The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
After Columbia crackdown, activist group tells protesters to ‘take over’ campuses
National Students for Justice in Palestine calls for mass unrest on campuses across the US, after the Trump administration’s crackdown on anti-Israel activists at Columbia University.
NSJP issues a statement calling on activist groups and individuals to walk out of class, “take over central spaces on campus, and assert our mass power.” The protest activities are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
The statement is cosponsored by several other leading anti-Israel activist groups and says it is in response to the Trump administration’s moves against anti-Israel activists.
“The popular movement against Zionism, imperialism, and fascism will not shy away in the face of federal threats,” the statement says.
The call to arms comes after the Trump administration cut $400 million in funding to Columbia, and ICE agents detained a student protest leader, days after campus activists held several disruptive rallies and distributed Hamas propaganda.
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.
South Korean police prepare for ‘worst-case scenarios’ ahead of Yoon impeachment ruling
Police will be out in force, and subway stations and at least one school will be closed over safety concerns when South Korea’s Constitutional Court rules whether to oust or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon’s political fate hangs in the balance after his short-lived martial law decree on December 3 led to his impeachment and separate criminal charges of insurrection.
The impeachment ruling is expected to come as soon as this week, and both supporters and opponents of Yoon are expected to turn out in large numbers, with recent protests gathering tens of thousands.
“We are setting up plans considering the worst-case scenarios,” Lee Ho-young, Acting Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, tells reporters.
Police officers can use pepper spray or batons in case of violence similar to what happened during a rampage by Yoon supporters on a court building in January, Lee adds.
On the day of the ruling, a subway station near the Constitutional Court will be closed, and trains might not stop at other subway stations where large rallies are expected, the Seoul Metro says.
Israeli negotiators head to Qatar for Gaza truce talks
Israel is due to send a delegation to Doha today for a fresh round of talks on extending a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, after cutting off the electricity supply to ramp up pressure on Hamas.
The first phase of the truce ended on March 1 with no agreement on subsequent stages that could secure a permanent end to the war, but both sides have since refrained from resuming full-scale fighting.
There are still significant differences over the terms of a potential second phase of the truce, which has largely halted the violence that raged since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Hamas has repeatedly called for immediate negotiations on the next phase, while Israel prefers an extension of the current one.
Israel has halted aid deliveries to Gaza amid the deadlock, and on Sunday announced it was cutting off the electricity supply in a bid to force Hamas to release hostages.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after” the war, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said as he ordered the power cut.
Hamas has repeatedly demanded that the second phase of the truce — brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States — would include a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, and the reopening of border crossings to end the blockade.
Hezbollah chief rejects laying down weapons, admits taking heavy blows
In comments tonight, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem insisted his organization is alive and well, but admitted taking heavy blows during its fight with Israel, while claiming that the group is choosing to lay low for the time being to let Lebanon’s armed forces confront Israel instead.
Qassem, speaking to Hezbollah mouthpiece al-Manar for the first time since taking over the group in the wake of leader Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination by Israel, said: “The resistance is fine and continuing, but it has been wounded and has made sacrifices. Does anyone expect the resistance to continue without sacrifices? Great sacrifices, yes, but we realize that these sacrifices must be made.”
He said Hezbollah was committed to “resistance to liberate the land and confront expansionist Israel that wants to usurp the region, not just Palestine.”
He also rejected the notion of Hezbollah disarming after new President Joseph Aoun said the Lebanese state must have control over “the decisions of war and peace,” and to do this, it must “monopolize or restrict weapons to the state.”
Qassem said: “We have nothing to do with this matter. We are a resistance that considers Israel a threat to Lebanon, and there is no objection to the army and the state defending Lebanon. The resistance has the right to continue to protect Lebanon. Therefore, we do not consider the president’s words about the exclusivity of weapons to be directed at us.”
He also praised Lebanese who have “offered martyrs” to fighting Israel.
“The resistance is not a phase, but rather it is ongoing, and it is an idea that is adopted by the young and old, women and men,” he said. “We feel proud when we hear the stances of these people… There is a woman who says: ‘I have offered three martyrs, two of my sons-in-law, and two of my grandchildren, and the rest I am ready to offer, and I am ready to offer myself.’
“Or the one who says: ‘I have offered my only son and I am ready to offer more,’” he added. “This is a great example. Who can defeat these people?”