Israel-Hamas war: 'The time is now' for truce, Blinken says

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday that he would sever diplomatic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed... for having a genocidal president," Petro said at a May Day rally in Bogota.

The leftist Colombian president also said his own administration was a "government of change."

Israel has rejected allegations that it is committing genocide during its military offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza.

A case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide remains before the International Court of Justice.

Israel has reopened the only crossing on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, allowing aid trucks to pass through the Erez checkpoint.

The reopening of the Erez crossing has been a key demand of international aid agencies for months. It is hoped the move will help alleviate hunger, which is believed to be most severe among the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Palestinian territory's north.

The Israeli government opened the crossing during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.

The Erez crossing, which is mainly used by pedestrians, had been closed since it was destroyed in the October 7 Hamas attacks that sparked the war.

Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel's Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, said he hoped the crossing would be open every day to help reach a goal of 500 aid trucks entering Gaza daily.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Hamas to accept a "very strong" cease-fire offer and said returning hostages to their families was a top priority.

The diplomat, who is on his seventh trip to the region since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, was greeted outside his Tel Aviv hotel by Israelis waving US flags and chanting, "Thank you, Biden! Thank you, Blinken!" 

"There is a very strong proposal on the table right now. Hamas needs to say yes, and needs to get this done," Blinken told the crowd. "We will not rest until everyone — men, women, soldier, civilian, young, old — is back home." 

Blinken also met privately with the families of the hostages taken by Hamas militants on October 7, telling them that freeing their loved ones was "at the heart of everything we're trying to do."

Meanwhile, after meeting with Blinken, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid insisted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn't have any political excuse not to move to a deal for the release of the hostages."

"He has a majority in the nation, he has a majority in the Knesset, and if needed, I'll make sure he has a majority in the government," he said on X, formerly Twitter. 

Hamas is set to respond to a truce proposal in which Israel would temporarily halt its offensive in Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. 

Turkey says it will join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a press conference.

In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to refrain from acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure that its troops do not commit acts of genocide against Palestinians. The order came after South Africa accused Israel of state-sponsored genocide in Gaza.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the time that his country would provide documents for the case at the ICJ, also known as the World Court.

Israel and its Western allies have dismissed the allegation as baseless. A final decision in South Africa's ICJ case could take years.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated US opposition to a planned Israeli ground operation in Gaza's crowded Rafah city during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

Netanyahu has vowed to proceed with the offensive, saying it is necessary in order to defeat the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 

Blinken "reiterated the United States' clear position on Rafah," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The remarks came two days after Blinken again voiced opposition to an attack on Rafah, citing concerns for the safety of civilians sheltering in the southern Gaza city. 

In his meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken also noted the improvement in aid deliveries to Gaza and "reiterated the importance of accelerating and sustaining this improvement," according to the State Department. 

"Even as we're working with relentless determination to get the cease-fire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza for suffering in this crossfire of Hamas' making," Blinken said earlier Wednesday in remarks at the start of his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said there was still work to be done to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Sejourne had made an unannounced visit to Cairo to discuss the state of truce talks with the Egyptian officials facilitating them.

"We came to coordinate our efforts for a truce," Sejourne said after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. "The messages given by France and its Arab partners in the region is that Israel pulls back on this offensive in Rafah."

Sejourne declined to comment on the chances a deal would be reached. He only said that if Israel and Hamas reached an agreement, he hoped three hostages with French-Israeli dual citizenship would be released.

Police have been called to the University of California campus in Los Angeles (UCLA) amid reports of violent clashes around pro-Palestinian protests. 

The police department "is responding immediately to [the university chancellor's] request for support on campus," said Zach Seidl, a city mayor spokesman, in a post on social media platform X.

Protesters and counter-protesters could be seen in footage hitting each other with sticks and tearing down barricades. Others were seen launching fireworks.

US broadcaster CNN reported that the clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups erupted just after midnight.

The Los Angeles Times reported that counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian protesters' barricades while wearing black outfits and white masks.

It said that the protesters in the encampment, in helmets and goggles and wielding pieces of wood, attempted to fend off counter-protesters .

"Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications said in a statement.

Security was tightened Tuesday after officials said there had been "physical altercations" between protesting factions.

Israel's offensive has killed 34,568 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry. 

There were at least 33 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said. The ministry added that a total of 77,765 people have been wounded.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but the UN and multiple humanitarian organizations consider the casualty numbers broadly reliable.

The war has displaced about 80% of the population, with hundreds of thousands said to be on the brink of famine.

The Gaza war started when Hamas and other Islamist militants staged attacks on southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7. They also took about 240 hostages. 

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is expected in Cairo for an unscheduled stop on his Middle East tour as efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza reach a critical point, according to a French diplomatic source.

"The surprise visit of the minister is in the context of Egypt's efforts to free hostages and achieve a truce in Gaza," the source was reported to have told Reuters news agency.

Diplomatic efforts toward clinching a cease-fire have gathered pace after a renewed push led by Egypt to revive the stalled talks.

Sejourne on Tuesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that going ahead with a plan to launch a major offensive in the southern Gaza city Rafah would be a "bad idea"  that would not resolve anything. 

On his visit to Israel, Sejourne also urged Israel to make public a proposal aimed at reducing tensions between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Sejourne's visit to the region has also taken in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has renewed calls for Hamas to accept a cease-fire agreement as he kicked off meetings with Israeli leaders on Wednesday. 

Blinken is also pushing to discuss how to increase aid reaching people in the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned of an imminent famine due to severe food shortages. 

"Even as we're working with relentless determination to get the cease-fire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza for suffering in this crossfire of Hamas' making," Blinken said as he began talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.

"There is a proposal on the table and as we've said, no delays, no excuses. The time is now and the time is now, long past due, to bring the hostages home to their families."

Blinken's seventh visit to Israel marks the final leg of the US top diplomat's broader Middle East tour.

Later on Wednesday, he is slated to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and make stops including Ashdod — a port near Gaza that Israel recently reopened for aid deliveries. 

Hamas is set to respond to an offer in which Israel would temporarily halt its offensive in Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in return for hostages seized during the October 7 Hamas terror attacks that left some 1,200 dead and saw about 240 people taken hostage. 

Israel, the United States, Germany, the EU and others classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.  

Police cleared 30 to 40 people from inside Columbia University's Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

The protesters who took over the campus building on Tuesday barricaded and locked doors at the entrance.

Dozens of people were arrested by police. Those who were arrested were zip-tied and escorted to buses.

"The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing," a spokesperson for the university said in a statement.

"After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice," the statement read.

"We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University," it added.

In a letter to the NYPD, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik asked police to remain on campus through at least May 17 "to ensure encampments are not reestablished."

Special police units from the New York Police Department (NYPD) used a massive truck and a ramp to enter a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday night local time.

Officers took dozens of protesters into custody, with pictures showing police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, massed at the Ivy League university's entrance in Manhattan.

Some protesters had made their way from an encampment to Hamilton Hall, the main academic building for undergraduates, and occupied the building for 12 hours on Tuesday.

Protesters were asked to leave their encampment by 2 p.m. local time on Monday afternoon. Some of those who refused had already been suspended.

"We made it very clear yesterday that the work of the University cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules," Vice President of Public Affairs Ben Chang said in a statement on Monday.

Columbia has been at the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests and students voted to defy the order to clear their encampment and stay.

Shortly before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorizing officers to take action. 

Police cleared an encampment at the university on April 18 and arrested more than 100 people.

mf/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP)