The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they happen.
Agreeing to protesters’ demand, U of Vermont removes US envoy to UN as commencement speaker
Protesters at the University of Vermont notch a victory as the administration announces that their commencement speaker, the US ambassador to the United Nations, will no longer be giving an address to graduates later this month.
The protesters, who erected an encampment Sunday, had demanded Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s speech be removed from the upcoming ceremony because of her role in vetoing multiple UN ceasefire resolutions that contained no mention or linkage to a deal for Hamas to release the hostages it took on October 7.
UC Riverside announces deal with anti-Israel protesters to consider reinvesting endowment
Administrators at the University of California, Riverside, announces an agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters to close their campus anti-Israel encampment. The deal includes the formation of a task force to explore removing Riverside’s endowment from the broader UC system’s management and investing those funds “in a manner that will be financially and ethically sound for the university with consideration to the companies involved in arms manufacturing and delivery.”
The announcement marks an apparent split with the policy of the 10-campus UC system, which last week said it opposes “calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel.”
“While the university affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses,” the system said in a statement. “UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
86 House Democrats send letter to Biden saying Israel restricting aid to Gaza
WASHINGTON — Scores of lawmakers from US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party tell him they believe there is sufficient evidence to show that Israel has violated US law by restricting humanitarian aid flows into Gaza amid the war there against Hamas.
A letter to Biden signed by 86 House of Representatives Democrats says Israel’s alleged aid restrictions “call into question” its assurances that it’s complying with a US Foreign Assistance Act provision requiring recipients of US-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law and allow free flows of US assistance.
Such written assurances were mandated by a national security memorandum that Biden issued in February after Democratic lawmakers began questioning if Israel was upholding international law in its offensive against Hamas.
The lawmakers say the Israeli government has resisted repeated US requests to open enough sea and land routes for aid to Gaza, and cite reports that it failed to allow in enough food to avert famine, enforced “arbitrary restrictions” on aid and imposed an inspection system that impeded supplies.
“We expect the administration to ensure (Israel’s) compliance with existing law and to take all conceivable steps to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” the lawmakers write.
Biden’s memorandum requires that Secretary of State Antony Blinken report to Congress by Wednesday on whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US arms adheres to international law.
UN says all aid ‘accounted for’ after Gaza convoy briefly seized by Hamas
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations reports that a UN convoy carrying humanitarian aid from Jordan to Gaza had “a limited amount of goods” vandalized by Israeli civilians when it went through the West Bank. The UN also acknowledged the aid was “rerouted by armed men” when it entered Gaza to the wrong UN facility, but unlike the US did not explicitly say it was seized by Hamas.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq tells reporters “there was a miscommunication” with the convoy Wednesday and the trucks were ultimately directed to the UN World Food Program warehouse in Beit Hanoun.
Referring to Hamas, he says the UN has clarified the misunderstanding with “the de facto authorities in Gaza to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.” They reiterated their commitment to respect the delivery of humanitarian aid, he says, without naming the Gaza-ruling terror group.
“All of the goods have been subsequently accounted for and are being distributed by the UN,” Haq says.
The UN humanitarian office reported that the convoy started in Jordan and entered Gaza “via back-to-back transfer at Erez crossing, following inspection by Israeli authorities only at Allenby Bridge,” he said.
The bridge links Jordan to the West Bank, and Haq says “Going through the West Bank, Israeli civilians offloaded and vandalized a limited amount of goods from the convoy,” which included food parcels, sugar, rice, supplementary food for those malnourished and milk powder.
The UN doesn’t think the incident should impact further aid deliveries from Jordan, Haq says.
Hamas delegation won’t give response to latest hostages-for-truce proposal — report
The Hamas delegation slated to arrive in Cairo will not present the terror group’s response to the latest proposal for a hostages-for-truce deal with Israel, a Palestinian source tells the Kan public broadcaster.
According to the source, the delegation is traveling to the Egyptian capital for further negotiations and will reiterate Hamas’s demands for an agreement, chiefly an Israeli commitment to end the war sparked by the October 7 onslaught.
The report says the delegation will be led by Khalil al-Hayya and also include Zaher Jabarin and Ghazi Hamad.