New York synagogues hit with bomb threats

At least three synagogues and a museum in New York received bomb threats on Saturday but none were deemed credible by the New York Police Department, a city official and police say.

Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine says on X the synagogue bomb threats were “a clear hate crime, and part of a growing trend of ‘swatting’ incidents targeting Jewish institutions.”

“This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted,” he says.

A police spokesperson says a number of threats were received on Saturday, including an emailed bomb threat to the Brooklyn Museum and one to a synagogue in Brooklyn Heights, with no evidence of any explosive device detected.

Two synagogues in Manhattan also received bomb threats, including a West Side synagogue that prompted police to evacuate about 250 people, police say, with nothing found.

New York state Governor Kathy Hochul says on X state officials were “actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible.”

Hochul adds, “We will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions.”

Hamas says West Bank commander among operatives killed in IDF raid

Hamas’s armed wing says the commander of its forces in the Tulkarem area of the West Bank was among four members of the group killed during a day-long Israeli raid in the town of Dayr al-Ghusun.

A statement from the Izzaldin al-Qassam Brigades names Alaa Shreiteh, 45, as commander of the al-Qassam Brigades in the Tulkarem governorate.

Shreiteh was jailed by Israel between 2002 and 2016.

It also names Tamer Faqha, 32, as the terrorist behind a deadly shooting attack near the West Bank town of Bayt Lid on November 2 which killed off-duty IDF reservist Sgt. First Class (res.) Elhanan Klein.

⭕️كتائب القسام: نزف 4 من مقاومينا وقادتنا الميدانيين في الضفة الغربية، بعد اشتباك مع قوات الاحتلال دام أكثر من 15 ساعة في دير الغصون شمال طولكرم، وهم: تامر فقهاء، علاء شريتح، عدنان سمارة، وآسال بشير بدران. pic.twitter.com/8kuz58sFeb

— إذاعة الأقصى – عاجل (@Alaqsavoice_Brk) May 4, 2024

The Israel Defense Forces and police had previously said that five members of a cell responsible for the attack and other terror activity were killed in the raid, following a 12-hour gun battle and standoff.

Police clash with protesters at University of Virginia; demonstrations intrude on graduations

Police in riot gear have dispersed anti-Israel protesters from an area of the University of Virginia campus where a small group had set up an encampment, sparking clashes between a large crowd of students and state police, local media report.

Footage shared online shows law enforcement spraying chemical irritants and pushing a large crowd, many of them with linked hands, off of university grounds as protesters chant “shame on you.”

Protesters are being taken into custody and Virginia state police in full riot gear are spraying tear gas. @29NewsWVIR pic.twitter.com/Be2JYthUHA

— Anahita Jafary (@anahitajafary_) May 4, 2024

MOMENTS AGO: Police in riot gear cleared the encampment using force. Upwards of a dozen protestors have been detained. Chemical irritants have been used. Large crowd remains, and is being pushed back to University Ave. pic.twitter.com/VLquCoro5z

— The Cavalier Daily (@cavalierdaily) May 4, 2024

Clashes are also reported and some people are seen being detained.

Police surrounded the encampment earlier Saturday after activists set up tents, after several days of mostly peaceful demonstrations that drew only a handful of students, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reports.

Meanwhile, protests at other universities lead to some tensions around graduation ceremonies.

Indiana University’s student newspaper reports that pro-Palestinian protests briefly interrupted the school’s main commencement ceremony as demonstrators shouted out “free Palestine” and “resign” several times during speeches by IU President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav.

The Daily Student reports that friction flared near the school’s iconic Sample Gates as graduates attempting to take post-commencement pictures were disturbed by protesters holding signs and chanting. Two separate people confronted the demonstrators, yelling at them, the newspaper reports, and protesters have since returned to their main encampment.

Sample Gates pic.twitter.com/QgNTRwwYmH

— Ellen Wu 吳迪安 (@ellendwu) May 3, 2024

At the University of Michigan, some 75 protesters chanting “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!” marched up the main aisle toward the graduation stage, but were stopped by state police from reaching the rostrum.

University spokesperson Colleen Mastony says public safety personnel escorted the protesters to the rear of the stadium, where they remained through the conclusion of the event. There were no arrests.

“Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades,” she adds.

US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro paused a few times during his remarks due to the protests. Before administering an oath to graduates in the armed forces, Del Toro said they would “protect the freedoms that we so cherish,” including the “right to protest peacefully.”

Jerusalem protest disperses, former aide to MK among 2 arrested

A group of anti-government protesters have dispersed from Paris Square in Jerusalem after splitting off from a march earlier tonight and clashing with cops.

Israeli Police say in a statement that they arrested two protesters, one of whom they suspect of hitting an officer over the head with a wooden pole at a protest a few days prior.

The police statement adds that the protest occurred at the same time as legal rally coordinated with law enforcement at Liberty Bell Park, and says that its forces are operating in that area as well.

Labor MK Naama Lazimi says a man seen being forcibly arrested by police at the Jerusalem protest is her former aide Yiftach Dotan.

Lazimi, who was pushed around by police at a protest on Monday, accuses cops of using “extreme and harsh violence” to detain him.

She says she is leaving Tel Aviv, where she had taken part in a protest sit-in, and heading to the police station where Dotan is being held in Jerusalem.

Begin Street sit-in ends, Tel Aviv roads all reopened

A protest sit-in on Begin Street in Tel Aviv has ended, with demonstrators dispersing peaceably, a Times of Israel correspondent on the scene reports.

All roads in the city have been re-opened, with one person arrested during demonstrations for blocking the Ayalon Freeway, according to a police statement carried by the Ynet news site.

Hamas official says terror group won’t ‘agree under any circumstances’ to deal that doesn’t end war

A senior Hamas official insists terror group will “not agree under any circumstances” to a truce in Gaza that does not explicitly include a complete end to the war.

The official, who asked not to be named, also accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “personally hindering” efforts to reach a truce agreement due to “personal interests.”