in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people and to really show the world that this is not acceptable,” Sadat said, criticising the contest organisers’ “hypocrisy”.
“Basically, double standards for not allowing the Russians, but allowing Israel [to participate],” he said.
Thousands protest in Sweden’s Malmo against Israel’s participation in Eurovision
Harvard students name hall after Shireen Abu Akleh
Students at Harvard University in the US have named the hall after the veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed two years ago by an Israeli sniper in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Several human rights groups and media organisations found that the Israeli army was responsible for the killing of the Palestinian-American journalist.
University campuses in the US and around the world have exploded in recent weeks in protests by pro-Palestinian students and faculty members against Israel’s war on Gaza.
Some have renamed halls after the names of Palestinians killed by Israel, including Abu Akleh and Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl whose family car came under Israeli fire in Gaza.
